Evolving role of laminin receptors in microbial pathogenesis and therapeutics of CNS infection

ISSN： 1746-0913

Source： Future Microbiology, Vol.4, Iss.8, 2009-10, pp. : 959-962

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Abstract

Evaluation of: Orihuela CJ, Mahdavi J, Thornton J et al.: Laminin receptor initiates bacterial contact with the blood brain barrier in experimental meningitis models. J. Clin. Invest. 119(6), 1638––1646 (2009). Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis and Haemophilus influenzae are the common pathogens causing bacterial meningitis in childhood. Using in vitro and in vivo models of the blood––brain barrier, affinity chromatography, coimmunoprecipitation, retagging and in vivo imaging approaches, Orihuela et al. have demonstrated that the 37/67-kDa laminin receptor (LR) is a common receptor for all three bacteria on the surface of rodent and human brain microvascular endothelial cells. Pneumococcal choline-binding protein A, meningococcal pilus biogenesis protein Q and class 1 porin, and outer membrane protein P2 of H. influenzae have been identified by mutagenesis as the corresponding bacterial LR-binding adhesins. Their studies further suggest that the bacterial adhesins bind to a common adhesion-recognition site, which is present in the carboxyl terminus of LR. Since these bacterial adhesins and other microbial virulence factors bind to the same host receptor at the blood––brain barrier, LR may provide a broad-spectrum therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of the CNS infection.