Brucella lipoproteins mimic dendritic cell maturation induced by Brucella abortus.

ZWERDLING, ASTRID; DELPINO, MARÍA VICTORIA; BARRIONUEVO, PAULA; CASSATARO, JULIANA; PASQUEVICH, KARINA; GARCÍA SAMARTINO, CLARA; FOSSATI, ALBERTO; GIAMBARTOLOMEI, GUILLERMO

MICROBES AND INFECTION

Elsevier

Lugar: New York; Año: 2008 vol. 10 p. 1346 - 1354

1286-4579

Infection with Brucella abortus induces a pro-inflammatory response that drives T cell responses toward a Th1 profile. The mechanism by which this bacterium triggers this response is unknown. Dendritic cells (DC) are crucial mediators at the host-pathogen interface and are potent Th1-inducing antigen-presenting cells. Thus, we examined the mechanism whereby B. abortus stimulate human DC maturation. B. abortus infected DC increased the expression of CD86, CD80, CCR7, CD83, MHCII, MHCI and CD40 and induced the production of TNF-alfa, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-12. Both phenomena were not dependent on bacterial viability since they were also induced by heat-killed B. abortus (HKBA). B. abortus LPS was unable to induce markers up-regulation or cytokine production. We next investigated the capacity of the outer membrane protein 19 (Omp19) as a B. abortus lipoprotein model to induce DC maturation. Lipidated Omp19 (L-Omp19), but not its unlipidated form, increased the expression of cell surface markers and the secretion of cytokines. L-Omp19-matured DC also have decreased endocytic activity and displayed enhanced T cell stimulatory activity in a MLR. Pre-incubation of DC with anti-TLR2 mAb blocked L-Omp19-mediated cytokine production. These results demonstrate that B. abortus lipoproteins can stimulate DC maturation providing a mechanism by which these bacteria generate a Th1-type immune response.