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Expression of PE_PGRS 62 protein in Mycobacterium smegmatis decrease mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6 in macrophages

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Abstract

The pathogenesis of tuberculosis causing Mycobacterium bovis is largely due to its successful entry and survival in macrophages. Previous research indicated that mycobacteria-specific PE_PGRS genes code for cell surface proteins which may have role in mediating interactions with macrophages. In this study, we expressed PE_PGRS 62 gene in a non-pathogenic fast growing Mycobacterium smegmatis strain and found that the recombinant Mycobacterium smegmatis decreased macrophages livability in a dosage-dependent manner and time-dependent manner, compared with parental strain containing the vector only. To explore whether PE_PGRS 62 modulates the gene expression profile of macrophages, we stimulated macrophages by the M. smegmatis strain expressing PE_PGRS 62 as well as the control strains, followed by real-time RT–PCR assay for the mRNA expression level of IL-1β, IL-6, and iNOS. The results showed that the expression of IL-1β, IL-6 in macrophages were down-regulated by stimulation with the M. smegmatis strain expressing PE_PGRS 62 compared to the control strains (P < 0.05). In contrast, there were no measurable differences in the expression of iNOS. Overall, we demonstrated that PE_PGRS 62 protein altered the immune environment of the host cells, which suggest that the pathogenic PE_PGRS 62 protein altering the immune mechanism maybe involved in the pathogenesis of mycobacterial disease.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Ministry of Agriculture Key Program, China (Project No. 2009ZX08008-010B), Ministry of Agriculture Key Program, China (Project No. 2009ZX08007-008B), P Ministry of Agriculture Key Program, China (Project No. 2009ZX08009-183B), Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 30871854) and National Science and Technology Supporting Program of China (Project No. 2006BAD06A13).

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Correspondence to Deming Zhao.

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Huang, Y., Wang, Y., Bai, Y. et al. Expression of PE_PGRS 62 protein in Mycobacterium smegmatis decrease mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6 in macrophages. Mol Cell Biochem 340, 223–229 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-010-0421-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-010-0421-x

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