Mannose-binding lectin-deficient mice are susceptible to infection with Staphylococcus aureus.
Gram-positive organisms like Staphylococcus aureus are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Humoral response molecules together with phagocytes play a role in host responses to S. aureus. The mannose-binding lectin (MBL, also known as mannose-binding protein) is an oligomeric serum molecule that recognizes carbohydrates decorating a broad range of infectious agents including S. aureus. Circumstantial evidence in vitro and in vivo suggests that MBL plays a key role in first line host defense. We tested this contention directly in vivo by generating mice that were devoid of all MBL activity. We found that 100% of MBL-null mice died 48 h after exposure to an intravenous inoculation of S. aureus compared with 45% mortality in wild-type mice. Furthermore, we demonstrated that neutrophils and MBL are required to limit intraperitoneal infection with S. aureus. Our study provides direct evidence that MBL plays a key role in restricting the complications associated with S. aureus infection in mice and raises the idea that the MBL gene may act as a disease susceptibility gene against staphylococci infections in humans.
Shi
Lei
L
Laboratory of Developmental Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, JRG 1402, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Takahashi
Kazue
K
Dundee
Joseph
J
Shahroor-Karni
Sarit
S
Thiel
Steffen
S
Jensenius
Jens Christian
JC
Gad
Faten
F
Hamblin
Michael R
MR
Sastry
Kedarnath N
KN
Ezekowitz
R Alan B
RA
D000818:Animals; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000276:immunology; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology; D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D012016:Reference Values; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013154:Spleen / Q000382:microbiology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin