title: Porcine brain microvascular endothelial cell-derived interleukin-8 is first induced and then degraded by Streptococcus suis.
abstract: Streptococcus suis is a major pathogen of swine, causing mainly meningitis, and it also represents an emerging zoonotic agent. We investigated its ability to induce the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines by porcine brain microvascular endothelial cells (PBMEC). We demonstrated that live S. suis induced a strong release of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 by PBMEC. We showed that the suilysin (hemolysin) was largely responsible for such stimulation, although cell wall components also contribute to cell stimulation but to a considerably lower extent. Interestingly, IL-8 production by PBMEC became undetectable by increasing either the incubation time or bacterial concentration of certain live S. suis strains. We further demonstrated that this decrease of IL-8 levels was probably linked to the production of a serine protease by S. suis. Our results suggest that S. suis can induce an exacerbated release of inflammatory mediators by swine endothelial cells that could cause a massive recruitment of leukocytes and subsequent blood-brain barrier breakdown facilitating the pathogenesis of S. suis-induced meningitis. In addition, S. suis could modulate this response by degrading IL-8 which might delay recruitment of S. suis killer-neutrophils to the site of inflammation, allowing this pathogen to survive upon its arrival to central nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses du Porc (GREMIP), Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC J2S2M2, Canada.
authors.forename: Ghyslaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vanier
authors.forename: Mariela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Segura
authors.forename: Marie-Pier
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Lecours
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grenier
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gottschalk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000276:immunology*; D002460:Cell Line; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D017011:Streptococcus suis / Q000276:immunology*; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016209:Interleukin-8; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases