Modulation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae susceptibility to vertebrate antibacterial peptides due to a member of the resistance/nodulation/division efflux pump family.

ABSTRACT: We have previously described the antibacterial capacity of protegrin-1 (PG-1), a cysteine-rich, cationic peptide from porcine leukocytes, against Neisseria gonorrhoeae. We now report genetic and biochemical evidence that gonococcal susceptibility to the lethal action of PG-1 and other structurally unrelated antibacterial peptides, including a peptide (LL-37) that is expressed constitutively by human granulocytes and testis and inducibly by keratinocytes, is modulated by an energy-dependent efflux system termed mtr. These results indicate that such efflux systems may enable mucosal pathogens like gonococci to resist endogenous antimicrobial peptides that are thought to act during infection.

SUBMITTER: Shafer WM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC19198 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature