Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P00750 (PLA)
 16,800 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A PCR method for detection of Yersinia pestis-virulence determinants by the use of multiplex primers was developed. Four pairs of oligonucleotide primers were designed from each gene of three kinds of virulent plasmids and a chromosomal DNA; 60-Md plasmid-located gene (caf1)encoding Y.pestis-specific capsular antigen fraction 1, a Y.pestis-specific region of a yopM gene encoded on 42-Md virulent plasmid, a plasminogen activator gene (pla) encoded on Y.pestis-specific 7-Md plasmid and an invasin protein gene (inv) encoded on chromosomal DNA. This multiplex-primer system was specific for the detection of Y.pestis among pathogenic Yersinia species and other enterobacteriaceae having antigens common to Y.pestis. Since this method is simple and safe, it will be useful to identify and confirm Y.pestis in cases of emergency and for the surveillance of epidemics.
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PMID:Detection and identification of Yersinia pestis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using multiplex primers. 898 52

The primary structure of a 2671 bp DNA fragment between the pla gene (encoding plasminogen activator) and the origin of replication of the wild-type Yersinia pestis plasmid pYP358 was determined. Two ORFs of 1074 and 426 bp with opposite transcription polarities were identified on both strands. They encode a 357 aa pesticin activity protein (Pst) and a 141 aa pesticin immunity polypeptide (Pim). A GC-rich palindromic structure located between pst and pim can form a hairpin loop and serve as rho-independent transcription terminator sequences for both genes. The site for the interaction with the LexA repressor of the SOS system was found in another palindromic structure preceding the pst structural gene. A deduced 39.9 kDa Pst polypeptide is devoid of a signal peptide, indicating a Sec-independent mode of export. Pst carries a pentapeptide typical of TonB-dependent colicins (TonB box) that is necessary for the interaction with the yersiniabactin/pesticin receptor and for active energy-dependent transport through the outer membrane. The substitution of the last five C-terminal amino acids did not significantly influence the bactericidal activity of the truncated pesticin. The pesticin lost its ability to kill sensitive bacteria and to bind to a pesticin receptor after deletion of the last 57 C-terminal amino acids. A deduced 16 kDa Pim protein has an N-terminal hydrophobic amino acid stretch with features typical of prokaryotic signal peptides. Pim is a slightly hydrophilic protein with a basic pl. The immunity protein was localized in the periplasmic space and in the outer-membrane fraction after its overexpression under the polymerase T7 promoter. Several other ORFs were identified on the sequenced 2671 bp fragment, but none of them seemed to encode a typical lysis peptide, which is necessary for the release of the pesticin. In the promoter region and in the regions preceding and following the pst operon, the DNA sequence has high (> 70%) identity with other colicin genes. The DNA sequence located 284 bp upstream of the pim gene showed more than 90% similarity to antisense RNA I of the ColE1 replicon. This defined the location of the pYP358 origin of ColE1-type replication.
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PMID:Structural and functional organization of the Yersinia pestis bacteriocin pesticin gene cluster. 900 4

The 5' nuclease PCR assay uses a fluorescently labeled oligonucleotide probe (TaqMan) to rapidly detect and quantitate DNA templates in clinical samples. We developed a 5' nuclease PCR assay targeting the plasminogen activator gene (pla) of Yersinia pestis. The assay is species specific, with a detection threshold of 2.1 x 10(5) copies of the pla target or 1.6 pg of total cell DNA. The assay detected Y. pestis in experimentally infected Xenopsylla cheopis fleas and in experimentally infected monkey blood and oropharyngeal swabs. The TaqMan assay is simple to perform and rapid and shows promise as a future field-adaptable technique.
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PMID:5' nuclease PCR assay to detect Yersinia pestis. 966 6

