Exploring virulence and immunogenicity in the emerging pathogen Sporothrix brasiliensis.

Autor: Della Terra PP; Department of Medicine, Discipline of Infectious Diseases, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil., Rodrigues AM; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Discipline of Cellular Biology, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil., Fernandes GF; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Discipline of Cellular Biology, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil., Nishikaku AS; Department of Medicine, Discipline of Infectious Diseases, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil., Burger E; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Federal University of Alfenas (UNIFAL-MG), Alfenas, Brazil., de Camargo ZP; Department of Medicine, Discipline of Infectious Diseases, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil.; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Discipline of Cellular Biology, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PLoS neglected tropical diseases [PLoS Negl Trop Dis] 2017 Aug 30; Vol. 11 (8), pp. e0005903. Date of Electronic Publication: 2017 Aug 30 (Print Publication: 2017).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005903
Abstrakt: Sporotrichosis is a polymorphic chronic infection of humans and animals classically acquired after traumatic inoculation with soil and plant material contaminated with Sporothrix spp. propagules. An alternative and successful route of transmission is bites and scratches from diseased cats, through which Sporothrix yeasts are inoculated into mammalian tissue. The development of a murine model of subcutaneous sporotrichosis mimicking the alternative route of transmission is essential to understanding disease pathogenesis and the development of novel therapeutic strategies. To explore the impact of horizontal transmission in animals (e.g., cat-cat) and zoonotic transmission on Sporothrix fitness, the left hind footpads of BALB/c mice were inoculated with 5×106 yeasts (n = 11 S. brasiliensis, n = 2 S. schenckii, or n = 1 S. globosa). Twenty days post-infection, our model reproduced both the pathophysiology and symptomology of sporotrichosis with suppurating subcutaneous nodules that progressed proximally along lymphatic channels. Across the main pathogenic members of the S. schenckii clade, S. brasiliensis was usually more virulent than S. schenckii and S. globosa. However, the virulence in S. brasiliensis was strain-dependent, and we demonstrated that highly virulent isolates disseminate from the left hind footpad to the liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, heart, and brain of infected animals, inducing significant and chronic weight loss (losing up to 15% of their body weight). The weight loss correlated with host death between 2 and 16 weeks post-infection. Histopathological features included necrosis, suppurative inflammation, and polymorphonuclear and mononuclear inflammatory infiltrates. Immunoblot using specific antisera and homologous exoantigen investigated the humoral response. Antigenic profiles were isolate-specific, supporting the hypothesis that different Sporothrix species can elicit a heterogeneous humoral response over time, but cross reaction was observed between S. brasiliensis and S. schenckii proteomes. Despite great diversity in the immunoblot profiles, antibodies were mainly derived against 3-carboxymuconate cyclase, a glycoprotein oscillating between 60 and 70 kDa (gp60-gp70) and a 100-kDa molecule in nearly 100% of the assays. Thus, our data broaden the current view of virulence and immunogenicity in the Sporothrix-sporotrichosis system, substantially expanding the possibilities for comparative genomic with isolates bearing divergent virulence traits and helping uncover the molecular mechanisms and evolutionary pressures underpinning the emergence of Sporothrix virulence.
Databáze: MEDLINE