Monocytes that have ingested Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O : 3 acquire enhanced capacity to bind to nonstimulated vascular endothelial cells viaP-selectin
M. Wuorela et al., Monocytes that have ingested Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O : 3 acquire enhanced capacity to bind to nonstimulated vascular endothelial cells viaP-selectin, INFEC IMMUN, 67(2), 1999, pp. 726-732
Reactive arthritis is usually a self-limiting polyarthritis which develops
after certain gastrointestinal or urogenital infections. Microbial antigens
found in the inflamed joints are thought to play a key role in the develop
ment of this disease. Pt is not known how antigens of the pathogenic organi
sms migrate from the mucosal tissues into the joints. The data presented he
re show that mononuclear phagocytes which mediate the dissemination of seve
ral intracellular pathogens acquire an enhanced capacity to bind to nonstim
ulated vascular endothelial cells after phagocytosis of Yersinia enterocoli
tica O:3, one of the causative organisms of reactive arthritis. The increas
ed binding to previously nonstimulated endothelial cells was mediated by P-
selectin, whose translocation to the endothelial cell surface was induced b
y monocytes with intracellular Yersinia bacteria. These results suggest tha
t mononuclear phagocytes may be responsible for the dissemination of bacter
ial antigens and the initiation of the joint inflammation in reactive arthr
itis.