title: Toll-like receptor 2 is partially involved in the activation of murine astrocytes by Streptococcus suis, an important zoonotic agent of meningitis.
abstract: The murine astrocyte response to virulent Streptococcus suis, a swine and an emerging human meningitis-causing pathogen, is reported. Albeit astrocytes do not internalize S. suis, all S. suis strains studied enhanced Toll-like receptor (TLR)2 expression and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and inducible nitric oxide synthase. Cell wall components and hemolysin (suilysin) are shown to be mainly responsible for cell activation. Astrocytes from TLR2 knockout mice presented a partial but significant reduction of S. suis-induced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. These results contribute to increase the knowledge on mechanisms underlying S. suis inflammation in the brain.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: María C Domínguez
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Punaro
authors.forename: Mariela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Segura
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lachance
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rivest
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Houde
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gottschalk
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology; D006224:Cricetinae; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000502:physiology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D017011:Streptococcus suis / Q000472:pathogenicity; D013997:Time Factors; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2 / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C493486:Tlr2 protein, mouse; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II