Adherence of a Clinical Strain of <i>Mycoplasma fermentans</i> to Human Cultured Epithelial Cells

Abstract

This study compares the kinetics of adherence of both the prototype strain PG-18 and the recently clinically isolated strain P-140 of Mycoplasma fermentans to HEp-2 cells. M. fermentans may induce respiratory and genitourinary tract infections. We investigated the presence of putative adhesins from strain P-140. A surface protein of 47 kDa, labeled SP47, isolated from M. fermentans P-140, seems to be involved in acterial adherence on HEp-2 cells; this study could allow helping understand the interaction between mycoplasmas and their hosts. Anti-SP47 antibodies inhibited the formation of bacterial clusters and adherence to cultured cells, quantified by ELISA. M. fermentans P-140 was more efficient at adhering to cultured HEp-2 cells than PG-18.

Virulence and molecular adaptation of human urogenital mycoplasmas: a review

“…Interestingly, FP29 also has the capacity to block binding of M. hominis to HeLa cells which would suggest that these two organisms share a similar mechanism with regards to cell interaction [55]. Studies by Rosales-P erez et al [54] have also revealed the involvement of a putative 40 kDa protein (named as SP40 by the authors) in the adherence of M. fermentans P140 to cultured human epithelial cells (HEp-2). Anti-SP40 antibodies has been reported to prevent the clustering of M. fermentans P140 and its attachment to the HEp-2 cells as evidenced by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) technology.…”

“…cell-cell adhesion, signalling and differentiation) and pathological processes (e.g. metastasis) are reported to be associated with the presence of O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates (O-AcSGs) in cell membranes [51,53,54].…”

“…Little is also known about the cytadherence tip organelle in M. fermentans but some strains do possess such a structure as evidenced by electron microscopy [54]. P29, a surface membrane lipoprotein of M. fermentans, has been identified as the molecule involved in host cell attachment.…”