ABSTRACT
Group B streptococci (GBS) have been cultured from the chorioamnionic membrane of pregnant women, usually in association with chorioamnionitis and premature labor (K. A. Boggess, D. H. Watts, S. L. Hillier, M. A. Krohn, T. J. Benedetti, and D. A. Eschenbach, Obstet. Gynecol. 87:779-784, 1996). Colonization and infection of placental membranes can be a prelude to neonatal GBS infections even in the presence of intact membranes (R. L. Naeye and E. C. Peters, Pediatrics 61:171-177, 1978), suggesting that GBS cause chorioamnionitis or establish amniotic fluid infections by partial or complete penetration of the placental membranes. We have isolated and grown cultures of primary chorion and amnion cells from human cesarean-section placentas. This has provided a biologically relevant model for investigating GBS adherence to and invasion of the two epithelial barriers of the placental membrane. GBS adhered to chorion cell monolayers to a high degree. Pretreatment of GBS with trypsin reduced adherence up to 10-fold, which suggested that the bacterial ligand(s) was a protein. GBS invaded chorion cells at a high rate in vitro, and invasion was dependent on cellular actin polymerization. GBS could be seen within intracellular vacuoles of chorion cells by transmission electron microscopy. We also demonstrated that GBS were capable of transcytosing through intact chorion cell monolayers without disruption of intracellular junctions. GBS also adhered to amnion cells; in contrast, however, these bacteria failed to invade amnion cells under a variety of assay conditions. GBS interactions with the chorion epithelial cell layer shown here correlate well with epidemiological and pathological studies of GBS chorioamnionitis. Our data also suggest that the amnion cell layer may provide an effective barrier against infection of the amniotic fluid.
Subject(s)
Amnion/microbiology , Chorion/microbiology , Streptococcus agalactiae/pathogenicity , Amnion/cytology , Amnion/ultrastructure , Bacterial Adhesion , Biological Transport , Cells, Cultured , Chorion/cytology , Chorion/ultrastructure , Culture Techniques/methods , Female , Humans , PregnancyABSTRACT
Group A streptococci bind the serine protease plasmin with high affinity. Previously, a 41 kDa protein was identified as a candidate plasmin receptor protein (Plr) from group A streptococcal strain 64/14. The plr gene encoding Plr was cloned and the deduced amino acid sequence of Plr had significant similarity to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases (GAPDHs). In this study we have isolated cytoplasmic GAPDH of streptococcal strain 64/14. This enzyme was examined, on both structural and functional levels, for its relatedness to the Plr of strain 64/14 purified from mutanolysin extract and to recombinant Plr. We report here that no differences were detected between streptococcal Plr and cytoplasmic GAPDH on the basis of antibody reactivity, plasmin-binding activity, GAPDH activity, N-terminal amino acid sequence, peptide map analysis by V8 protease digestion and amino acid composition analysis. Furthermore, the plr gene appears to be present as a single copy in group A streptococci.