title: Deletion of the Small RNA Chaperone Protein Hfq down Regulates Genes Related to Virulence and Confers Protection against Wild-Type Brucella Challenge in Mice.
abstract: Brucellosis is one of the most common zoonotic epidemics worldwide. Brucella, the etiological pathogen of brucellosis, has unique virulence characteristics, including the ability to survive within the host cell. Hfq is a bacterial chaperone protein that is involved in the survival of the pathogen under stress conditions. Moreover, hfq affects the expression of a large number of target genes. In the present study, we characterized the expression and regulatory patterns of the target genes of Hfq during brucellosis. The results revealed that hfq expression is highly induced in macrophages at the early infection stage and at the late stage of mouse infection. Several genes related to virulence, including omp25, omp31, vjbR, htrA, gntR, and dnaK, were found to be regulated by hfq during infection in BALB/c mice. Gene expression and cytokine secretion analysis revealed that an hfq-deletion mutant induced different cytokine profiles compared with that induced by 16M. Infection with the hfq-deletion mutant induced protective immune responses against 16M challenge. Together, these results suggest that hfq is induced during infection and its deletion results in significant attenuation which affects the host immune response caused by Brucella infection. By regulating genes related to virulence, hfq promotes the virulence of Brucella. The unique characteristics of the hfq-deletion mutant, including its decreased virulence and the ability to induce protective immune response upon infection, suggest that it represents an attractive candidate for the design of a live attenuated vaccine against Brucella.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Shuangshuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Zhijun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Academy of Military Medical Science Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yuehua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Academy of Military Medical Science Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Mingjuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Academy of Military Medical Science Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Academy of Military Medical Science Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Academy of Military Medical Science Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jiuyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Academy of Military Medical ScienceBeijing, China; Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Inner Mongolia Medical UniversityHohhot, China.
authors.forename: Jiuxuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Academy of Military Medical Science Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Experimental Animal Center, Academy of Medical Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yefeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Inner Mongolia Medical University Hohhot, China.
authors.forename: Yanchun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, The General Hospital of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yufei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Disease and Human Health of Sichuan Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Guangneng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Academy of Military Medical ScienceBeijing, China; College of Medicine, Shihezi UniversityShihezi, China.
authors.forename: Zeliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: brucellosis; hfq; host immune response; protective immunity; virulence-related genes
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