Hashizume-Takizawa Tomomi, Ando Taiki, Urakawa Ayaka, Aoki Kazuhiro, Senpuku Hedenobu
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo, Matsudo, Chiba, Japan.
Department of Basic Oral Health Engineering, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
Infect Immun. 2025 Mar 11;93(3):e0009724. doi: 10.1128/iai.00097-24. Epub 2025 Feb 20.
, a cariogenic bacterium in humans, is associated with systemic disorders. Its cariogenic factors include glucosyltransferases (GTFs) and the glycosyltransferase rhamnose-glucose polysaccharide I (RgpI), which is involved in cell wall synthesis. However, the potential roles of these enzymes in systemic disorders remain unclear. We constructed a luciferase-tagged UA159 mutant strain that lacked to explore the involvement of this enzyme in the systemic pathogenicity of . We also employed the luciferase-tagged UA159 variant, which exhibited reduced GTF production and therefore had a low glucan synthesis ability. We intravenously inoculated these luciferase-tagged mutants and parent strains into 12-week-old male BALB/c mice to evaluate their distribution to organs. Strong luminescence was noted in the spleen and kidneys, indicating that was disseminated to these organs. Several organs collected from mice inoculated with the luciferase-tagged parent strain emitted a signal, and inflammatory cytokine production was detected in the blood. The luminescence intensity was lower in the kidneys of mice challenged with the mutant strain, which has a low glucan synthesis ability. Conversely, challenge with the deletion mutant strain resulted in the lowest number of luminescent organs, with a lower intensity and attenuated inflammation. Furthermore, all the mice inoculated with the deletion mutant strain survived, whereas not all the mice inoculated with the parent strain survived. Collectively, these results suggest that RgpI is involved in the systemic pathogenicity of UA159.
变形链球菌是人类的一种致龋菌,与全身性疾病有关。其致龋因素包括葡糖基转移酶(GTFs)和参与细胞壁合成的鼠李糖 - 葡萄糖多糖I(RgpI)糖基转移酶。然而,这些酶在全身性疾病中的潜在作用仍不清楚。我们构建了一种缺乏该酶的荧光素酶标记的UA159突变株,以探究该酶在变形链球菌全身致病性中的作用。我们还使用了荧光素酶标记的UA159变体,其葡糖基转移酶产量降低,因此葡聚糖合成能力较低。我们将这些荧光素酶标记的突变株和亲本菌株静脉注射到12周龄的雄性BALB / c小鼠中,以评估它们在各器官中的分布。在脾脏和肾脏中观察到强烈的发光,表明变形链球菌扩散到了这些器官。从接种荧光素酶标记亲本菌株的小鼠收集的几个器官发出信号,并且在血液中检测到炎性细胞因子的产生。用葡聚糖合成能力低的突变株攻击的小鼠肾脏中的发光强度较低。相反,用RgpI缺失突变株攻击导致发光器官数量最少,强度较低且炎症减弱。此外,所有接种RgpI缺失突变株的小鼠都存活了,而并非所有接种亲本菌株的小鼠都存活。总的来说,这些结果表明RgpI参与了变形链球菌UA159的全身致病性。