Zinc metalloproteinase ZmpC suppresses experimental pneumococcal meningitis by inhibiting bacterial invasion of central nervous systems.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of bacterial meningitis. Here, we investigated whether pneumococcal paralogous zinc metalloproteases contribute to meningitis onset. Findings of codon-based phylogenetic analyses indicated 3 major clusters in the Zmp family; ZmpA, ZmpC, and ZmpB, with ZmpD as a subgroup. In vitro invasion assays of human brain microvascular endothelial cells (hBMECs) showed that deletion of the zmpC gene in S. pneumoniae strain TIGR4 significantly increased bacterial invasion into hBMECs, whereas deletion of either zmpA or zmpB had no effect. In a mouse meningitis model, the zmpC deletion mutant exhibited increased invasion of the brain and was associated with increased matrix metalloproteinase-9 in plasma and mortality as compared with the wild type. We conclude

SUBMITTER: Yamaguchi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5810488 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature