Bacillus anthracis Spore Surface Protein BclA Mediates Complement Factor H Binding to Spores and Promotes Spore Persistence.
Spores of Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, are known to persist in the host lungs for prolonged periods of time, however the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that BclA, a major surface protein of B. anthracis spores, mediated direct binding of complement factor H (CFH) to spores. The surface bound CFH retained its regulatory cofactor activity resulting in C3 degradation and inhibition of downstream complement activation. By comparing results from wild type C57BL/6 mice and complement deficient mice, we further showed that BclA significantly contributed to spore persistence in the mouse lungs and dampened antibody responses to spores in a complement C3-dependent manner. In addition, prior exposure to BclA deletion spores (ΔbclA) provided significant protection against lethal challenges by B. anthracis, whereas the isogenic parent spores did not, indicating that BclA may also impair protective immunity. These results describe for the first time an immune inhibition mechanism of B. anthracis mediated by BclA and CFH that promotes spore persistence in vivo. The findings also suggested an important role of complement in persistent infections and thus have broad implications.
Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
Yanyu
0000-0001-5731-3225
Y
Wang
Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
Sarah A
SA
Jenkins
Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
Chunfang
C
Gu
Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
Ankita
0000-0002-3359-0313
A
Shree
Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.|Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, Texas, United States of America.
Margarita
M
Martinez-Moczygemba
Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
Jennifer
J
Herold
Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Marina
M
Botto
The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
Rick A
RA
Wetsel
Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.|Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, Texas, United States of America.
Yi
Y
Xu
D000818:Animals; D000881:Anthrax / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D017242:Complement Factor H / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology*; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
C470593:BclA protein, Bacillus anthracis; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D017242:Complement Factor H