Barnett J K, Barnett D, Bolin C A, Summers T A, Wagar E A, Cheville N F, Hartskeerl R A, Haake D A
Biology Department, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, Indiana 47712, USA.
Infect Immun. 1999 Feb;67(2):853-61. doi: 10.1128/IAI.67.2.853-861.1999.
The outer membrane of pathogenic Leptospira species grown in culture media contains lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a porin (OmpL1), and several lipoproteins, including LipL36 and LipL41. The purpose of this study was to characterize the expression and distribution of these outer membrane antigens during renal infection. Hamsters were challenged with host-derived Leptospira kirschneri to generate sera which contained antibodies to antigens expressed in vivo. Immunoblotting performed with sera from animals challenged with these host-derived organisms demonstrated reactivity with OmpL1, LipL41, and several other proteins but not with LipL36. Although LipL36 is a prominent outer membrane antigen of cultivated L. kirschneri, its expression also could not be detected in infected hamster kidney tissue by immunohistochemistry, indicating that expression of this protein is down-regulated in vivo. In contrast, LPS, OmpL1, and LipL41 were demonstrated on organisms colonizing the lumen of proximal convoluted renal tubules at both 10 and 28 days postinfection. Tubular epithelial cells around the luminal colonies had fine granular cytoplasmic LPS. When the cellular inflammatory response was present in the renal interstitium at 28 days postinfection, LPS and OmpL1 were also detectable within interstitial phagocytes. These data establish that outer membrane components expressed during infection have roles in the induction and persistence of leptospiral interstitial nephritis.
在培养基中生长的致病性钩端螺旋体的外膜含有脂多糖（LPS）、一种孔蛋白（OmpL1）和几种脂蛋白，包括LipL36和LipL41。本研究的目的是表征这些外膜抗原在肾脏感染期间的表达和分布。用宿主来源的克氏钩端螺旋体攻击仓鼠以产生含有针对体内表达抗原的抗体的血清。用来自用这些宿主来源的生物体攻击的动物的血清进行免疫印迹，结果显示与OmpL1、LipL41和其他几种蛋白质有反应，但与LipL36没有反应。尽管LipL36是培养的克氏钩端螺旋体的一种突出的外膜抗原，但通过免疫组织化学在感染的仓鼠肾组织中也检测不到其表达，这表明该蛋白的表达在体内被下调。相比之下，在感染后10天和28天，LPS、OmpL1和LipL41在占据近端曲管管腔的生物体上均有显示。管腔菌落周围的肾小管上皮细胞有细颗粒状细胞质LPS。当在感染后28天肾间质中出现细胞炎症反应时，在间质吞噬细胞内也可检测到LPS和OmpL1。这些数据表明，感染期间表达的外膜成分在钩端螺旋体间质性肾炎的诱导和持续存在中起作用。
