Project description:Microarray comparative genome hybridization (mCGH) data was collected from one Neisseria cinerea, two Neisseria lactamica, two Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and 48 Neisseria meningitidis isolates. For N. meningitidis, these isolates are from diverse clonal complexes, invasive and carriage strains, and all major serogroups. The microarray platform represented N. meningitidis strains MC58, Z2491, and FAM18 and N. gonorrhoeae FA1090.
Project description:The sexually transmitted pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae releases outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) during infections. OMVs traffic the major porin PorB, other membrane proteins and lipo-oligosaccharide (LOS) into host innate immune cells and activate programmed cell death pathways and inflammation. Little is known, however, about the proteome and LOS content of OMVs released by clinical strains isolated from different infection sites, and whether this affects immune responses. Here, we characterized OMVs from four N. gonorrhoeae isolates and determined their size, abundance, proteome and activation of inflammatory responses in macrophages. The overall proteome of the OMVs was conserved between the four different isolates, included major outer membrane, periplasm, cytoplasmic membrane proteins. Despite this, we observed differences in the rate of OMV biogenesis and the relative abundance of major outer membrane proteins and LOS. Consequently, OMVs from clinical isolates induced varying rates of macrophage cell death and the secretion of interleukin-1 family members, such as Il-1andIl-1. Overall, these findings demonstrate that clinical isolates of N. gonorrhoeae utilize OMVs to release major proteins and lipids, which affects innate immune responses.
Project description:The overall goals and objectives of this study are to investigate the transcriptomics of Neisseria gonorrhoeae using RNA-seq. This work will look at gene expression, start points of transcription, transcriptional termination, and differences between these in different conditions and between strains and growing cultures over time.
