Lipoteichoic acids on Lactobacillus plantarum cell surfaces correlate with induction of interleukin-12p40 production.
Heat-killed cells of Lactobacillus plantarum L-137 are potent inducers of IL-12 in vitro as well as in vivo and have been shown to have antiallergic, antitumor, and antiviral effects through this induction, which leads to a Th1 type immune response. To determine why L-137 cells induce much greater IL-12 production than the type strain Lactobacillus plantarum JCM1149, we examined the differences in their CW components. The L-137 CW was found to have a higher alanine content and IL-12p40 induction was significantly greater in comparison with JCM1149 CW, whereas peptidoglycans isolated from both strains did not cause IL-12p40 induction. Because in purified CW preparations from gram-positive bacteria, the presence of LTA, the major proinflammatory structure on these bacteria, has been known to have high alanine content, we investigated the responsiveness of both strains to anti-LTA antibody by flow cytometry. L-137 cells reacted more with anti-LTA antibody than did JCM1149 cells. Furthermore, derivative strains of L-137, cured of a specific plasmid pLTK11 of the 15 endogenous plasmids in wild-type L-137, had poor responsiveness to anti-LTA antibody and showed lower IL-12p40 inducing activity than the wild-type L-137 with pLTK11. Our results suggest that LTA expression on the cell surface causes IL-12p40 induction, and that the above internal plasmid of L-137 influences LTA synthesis and expression on the cell surface.
Food Science Research Center, House Wellness Foods Corporation, 3-20 Imoji, Itami 664-0011, Japan. Hirose_Yoshitaka@house-wf.co.jp
Yoshitaka
Y
Hirose
Shinji
S
Murosaki
Takashi
T
Fujiki
Yoshihiro
Y
Yamamoto
Yasunobu
Y
Yoshikai
Mitsuo
M
Yamashita
D000818:Animals; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D053762:Interleukin-12 Subunit p40 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D048191:Lactiplantibacillus plantarum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D023421:Models, Animal; D013682:Teichoic Acids / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
D053762:Interleukin-12 Subunit p40; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D013682:Teichoic Acids; C009900:lipoteichoic acid