Leptospira Leptolysin Contributes to Serum Resistance but Is Not Essential for Acute Infection.

ABSTRACT: Previous in vitro works focusing on virulence determinants of the spirochete Leptospira implicated metalloproteinases as putative contributing factors to the pathogenicity of these bacteria. Those proteins have the capacity to degrade extracellular matrix components (ECM) and proteins of host's innate immunity, notably effectors of the complement system. In this study, we gained further knowledge on the role of leptolysin, one of the leptospiral-secreted metalloproteinases, previously described as having a broad substrate specificity. We demonstrated that a proportion of human patients with mild leptospirosis evaluated in the current study produced antibodies that recognize leptolysin, thus indicating that the protease is expressed during host infection. Using recombinant protein and a kno

SUBMITTER: Dos Santos Courrol D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11682033 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature