The Meningococcal Cysteine Transport System Plays a Crucial Role in Neisseria meningitidis Survival in Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells.

ABSTRACT: While Neisseria meningitidis typically exists in an asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriage state, it may cause potentially lethal diseases in humans, such as septicemia or meningitis, by invading deeper sites in the body. Since the nutrient compositions of human cells are not always conducive to meningococci, N. meningitidis needs to exploit nutrients from host environments. In the present study, the utilization of cysteine by the meningococcal cysteine transport system (CTS) was analyzed for the pathogenesis of meningococcal infections. A N. meningitidis strain deficient in one of the three cts genes annotated as encoding cysteine-binding protein (cbp) exhibited approximately 100-fold less internalization into human brain microvascular endothelial cells (H

SUBMITTER: Takahashi H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6299482 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature