Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Krankenhaushygiene, Universitätsklinikum, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2011;715:51-70. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-0940-9_4.
Adhesion to host cells represents the first step in the infection process and one of the decisive features in the pathogenicity of Bartonella spp. B. henselae and B. quintana are considered to be the most important human pathogenic species, responsible for cat scratch disease, bacillary angiomatosis, trench fever and other diseases. The ability to cause vasculoproliferative disorders and intraerythrocytic bacteraemia are unique features of the genus Bartonella. Consequently, the interaction with endothelial cells and erythrocytes is a focus in Bartonella research. The genus harbours a variety of trimeric autotransporter adhesins (TAAs) such as the Bartonella adhesin A (BadA) of B. henselae and the variably expressed outer-membrane proteins (Vomps) of B. quintana, which display remarkable variations in length and modular construction. These adhesins mediate many of the biologically-important properties of Bartonella spp. such as adherence to endothelial cells and extracellular matrix proteins and induction of angiogenic gene programming. There is also significant evidence that the laterally acquired Trw-conjugation systems of Bartonella spp. mediate host-specific adherence to erythrocytes. Other potential adhesins are the filamentous haemagglutinins and several outer membrane proteins. The exact molecular functions of these adhesins and their interplay with other pathogenicity factors (e.g., the VirB/D4 type 4 secretion system) need to be analysed in detail to understand how these pathogens adapt to their mammalian hosts.
黏附宿主细胞是感染过程的第一步，也是巴尔通体属细菌致病性的决定性特征之一。汉赛巴尔通体（Bartonella henselae）和五日热巴尔通体（B. quintana）被认为是最重要的人类致病性物种，可引起猫抓病、杆菌性血管瘤病、战壕热和其他疾病。引起血管增生性疾病和红细胞内细菌血症的能力是巴尔通体属的独特特征。因此，与内皮细胞和红细胞的相互作用是巴尔通体研究的重点。该属拥有多种三聚体自转运黏附素（TAAs），如汉赛巴尔通体的 Bartonella 黏附素 A（BadA）和五日热巴尔通体的可变表达外膜蛋白（Vomps），它们在长度和模块结构上表现出显著的差异。这些黏附素介导了巴尔通体属的许多生物学上重要的特性，如黏附在内皮细胞和细胞外基质蛋白上，以及诱导血管生成基因编程。还有大量证据表明，巴尔通体属的侧向获得的 Trw-共轭系统介导了对红细胞的宿主特异性黏附。其他潜在的黏附素是丝状血凝素和几种外膜蛋白。这些黏附素的确切分子功能及其与其他致病性因子（例如，VirB/D4 型 4 分泌系统）的相互作用需要详细分析，以了解这些病原体如何适应其哺乳动物宿主。
