Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0043167 (pertussis)
 19,595 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have characterized a new virulence factor in Bordetella pertussis: serum resistance. Compared with Escherichia coli HB101, wild-type B. pertussis was relatively resistant to classical-pathway, complement-dependent killing by normal human serum. However, a mutant of B. pertussis (BPM2041) which is less virulent in mice and which has Tn5 lac inserted in a previously uncharacterized bvg-regulated gene was found to be at least 10-fold more susceptible to serum killing than the wild type. We have named this locus brk, for Bordetella resistance to killing. We have cloned and sequenced the brk locus, and it encodes two divergently transcribed open reading frames (ORFs), termed BrkA and BrkB. Both ORFs are necessary for serum resistance. Within the 300 bases which separate the two ORFs and upstream of each ORF are putative sites for BvgA binding. BrkA shows 29% identity to pertactin and has two RGD motifs in addition to a conserved proteolytic processing site and an outer membrane targeting signal. Like pertactin, BrkA is involved in adherence and invasion. Despite the similarities, a pertactin mutant was found to be not as sensitive to serum killing as the BrkA or BrkB mutants. BrkB is similar to ORFs in E. coli and Mycobacterium leprae and displays domains of homology to various transporters. On the basis of its hydropathy profile, BrkB is predicted to be a cytoplasmic membrane protein. By Southern blot, brk sequences were found in Bordetella bronchiseptica and Bordetella parapertussis but not in Bordetella avium.
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PMID:Cloning and sequencing of a Bordetella pertussis serum resistance locus. 792 48

We examined the susceptibilities of Bordetella pertussis strains to several antimicrobial peptides by determining the concentration required to inhibit or kill 50% of the bacterial population. The peptides are ranked in decreasing potency as follows: cecropin B > cecropin A >> melittin > cecropin P1 > (ala8,13,18)-magainin II amide > mastoparan = defensin HNP1 > protamine > or = magainin II = magainin I. By using a radial diffusion assay to compare susceptibilities between strains, wild-type B. pertussis BP338 was more resistant than the avirulent bvg mutant strain BP347 and the brk mutant strain BPM2041 to killing by cecropin P1. In contrast, compared with the wild type, the avirulent BP347 strain was highly resistant to killing by protamine and defensin HNP1.
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PMID:Susceptibilities of Bordetella pertussis strains to antimicrobial peptides. 884 26