Obligate intracellular bacterium Ehrlichia inhibiting mitochondrial activity.
Ehrlichia are obligately intracellular bacteria that reside in a vacuole in the cytoplasm of phagocytes. We determined by confocal microscopy the interaction between Ehrlichia and mitochondria in DH82 cells to investigate the mechanism of Ehrlichia survival inside the phagocyte. The most remarkable finding of our study was that Ehrlichia morulae interacted with mitochondria and inhibited mitochondrial metabolism. We showed that in Ehrlichia chaffeensis-infected DH82 cells, mitochondria did not incorporate BrdU and transcriptional level of the mitochondrial gene NADPH2 was significantly reduced, indicating the inhibition of mitochondrial metabolism. This study demonstrates that Ehrlichia are able to inhibit mitochondrial activities, and it opens up a new avenue for the study of Ehrlichia pathogenesis.
Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, USA.
Yan
Y
Liu
Zhikai
Z
Zhang
Yongquan
Y
Jiang
Lihong
L
Zhang
Vsevolod L
VL
Popov
Jianzhi
J
Zhang
David H
DH
Walker
Xue-jie
XJ
Yu
D000818:Animals; D016590:Aphidicolin / Q000494:pharmacology; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000494:pharmacology; D002460:Cell Line; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D004285:Dogs; D004536:Ehrlichia / Q000502:physiology*; D016873:Ehrlichiosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006644:Histiocytes; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000502:physiology; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D051336:Mitochondrial Membranes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D016590:Aphidicolin; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine