Smith A M, Guzmán C A, Walker M J
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong. N.S.W. 2522, Australia.
FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2001 May;25(3):309-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2001.tb00580.x.
Bordetella pertussis is the causative agent of whooping cough, a contagious childhood respiratory disease. Increasing public concern over the safety of whole-cell vaccines led to decreased immunisation rates and a subsequent increase in the incidence of the disease. Research into the development of safer, more efficacious, less reactogenic vaccine preparations was concentrated on the production and purification of detoxified B. pertussis virulence factors. These virulence factors include adhesins such as filamentous haemagglutinin, fimbriae and pertactin, which allow B. pertussis to bind to ciliated epithelial cells in the upper respiratory tract. Once attachment is initiated, toxins produced by the bacterium enable colonisation to proceed by interfering with host clearance mechanisms. B. pertussis co-ordinately regulates the expression of virulence factors via the Bordetella virulence gene (bvg) locus, which encodes a response regulator responsible for signal-mediated activation and repression. This strict regulation mechanism allows the bacterium to express different gene subsets in different environmental niches within the host, according to the stage of disease progression.
百日咳博德特氏菌是百日咳的病原体，百日咳是一种具有传染性的儿童呼吸道疾病。公众对全细胞疫苗安全性的担忧日益增加，导致免疫接种率下降，随后该疾病的发病率上升。对更安全、更有效、反应原性更低的疫苗制剂的研发集中在对百日咳博德特氏菌毒力因子的解毒生产和纯化上。这些毒力因子包括黏附素，如丝状血凝素、菌毛和百日咳黏附素，它们使百日咳博德特氏菌能够与上呼吸道的纤毛上皮细胞结合。一旦开始附着，该细菌产生的毒素通过干扰宿主清除机制使定植得以进行。百日咳博德特氏菌通过博德特氏菌毒力基因（bvg）位点协调调节毒力因子的表达，该位点编码一种负责信号介导的激活和抑制的反应调节因子。这种严格的调节机制使该细菌能够根据疾病进展阶段在宿主体内的不同环境龛中表达不同的基因子集。
