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Structural and serological studies of the O-antigen of the bacterium Proteus mirabilis OXK (serogroup O3) used in the Weil-Felix test.

Sugar analysis and 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopic studies showed that various strains of Proteus mirabilis OXK used as antigens in the Weil-Felix test for serodiagnosis of rickettsiosis (scrub typhus) produce lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) with the same O-specific polysaccharide chain having the following structure: [formula: see text] where GlcA and GalA are glucuronic and galacturonic acids, respectively. This polysaccharide which defines the O3 specificity of Proteus and has been found earlier in an unclassified P. mirabilis strain S1959, contains an amide of D-galacturonic acid with L-lysine which plays an important role in manifesting the immunospecificity. A cross-reaction was observed in ELISA between sera from patients with scrub typhus, caused by the bacterium Orientia (Rickettsia) tsutsugamushi, and purified LPS of P. mirabilis OXK, thus suggesting that the common epitope involved in the Weil-Felix test is located on P. mirabilis OXK LPS. Rabbit anti-P. mirabilis OXK antibodies did not cross-react with LPS-lacking O. tsutsugamushi strain Gilliam in dot-blotting and Western blotting, and the nature of the rickettsial antigen responsible for the Weil-Felix reaction remains unknown.

Carbohydrate Conformation↗

Structure of the acid-labile galactosyl phosphate-containing O-antigen of the bacterium Proteus vulgaris OX19 (serogroup O1) used in the Weil-Felix test.

The structure of the O-specific polysaccharide chain of Proteus vulgaris OX19 lipopolysaccharide which determines the O1 specificity of Proteus and is used in the Weil-Felix test for diagnostics of rickettsiosis was established. On the basis of 1H- and 13 C-NMR spectroscopy, including two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (COSY), H-detected 1H, 13C heteronuclear multiple-quantum coherence (HMQC), and rotating-frame nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (ROESY), it was found that the polysaccharide consists of branched pentasaccharide repeating units containing D-galactose, 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose, 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-galactose, and 2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-D-glucose (QuiNAc, two residues), which are connected to each other via a phosphate group (P): [formula: see text]. The polysaccharide is acid-labile, the glycosyl phosphate linkage being cleaved at pH 4.5 (70 degrees C) to give a phosphorylated pentasaccharide with a galactose residue at the reducing end. Structural analysis of the oligosaccharide and a product of its dephosphorylation with 48% hydrofluoric acid using 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry confirmed the structure of the polysaccharide.

Carbohydrate Conformation↗

Structural and immunochemical studies on the O-specific polysaccharide of Proteus penneri strain 15.

On the basis of sugar analysis and 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy, it was shown that the O-specific polysaccharide of Proteus penneri strain 15 has a trisaccharide repeating unit, including an acetal-linked pyruvic acid residue, and is structurally identical to the capsular polysaccharide of Proteus vulgaris strain ATCC 49990. Serological studies supported this conclusion and demonstrated the presence in the homological antiserum of both anti-core and anti-O chain antibodies reacting with a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) epitope containing N-acetylglucosamine and galactose residues.

Animals↗

[Establishing the types of Dienes compatibility in clinical Proteus mirabilis strains].

The aim of the study was to use the Dienes phenomenon for the differentiation of Proteus mirabilis strains isolated from urine by the method of making possible their typing. The subject of the study were 351 strains of Proteus mirabilis obtained from the laboratory of the Institute of Pediatrics, Medical Academy in Lódź. For establishing of the compatibility type 18 indicator strains were taken, each of them had action antagonistic towards all other ones. The results were read according to the presence or absence of the demarcation line between indicator strains and the studied strain. Out of 351 strains in 190 (54%) the reactions were compatible with one or more indicator strains. They were classified into 30 Dienes compatibility types. In the view of the simplicity and easy performance the method can be used in every microbiological laboratory.

Adolescent↗

Antibodies to Klebsiella pneumoniae in Dutch patients with ankylosing spondylitis and acute anterior uveitis and to Proteus mirabilis in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the association between increased humoral reactivity against Klebsiella and HLA-B27 associated diseases could be confirmed in Dutch patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and acute anterior uveitis (AAU). METHODS: Under coded conditions sera from Dutch patients with AS, AAU, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and from HLA-B27 positive and negative healthy controls were studied for IgA anti-Klebsiella (K54) and IgG anti-Proteus antibodies with the indirect immunofluorescence assay on whole bacteria fixed in suspension with paraformaldehyde. Each group consisted of at least 17 sera. RESULTS: IgA anti-Klebsiella antibody titers were elevated in AS and HLA-B27 negative AAU compared to the HLA-B27 positive and negative controls or patients with active RA (p < 0.001). Furthermore, patients with active RA had elevated levels of IgG antibodies against P. mirabilis compared to every other test or control group (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the AS and RA patients in terms of serum C-reactive protein levels, although these were significantly elevated in both compared to healthy controls (p < 0.001), suggesting that the antibody elevations were not due to a nonspecific inflammatory effect. The same sera were blindly tested with negative results by 2 other centers. The discrepancies are probably the result of differences in the methods used. CONCLUSION: Our data support the hypothesis that Klebsiella are involved in the pathogenesis of AS and AAU and that the same might be true for Proteus in RA.

Adult↗

The Proteus syndrome: CNS manifestations.

Proteus syndrome is a complex hamartomatous disorder characterized by multiple, diverse, somatic manifestations. We present a case in which severe, evolving CNS abnormalities were also exhibited. Imaging findings at presentation included hemimegalencephaly, subependymal calcified nodules, and periventricular cysts. Subsequently, dural sinus thrombosis developed. Eight previously reported patients may also have had hemimegalencephaly. When neuroimaging studies show hemimegalencephaly in a child with pigmented skin lesions, Proteus syndrome should be considered in the differential diagnosis.

Brain Diseases↗

Genomic fingerprinting of Proteus species using repetitive sequence based PCR (rep-PCR).

Three Proteus species P. vulgaris, P. mirabilis and P. penneri have been characterized by repetitive sequence-based PCR. Four families of repetitive sequence based primers REP, ERIC, BOXA1R and BOXA2R, give specific patterns for each Proteus species. Species differentiation was best afforded using BOXA2R for detection of P. mirabilis, either REP-Dt or BOXA1R primers for detection of P. penneri and ERIC primer pair for P. vulgaris.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗

Intracellular pressure is a motive force for cell motion in Amoeba proteus.

The cortical filament layer of free-living amoebae contains concentrated actomyosin, suggesting that it can contract and produce an internal hydrostatic pressure. We report here on direct and dynamic intracellular pressure (P(ic)) measurements in Amoeba proteus made using the servo-null technique. In resting apolar A. proteus, P(ic) increased while the cells remained immobile and at apparently constant volume. P(ic) then decreased approximately coincident with pseudopod formation. There was a positive correlation between P(ic) at the onset of movement and the rate of pseudopod formation. These results are the first direct evidence that hydrostatic pressure may be a motive force for cell motion. We postulate that contractile elements in the amoeba's cortical layer contract and increase P(ic) and that this P(ic) is utilized to overcome the viscous flow resistance of the intracellular contents during pseudopod formation.

Amoeba↗

Severe proteus syndrome in an 18-month-old boy.

We describe an 18-month-old Greek boy with macrocephaly, partial gigantism of hands and feet, hemihypertrophy, pigmented nevi, and other anomalies compatible with the Proteus syndrome. Cerebral involvement in a most severe form and at an early age concurs with the suggestion that encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis may represent a more circumscriptive manifestation of Proteus syndrome. Localized triggering of several growth factors is a challenging pathogenetic consideration of the syndrome.

Bone Diseases↗

Ambiguous genitalia in the Proteus syndrome.

An 11-year-old girl was followed up since birth because of hemihypertrophy of the left leg and thigh, multiple pigmented nevi and subcutaneous tumors typical of the Proteus syndrome. Because of clitoromegaly and scrotal-like hypertrophy of the labia majora, she had an endocrine evaluation the results of which were normal. The findings are thought to represent local genital hypertrophy. Ambiguous genitalia have to be added to the phenotype of the Proteus syndrome.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

Characterization of Amoeba proteus myosin VI immunoanalog.

Amoeba proteus, the highly motile free-living unicellular organism, has been widely used as a model to study cell motility. However, molecular mechanisms underlying its unique locomotion and intracellular actin-based-only trafficking remain poorly understood. A search for myosin motors responsible for vesicular transport in these giant cells resulted in detection of 130-kDa protein interacting with several polyclonal antibodies against different tail regions of human and chicken myosin VI. This protein was binding to actin in the ATP-dependent manner, and immunoprecipitated with anti-myosin VI antibodies. In order to characterize its possible functions in vivo, its cellular distribution and colocalization with actin filaments and dynamin II during migration and pinocytosis were examined. In migrating amoebae, myosin VI immunoanalog localized to vesicular structures, particularly within the perinuclear and sub-plasma membrane areas, and colocalized with dynamin II immunoanalog and actin filaments. The colocalization was even more evident in pinocytotic cells as proteins concentrated within pinocytotic pseudopodia. Moreover, dynamin II and myosin VI immunoanalogs cosedimented with actin filaments, and were found on the same isolated vesicles. Blocking endogenous myosin VI immunoanalog with anti-myosin VI antibodies inhibited the rate of pseudopodia protrusion (about 19% decrease) and uroidal retraction (about 28% decrease) but did not affect cell morphology and the manner of cell migration. Treatment with anti-human dynamin II antibodies led to changes in directionality of amebae migration and affected the rate of only uroidal translocation (about 30% inhibition). These results indicate that myosin VI immunoanalog is expressed in protist Amoeba proteus and may be involved in vesicle translocation and cell locomotion.

