Klr. Dunn et al., INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE MOLECULAR-BASIS OF MENINGOCOCCAL TOXICITY FORHUMAN ENDOTHELIAL AND EPITHELIAL-CELLS - THE SYNERGISTIC EFFECT OF LPS AND PILI, Microbial pathogenesis, 18(2), 1995, pp. 81-96
Using human umbilical vein endothelial cells as an in vitro model of t
oxicity, it was found that Neisseria meningitidis, Neisseria gonorrhoe
ae, Neisseria lactamica and Neisseria sicca caused damage to these cel
ls, in contrast to the lack of cytotoxicity exhibited by Haemophilus i
nfluenzae type b. N. meningitidis was also found to be toxic for human
epithelial cells. The major toxic factor of N, meningitidis was found
to be a heat-stable component of outer membrane vesicles, and could b
e inhibited by polymyxin B, suggesting that lipopolysaccharide plays a
major role in toxicity. However, the toxicity mediated by lipopolysac
charide was modulated significantly by pilus-dependent adherence. Intr
a-strain variants expressing altered pilins which exhibited different
levels of adherence to epithelial and endothelial cells were used to s
tudy the role of pilus. The degree of toxicity observed correlated wit
h their relative level of adherence to cultured cells. In contrast, Op
e-dependent increased adherence did not result in increased toxicity f
or endothelial cells, suggesting that pill have a synergistic effect,
contributing to the overall damage.