Lipid Exchange between Borrelia burgdorferi and Host Cells

PLoS Pathogens

Jorge L. Benach¹  Alvaro M. Toledo²  Jameson T. Crowley²  James L. Coleman²  Timothy J. LaRocca³  Erwin London⁴ 

[1] Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America;Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Center for Infectious Diseases, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America;Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America;State of New York Department of Health, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America

关键词: Borrelia burgdorferi;    Cholesterol;    HeLa cells;    Lipids;    Spirochetes;    Cell membranes;    Fluorescence microscopy;    Vesicles;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.ppat.1003109

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, has cholesterol and cholesterol-glycolipids that are essential for bacterial fitness, are antigenic, and could be important in mediating interactions with cells of the eukaryotic host. We show that the spirochetes can acquire cholesterol from plasma membranes of epithelial cells. In addition, through fluorescent and confocal microscopy combined with biochemical approaches, we demonstrated that B. burgdorferi labeled with the fluorescent cholesterol analog BODIPY-cholesterol or 3H-labeled cholesterol transfer both cholesterol and cholesterol-glycolipids to HeLa cells. The transfer occurs through two different mechanisms, by direct contact between the bacteria and eukaryotic cell and/or through release of outer membrane vesicles. Thus, two-way lipid exchange between spirochetes and host cells can occur. This lipid exchange could be an important process that contributes to the pathogenesis of Lyme disease.

【 授权许可】

CC BY