Proteomic comparisons of opaque and transparent variants of Streptococcus pneumoniae by two dimensional-differential gel electrophoresis

Melissa H. Chai, Florian Weiland, Richard M. Harvey, Peter Hoffmann, Abiodun D. Ogunniyi (Lead / Corresponding author), James C. Paton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
203 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is a human pathogen, accounting for massive global morbidity and mortality. Although asymptomatic colonization of the nasopharynx almost invariably precedes disease, the critical determinants enabling pneumococcal progression from this niche to cause invasive disease are poorly understood. One mechanism proposed to be central to this transition involves opacity phase variation, whereby pneumococci harvested from the nasopharynx are typically transparent, while those simultaneously harvested from the blood are opaque. Here, we used two dimensional-differential gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) to compare protein expression profiles of transparent and opaque variants of 3 pneumococcal strains, D39 (serotype 2), WCH43 (serotype 4) and WCH16 (serotype 6A) in vitro. One spot comprising a mixture of capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis protein and other proteins was significantly up-regulated in the opaque phenotype in all 3 strains; other proteins were differentially regulated in a strain-specific manner. We conclude that pneumococcal phase variation is a complex and multifactorial process leading to strain-specific pathogenicity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2453
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalScientific Reports
Volume7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 May 2017

Keywords

  • Bacteriology
  • Infection
  • Proteome

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Proteomic comparisons of opaque and transparent variants of Streptococcus pneumoniae by two dimensional-differential gel electrophoresis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this