Attenuated virulence of min operon mutants of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and their interactions with human urethral epithelial cells

Suppression of ERK activation in urethral epithelial cells infected with Neisseria gonorrhoeae and its isogenic minD mutant contributes to anti-apoptosis

“…2A). Compared to the well-defined alteration [retractile deficiency] in the pilT mutant, the cell division minD mutant Ng CJSD1 produces a plethora of changes with respect to cell size, shape, and ultrastructure of the cell envelope [12,14]. Cell signaling responses are sensitive to all of these factors.…”

“…Because of impaired adherence to and invasion of THUEC [12], Ng CJSD1 occurs in lower intracellular numbers than the parental strain Ng CH811. At 6 and 24 h p.i., the cfu of Ng CJSD1 is 2 logs lower than Ng CH811 in THUEC; both strains exhibited a one log increase in cfu at 24 h p.i.…”

“…This effect is most likely caused by the multiple phenotypic changes Ng CJSD1 undergoes due to defective cell division. This strain is extraordinarily large and irregularly shaped [12,14]. It is a product of aberrant cytokinesis in which daughter cells fail to segregate.…”

“…The protein concentration of whole-cell lysates was determined using the Bradford reagent (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). Equal amounts of protein samples were resolved on SDS-PAGE gels (Bio-Rad) and immunoblotting was performed using a standard protocol [12]. Membranes were visualized with an Odyssey infrared imaging system (LI-COR) and densitometric analysis of the protein bands was performed using the ImageJ software from NIH (v1.46).…”

“…To address this gap in knowledge, we used transduced human urethral epithelial cells (THUEC) in our investigation. In a previous study, we had reported reduced virulence of N. gonorrhoeae cell division mutants (deficient in minC/minD genes) in THUEC [12], although insights on signaling responses were lacking.…”