Bordetella bronchisepticaFlagellin Is a Proinflammatory Determinant for Airway Epithelial Cells

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Motility is an important virulence phenotype for many bacteria, and flagellin, the monomeric component of flagella, is a potent proinflammatory factor. Of the threeBordetellaspecies,Bordetella pertussisandBordetella parapertussisare nonmotile human pathogens, whileBordetella bronchisepticaexpresses flagellin and causes disease in animals and immunocompromised human hosts. The BvgAS two-component signal transduction system regulates phenotypic-phase transition (Bvg+, Bvg−, and Bvgi) in bordetellae. The Bvg−phase ofB. bronchisepticais characterized by the expression of flagellin and the repression of adhesins and toxins necessary for the colonization of the respiratory tract.B. bronchisepticanaturally infects a variety of animal hosts and constitutes an excellent model to studyBordetellapathogenesis. Using in vitro coculture models of bacteria and human lung epithelial cells, we studied the effects ofB. bronchisepticaflagellin on host defense responses. Our results show thatB. bronchisepticaflagellin is a potent proinflammatory factor that induces chemokine, cytokine, and host defense gene expression. Furthermore, we investigated receptor specificity in the response toB. bronchisepticaflagellin. Our results show thatB. bronchisepticaflagellin is able to signal effectively through both human and mouse Toll-like receptor 5.

This publication has 80 references indexed in Scilit: