Analysis of the Adhesive-Invasive Potential of Two Morphologically Different Types of Mycoplasma hominis Colonies.

Mycoplasma hominis is an opportunistic human pathogen that causes acute and chronic infections of the urogenital tract. A new form of M. hominis colonies (microcolonies) was isolated, that differed from typical colonies by morphology, size, growth rate, and resistance to unfavorable factors, in particular, to antibiotics. The formation of microcolonies is associated with a switch in energy metabolism towards nucleoside utilization, which leads to a decrease in energy production and a transition to a persistor-like state. Typical and microcolony cultures of M. hominis H-34 were obtained and a comparative analysis of their adhesive-invasive potential, morphology, and size was carried out. It was shown that both typical and microcolonies can effectively attach and penetrate into HeLa cells. Unlike microcolonies, the morphology and size of cells in typical colonies change significantly after HeLa infection. This indicates functional changes in cells of typical colonies during infection.

[PERSISTENCE OF MYCOPLASMA DURING UROLITHIASIS].

AIM: Study the frequency of detection of mycoplasma and ureaplasma in clinical material from urolithiasis patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical material samples (blood sera, urine, uroliths) from 31 urolithiasis patients were obtained during operations of urolith-removal. Cultural method, LAR and PCR were used in the study. RESULTS: The study of clinical material from 31 patients by PCR has shown, that in 25 individuals. (80.6%) DNA of mycoplasma and ureaplasma was detected, and mycoplasma DNA was more frequently detected in uroliths and less--in-blood sera. Mycoplasma hominis DNA was detected in clinical material of a significantly largerninmber of patients. 23 cultures were isolated from 8 patients by a cultural method, that were identified by PCR as M. hominis. All the isolates have grown as "mini colonies". Even after multiple passages in agar medium, reversion of "mini-colonies" into colonies with a classic morphology was not obtained. CONCLUSION: A high frequency of detection of mycoplasma and ureaplasma in clinical material of patients with urolithiasis was established. The isolated M. hominis cultures have only grown as "mini-colonies". The phenomenon discovered could give evidence on high variability of mycoplasma and a possibility of existence of previously unknown form of their persistence in human organism.

[MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES ON KIDNEY STONES].

The clinical material obtained surgically in patients with kidney stone disease (KSD) was tested for content of the stone microflora using PCR and standard microbiological methods. It was demonstrated that about 50% of stones in patients with KSD were infected with various infection agents as observed using standard microbiological and molecular genetic methods. The percentage of detection of the Mycoplasma hominis using cultural method is lower than the percentage detected using PCR, which is due to difficult isolation and cultivation, as well as DNA fragments of mycoplasma observed after antibiotic therapy. Studies based on modern microscopy methods showed that microorganisms on the surface of the kidney stone formed multispecies biofilms.

Nonthermal plasma affects viability and morphology of Mycoplasma hominis and Acholeplasma laidlawii.

AIM: To study the effects exerted by argon microwave nonthermal plasma (NTP) on cell wall-lacking Mollicutes bacteria. METHODS AND RESULTS: 10(8) CFU ml(-1) agar plated Mycoplasma hominis and Acholeplasma laidlawii were treated with the nonthermal microwave argon plasma for 30-300 s. The maximal 10- and 100-fold drop was observed for A. laidlawii and Myc. hominis, respectively. Similarly treated Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus demonstrated the 10(5) and 10(3) drop, respectively. Removal of cholesterol affected resistance of A. laidlawii. 10 mmol l(-1) antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene decreased mortality by a factor of 25-200. UV radiation alone caused 25-85% mortality in comparison with the whole NTP. Exogenously added hydrogen peroxide H2O2 did not cause mortality. NTP treatment of Myc. hominis triggered growth of microcolonies, which were several tenfold smaller than a typical colony. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the lack of cell wall, A. laidlawii and Myc. hominis were more resistant to argon microwave NTP than other tested bacteria. Mycoplasma hominis formed microcolonies upon NTP treatment. A role of UV and active species was demonstrated. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The first study of NTP effects on Mollicutes revealed importance of a membrane composition for bacterial resistance to NTP. New specific Myc. hominis morphological forms were observed. The study confirmed importance of the concerted action of reactive oxygen species (ROS) with UV and other plasma bioactive agents for NTP bactericidal action.

[Antimycoplasmic Activity of Fermentation Broth of Trichoderma harzianum Rifai F-180, an Organism Producing L-Lysine-α-Oxidase, an Antitumor and Antiviral Enzyme].

A concentrate of the fermentation broth of Trichoderma harzianum Rifai F-180, an organism producing L-lysine-α-oxidase, an antitumor and antiviral enzyme, with the activity in the fermentation broth of 0.54-0.56 U/mI was recovered. The effect of the concentrate on the mycoplasmas growth was investigated for the first time. Two representatives of Mycoplasmafaceae, i.e. Mycoplasma hominis and Mycoplasma fermentans and one representative of Aholeplasmataceae. i. e. Aholeplasma laidlawii were used. It was shown that the fermentation broth inhibited the growth of Mycoplasma hominis after the preliminary exposure. The inhibition rate depended on the mycoplasma inoculation dose and the fermentation broth concentration.

Triggering of Toll-like Receptor-2 in Mouse Myelomonocytic Leukaemia Cells WEHI-3B Leads to the Suppression of Apoptosis and Promotes Tumor Progression in Vivo.

Toll-like receptors are the essential components of innate immunity. It is shown that TLRs play an essential role in the immune resistance of an organism to bacterial and viral infections. The binding of TLR to its own ligands results in the activation of several adapter molecules and kinases, inducing the activation of the main pro-inflammatory transcriptional factors, which in turn induce the activation of the main pro-inflammatory transcriptional factors. This activation results in the development of both the innate immune response triggered by the enhanced expression of a number of pro-inflammatory cytokines and antimicrobial peptides and that of the adaptive immune response, via the activation of dendritic cells and enhancement of antigen presentation, etc. The ability of TLR agonists to bolster the immune reaction makes them promising for use in the therapy of infectious diseases and in the chemotherapy of malignant neoformations. However, different TLR ligands may have either antitumor activity (lipopolysaccharide, imiquimod, CpG) or, conversely, could beef up the resistance of tumor cells to apoptosis, stimulating their proliferation under certain conditions (lipopolysaccharide, lipopeptide). It has been shown that the TLR2-dependent signalling pathway in the myelomonocytic mouse leukaemia cell line WEHI-3B leads to the constitutive activation of the transcriptional factor NF-kB, suppression of apoptosis in tumor cells, and progression of myelomonocytic mouse leukaemiain vivo, upon the addition of TLR2 agonist (synthetic lipopeptide Pam2CSK4) or following the infection of tumor cells withMycoplasma arginini.

Mycoplasma infection suppresses p53, activates NF-kappaB and cooperates with oncogenic Ras in rodent fibroblast transformation.

Prokaryotes of the genus Mycoplasma are the smallest cellular organisms that persist as obligate extracellular parasites. Although mycoplasma infection is known to be associated with chromosomal instability and can promote malignant transformation, the mechanisms underlying these phenomena remain unknown. Since persistence of many cellular parasites requires suppression of apoptosis in host cells, we tested the effect of mycoplasma infection on the activity of the p53 and nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB pathways, major mechanisms controlling programmed cell death. To monitor the activity of p53 and NF-kappaB in mycoplasma-infected cells, we used a panel of reporter cell lines expressing the bacterial beta-galactosidase gene under the control of p53- or NF-kappaB-responsive promoters. Cells incubated with media conditioned with different species of mycoplasma showed constitutive activation of NF-kappaB and reduced activation of p53, common characteristics of the majority of human tumor cells, with M. arginini having the strongest effect among the species tested. Moreover, mycoplasma infection reduced the expression level and inducibility of an endogenous p53-responsive gene, p21(waf1), and inhibited apoptosis induced by genotoxic stress. Infection with M. arginini made rat and mouse embryo fibroblasts susceptible to transformation with oncogenic H-Ras, whereas mycoplasma-free cells underwent irreversible p53-dependent growth arrest. Mycoplasma infection was as effective as shRNA-mediated knockdown of p53 expression in making rodent fibroblasts permissive to Ras-induced transformation. These observations indicate that mycoplasma infection plays the role of a p53-suppressing oncogene that cooperates with Ras in cell transformation and suggest that the carcinogenic and mutagenic effects of mycoplasma might be due to inhibition of p53 tumor suppressor function by this common human parasite.

Transport activity of mouse spleen lymphocytes after their interaction in vitro with Acholeplasma laidlawii cells.

Transport of two non-metabolized carbohydrates (3-O-methyl-D-glucose, 3-O-MG, and 2-deoxy-D-glucose, 2-DG) into mouse spleen lymphocytes after their interaction with Acholeplasma laidlawii cells has been studied. Incubation of A. laidlawii cells and particularly the liposomes prepared from A. laidlawii membrane lipids enhances the rates of the both carbohydrates transport. This treatment resulted in increasing of the Vmax values of 3-O-MG and 2-DG without changing the Km values. This stimulation can be explained by the increasing of the mobility of membrane carbohydrates carriers as a result of the exchange of lipid components between Acholeplasma and lymphocyte membranes. Actually, it has been shown that liposomes derived from A. laidlawii cells grown on the medium with great amount of unsaturated oleic acid stimulate the transport activity more actively than liposomes prepared from the cells grown on the medium with bovine serum or with oleic acid plus cholesterol. It should be suggested that an activation of carbohydrates transport into lymphocytes caused by alteration of the carriers lipid microenvironment.

Immunological and functional activity of spleen lymphocytes from mice infected by Acholeplasma laidlawii cells and Rauscher virus.

The duration of Acholeplasma laidlawii antigen persistence in mice, resistant to Rausher leukemia virus, after infection with both A. laidlawii cells and Rausher virus has been studied. The antigen persistence was accompanied by marked depression of immune response which was especially severe in case of mixed acholeplasmavirus infection. Such immunosuppression and observed infiltration of the spleen with immature leukemic cells can be regarded as a preleukosis. Immunosuppression was accompanied by an increase of the transport of carbohydrates inthe lymphocytes. This stimulation an be explained by the exchange of lipid components between acholeplasma and lymphocyte membranes resulted in increase of lymphocyte membrane fluidity, or it may be due to the mitogenic effect of A. laidlawii cells and virus, accompanied by the same membrane effect.

Interactions of Acholeplasma laidlawii cells with mouse spleen lymphocytes.

Interaction between Acholeplasma laidlawii cells labelled with oleic acid and mouse spleen lymphocytes depended on the time of incubation, on the temperature and on the quantitative ratio between both cells. Uncouplers and EDTA did not influence the intensity of attachment. The resistance of binding to cytochalasin B amd glutaraldehyde as well as localization of A. laidlawii antigens on the lymphocyte surface and experiments with [14C] uridine-labelled mycoplasmas are an evidence against the participation of pinocytosis in this interaction. Prolonged attachment of intact A. laidlawii to washed lymphocytes can be excluded on the basis of an extremely low amount of CFU recovered from disrupted lymphocytes as well as by experiments with uridine-labelled A laidlawii. Specific receptors didn't take part in the binding, because proteolytic enzymes and neuraminidase treatment proved to be nonefficient. Increased binding of lymphocytes with liposomes prepared from mycoplasma lipids as well as the transfer of cholesterol from lymphocyte membrane to mycoplasma membrane demonstrate the participation of membrane lipids in this binding. It should also be mentioned that after the attachment between both cell types and fusion of A. laidlawii cells with lymphocytes takes place. The transfer of unsaturated fatty acids from mycoplasmas into lymphocyte membrane as well as lymphocyte membrane cholesterol into mycoplasma membranes are the consequence of fusion between both cells. The experiments with uncharged hydrophobic fluorescent probe 4-DMC are the direct proof of fusion and mutual exchange of lipid membrane components.