Ancient septicemic plague epidemics were reported to have killed millions of people for 2 millenniums. However, confident diagnosis of ancient septicemia solely on the basis of historical clinical observations is not possible. The lack of suitable infected material has prevented direct demonstration of ancient septicemia; thus, the history of most infections such as plague remains hypothetical. The durability of dental pulp, together with its natural sterility, makes it a suitable material on which to base such research. We hypothesized that it would be a lasting refuge for Yersinia pestis, the plague agent. DNA extracts were made from the dental pulp of 12 unerupted teeth extracted from skeletons excavated from 16th and 18th century French graves of persons thought to have died of plague ("plague teeth") and from 7 ancient negative control teeth. PCRs incorporating ancient DNA extracts and primers specific for the human beta-globin gene demonstrated the absence of inhibitors in these preparations. The incorporation of primers specific for Y. pestis rpoB (the RNA polymerase beta-subunit-encoding gene) and the recognized virulence-associated pla (the plasminogen activator-encoding gene) repeatedly yielded products that had a nucleotide sequence indistinguishable from that of modern day isolates of the bacterium. The specific pla sequence was obtained from 6 of 12 plague skeleton teeth but 0 of 7 negative controls (P < 0.034, Fisher exact test). A nucleic acid-based confirmation of ancient plague was achieved for historically identified victims, and we have confirmed the presence of the disease at the end of 16th century in France. Dental pulp is an attractive target in the quest to determine the etiology of septicemic illnesses detected in ancient corpses. Molecular techniques could be applied to this material to resolve historical outbreaks.
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PMID:Detection of 400-year-old Yersinia pestis DNA in human dental pulp: an approach to the diagnosis of ancient septicemia. 977 May 38

Yersinia pestis, the plague bacillus, has a plasminogen activator (pla) gene on the 9.5-kb plasmid pPla that is hypothesized to play a role in producing the foregut blockage in the flea vector that precedes transmission. In this study, however, Y. pestis that lacked pPla, the 70-kb virulence plasmid, or both plasmids, proved able to block Xenopsylla cheopis fleas normally. Blockage rates decreased with increasing environmental temperature for fleas infected with either wild type or pPla- Y. pestis. Thus, procoagulant ability of the Y. pestis pla gene product does not mediate blockage, nor does its ability to induce fibrinolysis at>28 degreesC account for failure to block at elevated temperatures. A Y. pestis strain that lacked all or part of the third plasmid of 110 kb, however, failed to colonize the flea midgut normally, indicating that one or more genes on the large plasmid may be required for vectorborne transmission.
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PMID:Evaluation of the role of the Yersinia pestis plasminogen activator and other plasmid-encoded factors in temperature-dependent blockage of the flea. 978 Feb 62

Yersinia pestis, the etiologic agent of plague, carries three prototypic plasmids with sizes of 110 kb (pFra, pTox), 70 kb (pLcr, pVW, pCad), and 9.5 kb (pPla, pPst). Studies suggest that geographic isolates of Y. pestis may be differentiated by plasmid profiles. Yersinia pestis isolated from the western United States harbor an additional plasmid, estimated to be approximately 19 kb in size. This cryptic plasmid was characterized by restriction endonuclease digestion, amplification and sequencing of the plasminogen activator gene segment, Southern blotting, and visualized by electron microscopy. Results revealed that this cryptic plasmid is a supercoiled DNA plasmid, 18.85+/-0.59 (mean+/-SD) kb in length, and is a dimer of the 9.5-kb plasmid. The genetic reason for the appearance of this form of the 9.5-kb plasmid in Y. pestis from Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas is under study.
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PMID:A cryptic 19-kilobase plasmid associated with U.S. isolates of Yersinia pestis: a dimer of the 9.5-kilobase plasmid. 984 May 81

Enteropathogenic yersiniae (Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia enterocolitica) typically cause chronic disease as opposed to the closely related Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of bubonic plague. It is established that this difference reflects, in part, carriage by Y. pestis of a unique 9.6-kb pesticin or Pst plasmid (pPCP) encoding plasminogen activator (Pla) rather than distinctions between shared approximately 70-kb low-calcium-response, or Lcr, plasmids (pCD in Y. pestis and pYV in enteropathogenic yersiniae) encoding cytotoxic Yops and anti-inflammatory V antigen. Pla is known to exist as a combination of 32.6-kDa (alpha-Pla) and slightly smaller (beta-Pla) outer membrane proteins, of which at least one promotes bacterial dissemination in vivo and degradation of Yops in vitro. We show here that only alpha-Pla accumulates in Escherichia coli LE392/pPCP1 cultivated in enriched medium and that either autolysis or extraction of this isolate with 1.0 M NaCl results in release of soluble alpha and beta forms possessing biological activity. This process also converted cell-bound alpha-Pla to beta-Pla and smaller forms in Y. pestis KIM/pPCP1 and Y. pseudotuberculosis PB1/+/pPCP1 but did not promote solubilization. Pla-mediated posttranslational hydrolysis of pulse-labeled Yops in Y. pseudotuberculosis PB1/+/pPCP1 occurred more slowly than that in Y. pestis but was otherwise similar except for accumulation of stable degradation products of YadA, a pYV-mediated fibrillar adhesin not encoded in frame by pCD. Carriage of pPCP by Y. pseudotuberculosis did not significantly influence virulence in mice.
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PMID:Expression of the plague plasminogen activator in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Escherichia coli. 1002 83

