The minor pilin PilV provides a conserved adhesion site throughout the antigenically variable meningococcal type IV pilus.

ABSTRACT: Neisseria meningitidis utilizes type IV pili (T4P) to adhere to and colonize host endothelial cells, a process at the heart of meningococcal invasive diseases leading to meningitis and sepsis. T4P are polymers of an antigenically variable major pilin building block, PilE, plus several core minor pilins that initiate pilus assembly and are thought to be located at the pilus tip. Adhesion of N. meningitidis to human endothelial cells requires both PilE and a conserved noncore minor pilin PilV, but the localization of PilV and its precise role in this process remains to be clarified. Here, we show that both PilE and PilV promote adhesion to endothelial vessels in vivo. The substantial adhesion defect observed for pilV mutants suggests it is the main adhesin. Consistent with this observation,

SUBMITTER: Barnier JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8609321 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature