Plague Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Plague, including details on bubonic plague, yersinia pestis, infection, types, treatment.

Attachment of Yersinia pestis to human respiratory cell lines is inhibited by certain oligosaccharides.

Thomas R, Brooks T

Defence, Science & Technology Laboratories, Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK. rjthomas@dstl.gov.uk

Pneumonic plague is an aggressive disease that is clinically difficult to treat. Inhibition of attachment using oligosaccharide receptor mimics may provide an alternative to antibiotics. The virulent Yersinia pestis strain GB was demonstrated to attach to the murine monocyte cell line (J774A.1) and a range of human respiratory epithelial cell lines: nasal (RPMI-2650), bronchial (BEAS2-B) and alveolar (A549). Attachment was greatest to the A549 and BEAS2-B cell lines. Pre-treatment of the cell lines with tunicamycin reduced attachment by 55-65 %, indicating the importance of cell-surface carbohydrates in adhesion. The cell lines displayed differences in the oligosaccharides that inhibited attachment. p-Nitrophenol was the best inhibitor for each cell line. Disaccharides such as GalNAcbeta1-3Gal and GalNAcbeta1-4Gal were also good inhibitors, particularly for the RPMI-2650 cell line. This demonstrates the potential of oligosaccharides as potential anti-adhesion therapeutics.

Published 14 February 2006 in J Med Microbiol, 55: 309-15.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Plague Research Today. All Rights Reserved.