Teichoic acids from chemostat-grown cultures of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus plantarum

Effects of Lactobacillus plantarum Strain OLL2712 Culture Conditions on the Anti-inflammatory Activities for Murine Immune Cells and Obese and Type 2 Diabetic Mice

Studies on the health-promoting effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are numerous, but few provide examples of the relationship between LAB function and culture conditions. We verified the effect of differences in culture conditions on Lactobacillus plantarum OLL2712 functionality; this strain exhibits anti-inflammatory activity and preventive effects against metabolic disorders. We measured interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-12 production in murine immune cells treated with OLL2712 cells prepared under various culture conditions. The results showed that the IL-10-inducing activities of OLL2712 cells on murine immune cells differed dramatically between OLL2712 groups at different culture phases and using different culture medium components, temperatures, and neutralizing pHs. In particular, exponential-phase cells had much more IL-10-inducing activity than stationary-phase cells. We confirmed that the Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) stimulation activity of OLL2712 cells depended on culture conditions in conjunction with IL-10-inducing activity. We also demonstrated functional differences by culture phases in vivo; OLL2712 cells at exponential phase had more anti-inflammatory activity and anti-metabolic-disorder effects on obese and diabetic mice than those by their stationary-phase counterparts. These results suggest that culture conditions affect the functionality of anti-inflammatory LAB.IMPORTANCE While previous studies demonstrated that culture conditions affected the immunomodulatory properties of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), few have comprehensively investigated the relationship between culture conditions and LAB functionality. In this study, we demonstrated several culture conditions of Lactobacillus plantarum OLL2712 for higher anti-inflammatory activity. We also showed that culture conditions concretely influenced the health-promoting functions of OLL2712 in vivo, particularly against metabolic disorders. Further, we characterized a novel mechanism by which changing LAB culture conditions affected immunomodulatory properties. Our results suggest that culture condition optimization is important for the production of LAB with anti-inflammatory activity.

Differential NF-kappaB pathways induction by Lactobacillus plantarum in the duodenum of healthy humans correlating with immune tolerance

How do we acquire immune tolerance against food microorganisms and commensal bacteria that constitute the intestinal microbiota? We investigated this by stimulating the immune system of adults with commensal Lactobacillus plantarum bacteria. We studied the in vivo human responses to L. plantarum in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over study. Healthy adults ingested preparations of living and heat-killed L. plantarum bacteria. Biopsies were taken from the intestinal duodenal mucosa and altered expression profiles were analyzed using whole-genome microarrays and by biological pathway reconstructions. Expression profiles of human mucosa displayed striking differences in modulation of NF-kappaB-dependent pathways, notably after consumption of living L. plantarum bacteria in different growth phases. Our in vivo study identified mucosal gene expression patterns and cellular pathways that correlated with the establishment of immune tolerance in healthy adults.

Sandwich immunoassay for the detection of lipoteichoic acid

A sandwich immunoassay has been developed for the detection of lipoteichoic acid (LTA), a major cell wall constituent of gram-positive bacteria, from whole blood and ISOLATOR supernate. Monoclonal antibodies were produced to purified LTA from Streptococcus mutans, BHT and were further characterized for crossreactivity with gram-positive and negative bacteria and for reactivity to substituted and unsubstituted LTA. Eight monoclonal antibodies were identified that reacted exclusively with gram-positive bacteria. Those antibodies able to capture 3H-LTA were chosen to develop a sandwich immunoassay. The assay has a sensitivity of 0.2 ng LTA/mL in PBS, 0.5 ng/mL in whole blood and 2.0 ng/mL in whole blood that has been processed through the ISOLATOR. Further development of this assay may lead to the rapid detection of LTA from body fluids.

Detection and specificity of antibodies secreted by spleen cells in mice immunized with Streptococcus mutans

Immune responses of mice to Streptococcus mutans serotype c were analyzed by means of the enzyme-linked immunospot assay to determine the predominant specificities of the antibodies developed. In general, the numbers of splenic antibody-secreting cells correlated with serum antibody levels. A low dose (10(8) CFU) of killed whole cells injected twice intraperitoneally induced antibodies mainly against surface protein antigen I/II. A higher dose (10(9) CFU) given two to six times also resulted in a predominance of antigen I/II antibody-secreting cells and, in addition, antibody responses to surface protein antigen III and lipoteichoic acid occurred. Cells producing antibodies to serotype c polysaccharide were elicited only on repeated immunization. These results agreed with the development of antibodies in rabbits repeatedly immunized intravenously with killed whole cells of S. mutans, S. rattus, and S. sobrinus, which induced specific antibodies in accordance with the surface antigens that they express. Mice immunized twice with the same dose of purified antigens I/II and III developed greater numbers of antigen I/II splenic antibody-forming cells than antigen III splenic antibody-forming cells and higher serum antibody levels to antigen I/II than to antigen III. Furthermore, a single injection of antigen I/II but not of antigen III was sufficient to induce a strong specific-antibody response. Some evidence was also obtained for weak polyclonal stimulation of spleen cells by S. mutans cells and by antigen I/II, a result which could be relevant to the induction by S. mutans of antibodies reactive with mammalian tissues. It was concluded that for the antigens examined, S. mutans elicited the strongest antibody response against antigen I/II, which was also highly immunogenic in purified form.

Relatedness and classification of Streptococcus mutans and "mutans-like" streptococci

The "mutans-like" streptococci can be separated into five species (Streptococcus mutans, S. rattus, S. sobrinus, S. cricetus, and S. ferus) that belong to the same rRNA homology cluster. New valuable chemical characters for differentiation of the five species--such as peptidoglycan type, presence of cell wall teichoic acid, and cell wall sugar composition--are described. The peptidoglycan type and the cell wall sugar composition can be determined by rapid procedures.

Detection of antigens in enzymic lysates of cell wall from Streptococcus mutans strains

Lysis of cell wall preparations from strains representing serotypes a - g of Streptococcus mutans has provided a convenient and efficient means of obtaining the typing antigens in a soluble undegraded form, and has demonstrated that, in each case, the antigen is a cell wall component in the strict sense of a component joined covalently to peptidoglycan. This influences the choice of extraction procedures.

Increased carbohydrate substitution of lipoteichoic acid during inhibition of protein synthesis

Decreases in electrophoretic mobilities of intracellular lipoteichoic acid, intracellular deacylated lipoteichoic acid, and extracellular deacylated lipoteichoic acid were observed during inhibition of protein synthesis in Streptococcus faecium after exposure to chloramphenicol or valine deprivation. Increased carbohydrate content, and thus an increased mass-to-charge ratio, rather than changes in ester alanine content or novel fatty acid substitutions, appeared to account for the decreased electrophoretic mobilities. The increase in carbohydrate content, as judged from mobility measurements, was progressive over time and appeared to occur on biosynthetically new lipoteichoic acid as well as on lipoteichoic acid made before inhibition of protein synthesis.