Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 25, 2026
Applying an Inducible Expression System to Study Interference of Bacterial Virulence Factors with Intracellular Signaling
Published on: June 25, 2015
A small non-coding RNA facilitates Brucella melitensis intracellular survival by regulating the expression of
Yufei Wang1, Yuehua Ke2, Cuijuan Duan1
1Department of laboratory medicine, The Third Medical Center, General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100039, China.
Abstract:
Brucella species are the causative agents of brucellosis, a worldwide zoonotic disease that affects a broad range of mammals and causes great economic losses. Small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are post-transcriptional regulatory molecules that participate in the stress adaptation and pathogenesis of Brucella. In this study, we characterized the role of a novel sRNA, BSR1141, in the intracellular survival and virulence of Brucella melitensis. The results show that BSR1141 was highly induced during host infections and under in vitro stress situations that simulated the conditions encountered within host phagocytes. In addition, a BSR1141 mutant showed reduced survival both under in vitro stress conditions and in mice, confirming the role of BSR1141 in Brucella intracellular survival. Bioinformatic and experimental approaches revealed that BSR1141 affects the expression of many target genes, including the Brucella virulence component virB2. These data indicate that BSR1141 could influence the expression of virB2, which is important for B. melitensis pathogenesis and intracellular survival. This work provides new insight into the mechanism of adaptation to environmental stress and into the pathogenesis of intracellular pathogens.
Related Concept Videos
02:24Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...
02:39lncRNA - Long Non-coding RNAs
01:24Intracellular Signaling Cascades
01:46Epigenetic Regulation
02:16Transcription Factors
01:42What is Gene Expression?
Gene expression is the process in which DNA directs the synthesis of functional products, that is, proteins. Cells can regulate gene expression at various stages. It allows organisms to generate different cell types and enables cells to adapt to internal and external factors.
Genetic Information Flows from DNA to RNA to Protein
A gene is a stretch of DNA that serves as the blueprint for functional RNAs and proteins. Since DNA is made up of nucleotides and proteins consist of amino...