There is limited information concerning the nature and extent of the immune response to the virulence determinants of Yersinia pestis during the course of plague infection. In this study, we evaluated the humoral immune response of mice that survived lethal Y. pestis aerosol challenge after antibiotic treatment. Such a model may replicate the clinical situation in humans and indicate which virulence determinants are expressed in vivo. Immunoglobulin G enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblotting were performed by using purified, recombinant antigens including F1, V antigen, YpkA, YopH, YopM, YopB, YopD, YopN, YopE, YopK, plasminogen activator protease (Pla), and pH 6 antigen as well as purified lipopolysaccharide. The major antigens recognized by murine convalescent sera were F1, V antigen, YopH, YopM, YopD, and Pla. Early treatment with antibiotics tended to reduce the immune response and differences between antibiotic treatment regimens were noted. These results may indicate that only some virulence factors are expressed and/or immunogenic during infection. This information may prove useful for selecting potential vaccine candidates and for developing improved serologic diagnostic assays.
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PMID:Immune response to Yersinia outer proteins and other Yersinia pestis antigens after experimental plague infection in mice. 1008 37

The first temperature-dependent proteins (expressed at 37 degrees C, but not 26 degrees C) to be identified in Yersinia pestis were antigens 3 (fraction 1), 4 (pH 6 antigen), and 5 (hereafter termed KatY). Antigens 3 and 4 are now established virulence factors, whereas little is known about KatY, except that it is encoded chromosomally, produced in abundance, possesses modest catalase activity, and is shared by Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, but not Yersinia enterocolitica. We report here an improved chromatographic method (DEAE-cellulose, calcium hydroxylapatite, and Sephadex G-150) that yields enzymatically active KatY (2,423 U/mg of protein). Corresponding mouse monoclonal antibody 1B70.1 detected plasminogen activator-mediated hydrolysis of KatY, and a polyclonal rabbit antiserum raised against outer membranes of Y. pestis was enriched for anti-KatY. A sequenced approximately 16-kb Y. pestis DNA insert of a positive pLG338 clone indicated that katY encodes an 81.4-kDa protein (pI 6.98) containing a leader sequence of 2.6 kDa; the deduced molecular mass and pI of processed KatY were 78.8 kDa and 6. 43, respectively. A minor truncated variant (predicted molecular mass of 53.6 kDa) was also expressed. KatY is similar (39 to 59% identity) to vegetative bacterial catalase-peroxidases (KatG in Escherichia coli) and is closely related to plasmid-encoded KatP of enterohemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7 (75% identity). katY encoded a putative Ca2+-binding site, and its promoter contained three homologues to the consensus recognition sequence of the pCD-encoded transcriptional activator LcrF. rbsA was located upstream of katY, and cybB, cybC, dmsABC, and araD were mapped downstream. These genes are not linked to katG or katP in E. coli.
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PMID:Molecular characterization of KatY (antigen 5), a thermoregulated chromosomally encoded catalase-peroxidase of Yersinia pestis. 1032 12

In contrast to target amplification methods, e.g. polymerase chain reaction, the branched DNA (bDNA) signal amplification method quantitates target nucleic acid at physiological levels, involving a series of hybridization reactions without thermal cycling. In this report, we describe a modification of the bDNA assay in which a <<concatenated>> preamplifier oligonucleotide (206 mer) is used in concert with ELISA and light addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) formats to detect the plasminogen activator (pla) gene of Yersinia pestis, the etiological agent of plague. Pla is encoded by a 9.6-kb plasmid pPCP, which is essential for virulence. The detection limit of the bDNA-ELISA and LAPS assays is less than 10 000 and 1000 molecules of Y. pestis plasmid DNA, respectively.
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PMID:Detection of Yersinia pestis using branched DNA. 1044 Dec 5


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