In vitro studies of Rickettsia-host cell interactions: Confocal laser scanning microscopy of Rickettsia helvetica-infected eukaryotic cell lines.

ABSTRACT: Rickettsia (R.) helvetica is the most prevalent rickettsia found in Ixodes ricinus ticks in Germany. Several studies reported antibodies against R. helvetica up to 12.5% in humans investigated, however, fulminant clinical cases are rare indicating a rather low pathogenicity compared to other rickettsiae. We investigated growth characteristics of R. helvetica isolate AS819 in two different eukaryotic cell lines with focus on ultra-structural changes of host cells during infection determined by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Further investigations included partially sequencing of rickA, sca4 and sca2 genes, which have been reported to encode proteins involved in cell-to-cell spread and virulence in some rickettsiae. R. helvetica grew constantly but slowly in both cell lines used. Confoc

SUBMITTER: Speck S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5825168 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature