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Interactions of Neisseria meningitidis with cells of the human meninges

Interactions of Neisseria meningitidis with cells of the human meninges
Interactions of Neisseria meningitidis with cells of the human meninges
The interaction of Neisseria meningitidis with the meninges that surround and protect the brain is a pivotal event in the progression of bacterial meningitis. Two models of the human meninges were established in vitro, using (i) sections of fresh human brain and (ii) cultures of viable cells grown from human meningiomas. Neisseria meningitidis showed a specific predilection for binding to the leptomeninges and meningeal blood vessels in human brain and not to the cerebral cortex. There was a close correlation between the adherence of different Neisseria species to leptomeninges and cultured cells. The major ligand that mediated adherence was the pilus, and pilin variation modulated the interactions. The presence of Opa protein increased the association of Cap+ meningococci that expressed low-adhesive pili, but did not influence the association of high-adhesive pili. In contrast, Opc did not influence the adherence of Cap+ meningococci, whereas loss of capsule was associated with a more intimate interaction between the bacteria and the meningioma cell that was not apparent with Cap+ meningococci. There was no evidence of internalization of meningococci by meningioma cells in vitro, an observation that is consistent with the barrier properties of the leptomeninges to N. meningitidis observed in vivo.
0950-382X
817-829
Hardy, Samantha J.
f77559bb-e7f2-45e9-b287-d0aed4b9dcb7
Christodoulides, Myron
eba99148-620c-452a-a334-c1a52ba94078
Weller, Roy O.
4a501831-e38a-4d39-a125-d7141d6c667b
Heckels, John E.
fcfcfafe-5ca8-4728-9c5e-cb67f9af7e31
Hardy, Samantha J.
f77559bb-e7f2-45e9-b287-d0aed4b9dcb7
Christodoulides, Myron
eba99148-620c-452a-a334-c1a52ba94078
Weller, Roy O.
4a501831-e38a-4d39-a125-d7141d6c667b
Heckels, John E.
fcfcfafe-5ca8-4728-9c5e-cb67f9af7e31

Hardy, Samantha J., Christodoulides, Myron, Weller, Roy O. and Heckels, John E. (2000) Interactions of Neisseria meningitidis with cells of the human meninges. Molecular Microbiology, 36 (4), 817-829. (doi:10.1046/j.1365-2958.2000.01923.x). (PMID:10844670)

Record type: Article

Abstract

The interaction of Neisseria meningitidis with the meninges that surround and protect the brain is a pivotal event in the progression of bacterial meningitis. Two models of the human meninges were established in vitro, using (i) sections of fresh human brain and (ii) cultures of viable cells grown from human meningiomas. Neisseria meningitidis showed a specific predilection for binding to the leptomeninges and meningeal blood vessels in human brain and not to the cerebral cortex. There was a close correlation between the adherence of different Neisseria species to leptomeninges and cultured cells. The major ligand that mediated adherence was the pilus, and pilin variation modulated the interactions. The presence of Opa protein increased the association of Cap+ meningococci that expressed low-adhesive pili, but did not influence the association of high-adhesive pili. In contrast, Opc did not influence the adherence of Cap+ meningococci, whereas loss of capsule was associated with a more intimate interaction between the bacteria and the meningioma cell that was not apparent with Cap+ meningococci. There was no evidence of internalization of meningococci by meningioma cells in vitro, an observation that is consistent with the barrier properties of the leptomeninges to N. meningitidis observed in vivo.

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Published date: May 2000

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 193795
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/193795
ISSN: 0950-382X
PURE UUID: 4b6edbde-e0d7-42a1-9b19-df738fc801e8
ORCID for Myron Christodoulides: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9663-4731

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Date deposited: 20 Jul 2011 12:27
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:39

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Contributors

Author: Samantha J. Hardy
Author: Roy O. Weller
Author: John E. Heckels

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