Silkworm apolipophorin protein inhibits Staphylococcus aureus virulence

Yuichi Hanada, Kazuhisa Sekimizu, Chikara Kaito

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Silkworm hemolymph inhibits hemolysin production by Staphylococcus aureus. We purified a factor in the silkworm hemolymph responsible for this inhibitory activity. The final fraction with the greatest specific activity contained 220- and 74-kDa proteins. Determination of the N-terminal amino acid sequence revealed that the 220- and 74-kDa proteins were apolipophorin I and apolipophorin II, respectively, indicating that the factor was apolipophorin (ApoLp). The purified ApoLp fraction showed decreased expression of S. aureus hla encoding α-hemolysin, hlb encoding β-hemolysin, saeRS, and RNAIII, which activate the expression of these hemolysin genes. Injection of an anti-ApoLp antibody into the hemolymph increased the sensitivity of silkworms to the lethal effect of S. aureus. Hog gastric mucin, a mammalian homologue of ApoLp, decreased the expression of S. aureus hla and hlb. These findings suggest that ApoLp in the silkworm hemolymph inhibits S. aureus virulence and contributes to defense against S. aureus infection and that its activity is conserved in mammalian mucin.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)39360-39369
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
Volume286
Issue number45
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 11 2011
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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