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Tang Y, Zhou Y, He B, Cao T, Zhou X, Ning L, Chen E, Li Y, Xie X, Peng B, Hu Y, Liu S. Investigation of the immune escape mechanism of Treponema pallidum. Infection 2022; 51:305-321. [PMID: 36260281 DOI: 10.1007/s15010-022-01939-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Syphilis is a chronic sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum (T. pallidum), which is a public health problem that seriously affects human health worldwide. T. pallidum is characterized by early transmission and immune escape and is therefore termed an "invisible pathogen". METHODS This review systematically summarizes the host's innate and adaptive immune responses to T. pallidum infection as well as the escape mechanisms of T. pallidum. PURPOSE To lay the foundation for assessing the pathogenic mechanism and the systematic prevention and treatment of syphilis. CONCLUSION The immune escape mechanism of T. pallidum plays an important role in its survival. Exploring the occurrence and development of these mechanisms has laid the foundation for the development of syphilis vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Tang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China
| | - Yingjie Zhou
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China
| | - Bisha He
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China
| | - Ting Cao
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China
| | - Xiangping Zhou
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China
| | - Lichang Ning
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China
| | - En Chen
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China
| | - Yumeng Li
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China
| | - Xiaoping Xie
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China
| | - Binfeng Peng
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China
| | - Yibao Hu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China
| | - Shuangquan Liu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Institution of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hengyang Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, No. 69, Chuanshan Road, Hengyang City, 421000, Hunan, China.
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Norris SJ. Polypeptides of Treponema pallidum: progress toward understanding their structural, functional, and immunologic roles. Treponema Pallidum Polypeptide Research Group. Microbiol Rev 1993; 57:750-79. [PMID: 8246847 PMCID: PMC372934 DOI: 10.1128/mr.57.3.750-779.1993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, the spirochete that causes syphilis, is unusual in a number of respects, including its small genome size, inability to grow under standard in vitro culture conditions, microaerophilism, apparent paucity of outer membrane proteins, structurally complex periplasmic flagella, and ability to evade the host immune responses and cause disease over a period of years to decades. Many of these attributes are related ultimately to its protein content. Our knowledge of the activities, structure, and immunogenicity of its proteins has been expanded by the application of recombinant DNA, hybridoma, and structural fractionation techniques. The purpose of this monograph is to summarize and correlate this new information by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, monoclonal antibody reactivity, sequence data, and other properties as the bases of polypeptide identification. The protein profiles of the T. pallidum subspecies causing syphilis, yaws, and endemic syphilis are virtually indistinguishable but differ considerably from those of other treponemal species. Among the most abundant polypeptides are a group of lipoproteins of unknown function that appear to be important in the immune response during syphilitic infection. The periplasmic flagella of T. pallidum and other spirochetes are unique with regard to their protein content and ultrastructure, as well as their periplasmic location. They are composed of three core proteins (homologous to the other members of the eubacterial flagellin family) and a single, unrelated sheath protein; the functional significance of this arrangement is not understood at present. Although the bacterium contains the chaperonins GroEL and DnaK, these proteins are not under the control of the heat shock regulon as they are in most organisms. Studies of the immunogenicity of T. pallidum proteins indicate that many may be useful for immunodiagnosis and immunoprotection. Future goals in T. pallidum polypeptide research include continued elucidation of their structural locations and functional activities, identification and characterization of the low-abundance outer membrane proteins, further study of the immunoprotective and immunodiagnostic potential of T. pallidum proteins, and clarification of the roles of treponemal proteins in pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Norris
- Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston 77225
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Strugnell RA, Kent T, Handley CJ, Faine S. Experimental syphilitic orchitis. Relationship between Treponema pallidum infection and testis synthesis of proteoglycans. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY 1988; 133:110-7. [PMID: 3140667 PMCID: PMC1880637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
The relationship between Treponema pallidum infection and the synthesis of proteoglycans by organ cultures of rabbit testes was investigated. Two proteoglycan fractions, large (CL-6B Kav 0.05) and small (Kav 0.25), that were not synthesized at detectable levels by cultures from rabbits infected with T. pallidum for 0 or 5 days, were produced by cultures from 10-, 15- and 20-day infected rabbits. The small proteoglycan appeared to be synthesized first because greater amounts of this fraction were detected in extracts of cultures from 10-day infected animals. The large proteoglycan fraction may have been induced directly by T. pallidum because increased synthesis correlated with maximal treponemal numbers, 15 days after infection. In contrast, the induction of the smaller proteoglycan did not appear to be directly related to numbers of elutable organisms. The proteoglycans synthesized between 10 and 20 days after infection were analyzed for glycosaminoglycan (GAG) size and composition. The size of GAGs beta-eliminated from the proteoglycans generally increased over the 10-20-day infection period. Whereas the composition of the small proteoglycan fraction was largely unchanged during the 10-20-day period (45% chondroitin sulphate (CS), 55% dermatan sulphate (DS)), the amount of DS in the high molecular weight proteoglycan fraction decreased from 50-20% during this period (CS 50-80%). Autoradiography studies revealed that increased proteoglycan synthesis in T. pallidum-infected testes was localized to cells lining the seminiferous tubules and to fibroblasts infiltrating peritubular spaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- R A Strugnell
- Department of Microbiology, Monash Medical School, Alfred Hospital, Prahran, Victoria, Australia
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Strugnell RA, Handley CJ, Drummond LP, Faine S. Characterization of the proteoglycans synthesized by rabbit testis in response to infection by Treponema pallidum. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY 1986; 124:216-25. [PMID: 3740214 PMCID: PMC1888282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Organ cultures of syphilitic and normal rabbit testes were incubated with 35S-sulfate for labeling of proteoglycans. Syphilitic rabbit testes synthesized three macromolecular fractions (I, II, and III) which were not detected in extracts of normal uninfected tissue. The three fractions comprised a larger (approximately 10(6) mol wt) chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate proteoglycan (Fraction I), a smaller (approximately 10(5) mol wt) chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate proteoglycan (Fraction II), and a putative sulfated glycoprotein of Mr 40 kd (Fraction III). The glycosaminoglycan chains of both proteoglycans eluted with a Kav of 0.45 on Sepharose CL-6B, consistent with a molecular weight of 25,000. The smaller proteoglycan was not a cleavage product of the larger species. Erythromycin had no significant effect on the synthesis of any of the three macromolecules. In contrast, the synthesis of both proteoglycans was totally inhibited by a 2-hour preincubation with cycloheximide, which suggests that the constitutive "pools" of the two core proteins were small. The putative sulfated 40-kd glycoprotein was insensitive to a 2-hour preincubation with cycloheximide.
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