Browsing by Author "Korir, Michelle L."

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    Streptococcus agalactiae cadD alleviates metal stress and promotes intracellular survival in macrophages and ascending infection during pregnancy
    (Springer Nature, 2022-09-14) Korir, Michelle L.; Doster, Ryan S.; Lu, Jacky; Guevara, Miriam A.; Spicer, Sabrina K.; Moore, Rebecca E.; Francis, Jamisha D.; Rogers, Lisa M.; Haley, Kathryn P.; Blackman, Amondrea; Noble, Kristen N.; Eastman, Alison J.; Williams, Janice A.; Damo, Steven M.; Boyd, Kelli L.; Townsend, Steven D.; Serezani, C. Henrique; Aronoff, David M.; Manning, Shannon D.; Gaddy, Jennifer A.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Perinatal infection with Streptococcus agalactiae, or Group B Streptococcus (GBS), is associated with preterm birth, neonatal sepsis, and stillbirth. Here, we study the interactions of GBS with macrophages, essential sentinel immune cells that defend the gravid reproductive tract. Transcriptional analyses of GBS-macrophage co-cultures reveal enhanced expression of a gene encoding a putative metal resistance determinant, cadD. Deletion of cadD reduces GBS survival in macrophages, metal efflux, and resistance to metal toxicity. In a mouse model of ascending infection during pregnancy, the ΔcadD strain displays attenuated bacterial burden, inflammation, and cytokine production in gestational tissues. Furthermore, depletion of host macrophages alters cytokine expression and decreases GBS invasion in a cadD-dependent fashion. Our results indicate that GBS cadD plays an important role in metal detoxification, which promotes immune evasion and bacterial proliferation in the pregnant host.
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    Streptococcus agalactiae npx Is Required for Survival in Human Placental Macrophages and Full Virulence in a Model of Ascending Vaginal Infection during Pregnancy
    (American Society for Microbiology, 2022-11-21) Lu, Jacky; Moore, Rebecca E.; Spice, Sabrina K.; Doster, Ryan S.; Guevara, Miriam A.; Francis, Jamisha D.; Noble, Kristen N.; Rogers, Lisa M.; Talbert, Julie A.; Korir, Michelle L.; Townsend, Steven D.; Aronoff, David M.; Manning, Shannon D.; Gaddy, Jennifer A.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Streptococcus agalactiae, also known as group B Streptococcus (GBS), is a Gram-positive encapsulated bacterium that colonizes the gastrointestinal tract of 30 to 50% of humans. GBS causes invasive infection during pregnancy that can lead to chorioamnionitis, funisitis, preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM), preterm birth, neonatal sepsis, and maternal and fetal demise. Upon infecting the host, GBS encounters sentinel innate immune cells, such as macrophages, within reproductive tissues. Once phagocytosed by macrophages, GBS upregulates the expression of the gene npx, which encodes an NADH peroxidase. GBS mutants with an npx deletion (Δnpx) are exquisitely sensitive to reactive oxygen stress. Furthermore, we have shown that npx is required for GBS survival in both THP-1 and placental macrophages. In an in vivo murine model of ascending GBS vaginal infection during pregnancy, npx is required for invading reproductive tissues and is critical for inducing disease progression, including PPROM and preterm birth. Reproductive tissue cytokine production was also significantly diminished in Δnpx mutant-infected animals compared to that in animals infected with wild-type (WT) GBS. Complementation in trans reversed this phenotype, indicating that npx is critical for GBS survival and the initiation of proinflammatory signaling in the gravid host.