Actins↗

Is actin involved in the nuclear division in Amoeba proteus?

During semi-open mitosis of Amoeba proteus the nuclear envelope is not dispersed and nucleus divides by fission. The presence of actin layer close to nuclear envelope was demonstrated in interphase and telophase nuclei of that amoeba stained with rhodamine labelled phalloidin. In telophase, an accumulation of actin arises in the space between the future daughter nuclei. It appears to be comparable with the contractile ring of dividing cells. This suggests that actin associated with the nuclear envelope of Amoeba proteus may be involved in final separation of the daughter nuclei, forming a constriction ring at the middle of dividing nucleus.

Actins↗

ADHESION-DEPENDENT F-ACTIN PATTERN IN AMOEBA PROTEUS AS A COMMON FEATURE OF AMOEBAE AND THE METAZOAN MOTILE CELLS

Adhesion and movement of Amoeba proteus are both dependent on the appropriate arrangement of the F-actin cytoskeleton and on the presence of the cell nucleus. In this study the F-actin organization was examined by routine FITC-phalloidin staining and confocal laser microscopy in intact amoebae and in their nucleated and anucleated fragments, at different levels of cell adherence to the substratum. In the adhering and migrating intact cells and nucleated cell fragments dot-like aggregates of F-actin are scattered over the ventral side at sites close to the substratum. In the case of de-adhesion of nucleated specimens this pattern disappears and F-actin is accumulated in the cell centre and/or dispersed in the cytoplasm. The same actin distribution, without ventral dots, is found in the anucleated fragments which usually fail to attach to the substratum. Re-adhesion of anucleated fragments, induced by a modified substratum or spontaneous, is accompanied by restoration of actin dots at the lower cell side. It is concluded that: (1) adhering specimens of A. proteus display the same dot-like actin pattern on the ventral cell side, as many metazoan motile cells; (2) organization or disorganization of this pattern may occur independently of the presence of the cell nucleus, under the control of cell adhesion to the substratum. Copyright 1998 Academic Press Limited

Journal Article↗

Some evidence for the ampullary organs in the European cave salamander Proteus anguinus (Urodela, Amphibia).

The multicellular epithelial organs in Proteus anguinus, which Bugnion (1873) assumed to be developing neuromasts, have been analyzed by light- and electron-microscopy. Their fundamental structure consists of single ampullae with sensory and accessory cells with apical parts that extend into the pit of the ampulla, and of a short jelly-filled canal connecting the ampulla pit with the surface of the skin. The organs are located intra-epithelially and are supported by a tiny dermal papilla. The cell elements of sensory epithelium are apically linked together by tight junctions. The free apical surface of the sensory cell bears several hundred densely packed stereocilia-like microvilli whereas the basal surface displays afferent neurosensory junctions with a pronounced round synaptic body. The compact uniform organization of the apical microvillous part shows a hexagonal pattern. A basal body was found in some sensory cells whereas a kinocilium was observed only in a single cell. The accessory cells have their free surface differentiated in a sparsely distributed and frequently-forked microvilli. The canal wall is built of two or three layers of tightly coalescent flat cells bordering on the lumen with branching microvilli. The ultrastructure of the content of the ampulla pit is presented. In the discussion stress is laid on the peculiarities of the natural history of Proteus anguinus that support the view that the morphologically-identified ampullary organs are electroreceptive. The structural characteristics of ampullary receptor cells are dealt with from the viewpoint of functional morphology and in the light of evolutionary hypotheses of ampullary organs.

Animals↗

Dynamics of the cytoskeleton in Amoeba proteus. I. Redistribution of microinjected fluorescein-labeled actin during locomotion, immobilization and phagocytosis.

