Role of Bordetella pertussis iron transporter IRP1-3 in infection

CAFIERO, HILARIO; ALVAREZ HAYES, J; LAMBERTI, Y; RODRIGUEZ, ME

Congreso; LXII Reunión Científica Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Inmunología (SAI); 2014

Bordetella pertussis (Bp), the causative agent of whooping cough, has the ability to survive inside macrophages in compartments with early endosome characteristics. IRP1-3, a newly proposed vaccine antigen, is one of Bp high affinity iron transporters and the only active at the pH inside early endosomes. To control a bacterial infection, IFN gamma is produced by the host. This cytokine depletes iron from phagocytic cells, in order to restrict the growth of intracellular pathogens which might determine low iron availability in Bp niche of persistence. The aim of this study was to determine the role of IRP1-3 in Bp pathogenesis. To this end, a Bp IRP1-3 null mutant strain was constructed and showed no differences in growth under in vitro conditions compared to the wild type strain. Both strains were compared in an infection assay of PMA differentiated IFN-γ treated THP-1 cells. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that Bp∆IRP1-3 strain adhered significantly less (p