[HtpG protein of Shigella flexneri 2a strain 2457T evokes inflammatory response in mice]

To analyze the function of htpG of S. flexneri 2a 2457T, we constructed an htpG deletion mutant and a recovery mutant.

gamma-Red recombination system was used to construct an htpG deletion mutant of S. flexneri 2a 2457T. In addition, a recover mutant was obtained by introducing a low-copy plasmid containing one copy of htpG gene into the deletion mutant. Then, the growth curves of wild-type strain, deletion mutant and recover mutant were measured. Some of biochemical tests were also investigated. Furthermore, the Sereny tests were performed to evaluate the virulence of these strains.

No significant difference were observed among three strains. However, the titers of some inflammatory factors evoked by wild-type strain, deletion mutant and recovery mutant in intraperitoneal injected mice were quite different.

These results suggest that the HtpG protein of Shigella flexneri 2a strain 2457T might be involved in the immunopathogenesis.