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Fig. 1. LOS is required for the efficient internalization of N. meningitidis into human endothelial cells. (A) LOS structures of the wild-type, ${Delta}$ rfaC, ${Delta}$ lgtA and ${Delta}$ lgtE mutant strains. The inner core structure of the LOS molecule of N. meningitidis consists of two molecules of 3-deoxy-D-manno-2-octulosonic acid (Kdo) attached to a lipid A. The oligosaccharide core consists of two heptose residues attached to the Kdo by the heptosyltransferase I RfaC and a lacto-N-neotetraose ${alpha}$ -chain added by glycosyl transferases such as LgtA or LgtE. LOS can be further modified by the addition of terminal sialic-acid (NeuNAc) moieties. By inactivating rfaC, the ${Delta}$ rfaC mutant strains produced contain only the lipid A moiety and the two Kdos of the LOS structure. ${Delta}$ lgtA and ${Delta}$ lgtE mutants express a truncated oligosaccharide structure. (B) HBMECs were infected with the wild-type (WT) or the isogenic rfaC ( ${Delta}$ rfaC), lgtA ( ${Delta}$ lgtA), lgtE ( ${Delta}$ lgtE) or mtrC ( ${Delta}$ mtrC) defective mutants of the 2C43 strain of N. meningitidis. After 30 minutes of contact, the number of adherent bacteria in relation to the number of bacteria contained in the inocula was determined (left). After 3 hours, the number of internalized bacteria in relation to the number of adherent bacteria was determined (right). Average values (± s.e.m.) from one representative experiment out of four independent experiments performed in triplicate are presented.

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