Fluorescein-labeled muscle actin was microinjected into Amoeba proteus and followed during intracellular redistribution by means of the image-intensification technique. The fully polymerization-competent protein becomes part of the endogenous actomyosin system undergoing dynamic changes over time periods of several hours. Single-frame analysis of long-term sequences enabled the direct demonstration of both the contractile activities and morphological transformations of microfilaments in normally locomoting, immobilized and phagocytozing specimens. In normally locomoting cells the filament layer undergoes continuous changes in spatial distribution depending on the actual pattern of cytoplasmic streaming and cell shape. The highest degree of differentiation is always maintained in the intermediate region between the front and the uroid, thus indicating this segment of the cortex to be the most important site in generating motive force for pseudopodium formation and ameboid movement. In immobilized cells contracted by the application of ruthenium red or relaxed by different anesthetics, the filament layer forms a continuous thick sheath beneath the cell surface or becomes completely disintegrated. In phagocytozing cells the local polymerization of actin at the tip of pseudopodia forming the food-cup and around the nascent phagosome points to a significant participation of the actomyosin system in the process of capturing and constricting prey organisms. Although our results provide clear evidence for the overall importance of motive force generation according to the hydraulic pressure theory, some motile phenomena exist in Amoeba proteus that cannot exclusively be explained by this mechanism.

Actins↗

Characteristics of trajectory in the migration of Amoeba proteus.

We investigated the behavior of migration of Amoeba proteus in an isotropic environment. We found that the trajectory in the migration of A. proteus is smooth in the observation time of 500-1000 s, but its migration every second (the cell velocity) on the trajectory randomly changes. Stochastic analysis of the cell velocity and the turn angle of the trajectory has shown that the histograms of the both variables well fit to Gaussian curves. Supposing a simple model equation for the cell motion, we have estimated the motive force of the migrating cell, which is of the order of piconewton. Furthermore, we have found that the cell velocity and the turn angle have a negative cross-correlation coefficient, which suggests that the amoeba explores better environment by changing frequently its migrating direction at a low speed and it moves rectilinearly to the best environment at a high speed. On the other hand, the model equation has simulated the negative correlation between the cell velocity and the turn angle. This indicates that the apparently rational behavior comes from intrinsic characteristics in the dynamical system where the motive force is not torquelike.

Amoeba↗

Oscillations in cell shape and size during locomotion and in contractile activities of Physarum polycephalum, Dictyostelium discoideum, Amoeba proteus and macrophages.

Changes in cell shape and size were measured during locomotion, together with the motive force of the protoplasmic streaming, in various amoeboid cells in different stages of their life cycle, and under various environmental conditions. The variations in these measurements with time were examined by Fourier spectral analysis. Notwithstanding a change in cell type in the life cycle of P. polycephalum, myxamoebae and tiny plasmodia showed a similar time pattern of locomotion, exhibiting oscillations having a mixture of several periods. A regular oscillation with protoplasmic streaming appeared in the plasmodium only above a critical cell size. D. discoideum amoebae oscillated with two periods of a few minutes in preaggregation stage, but with a period of 10 min in aggregation stage, the latter being induced by cAMP. Macrophages and A. proteus also oscillated with periods of a few minutes. Periods of all these oscillations were prolonged severalfold by respiratory inhibition with NaCN, but were unaffected by glycolytic inhibition with 2-deoxyglucose. Cell fragments of A. proteus containing fewer granules oscillated more slowly and with a larger amplitude than those containing more granules. Among the granules, the nucleus was excluded as a possible modifier of the oscillation. The oscillation in Physarum plasmodium was reversibly suppressed by combining respiratory and ATPase inhibitions in mitochondria with NaCN and oligomycin, intracellular ATP concentration being kept at an appropriate level. The present results show that amoeboid motility, as well as cell shape, is oscillatory and that mitochondria are involved in time keeping.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

A possible signal-coupling role for cyclic AMP during endocytosis in Amoeba proteus.

Cytoplasmic levels of cAMP in Amoeba proteus were measured utilizing radioimmunoassays under control conditions and when stimulated by inducers of either pinocytosis or phagocytosis. In control cells, cytoplasmic cAMP levels were approximately 0.39 pM/mg cells. When exposed to either chemotactic peptide or mannose which stimulate phagocytosis in the amoeba, there is a rapid doubling of the cAMP level within 45 sec of stimulation which then returns to the control level within 3-5 min. Theophylline prolongs the elevation of cytoplasmic cAMP in stimulated cells and is also capable of eliciting food vacuole formation in the amoeba. In addition isoproterenol also causes food vacuole formation in the amoeba as well as a large and prolonged increase in cytoplasmic cAMP levels. Inducers of pinocytosis (BSA and Na Cl) also elicit changes in cytoplasmic cAMP in the amoeba, but the response appears to differ from that elicited by inducers of phagocytosis in that the peak cAMP levels are broader and biphasic. It is concluded that cAMP plays a signal-coupling role during the early phases of both forms of endocytosis in Amoeba proteus.

Amoeba↗