A strain of Proteus mirabilis associated with chronic urinary tract infection was found to produce an EDTA-sensitive IgA protease that cleaved the IgA heavy chain into two fragments at sites different from those attacked by other microbial IgA1 proteases. Another 14 P. mirabilis strains of diverse type and from various clinical conditions also produced a similar IgA protease. This enzyme may be a virulence determinant of P. mirabilis.
AdegbolaR A,
OldD C,
SeniorB W.
1983; The adhesins and fimbriae of Proteus mirabilis strains associated with high and low affinity for the urinary tract. Journal of Medical Microbiology 16:427–431
BlakeM S,
SwansonJ.
1978; Studies on gonococcus infection. XVI. Purification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae immunoglobulin A1 protease. Infection and Immunity 22:350–358
BraudeA I,
SiemienskiJ,
ShapiroA B.
1960; The role of bacterial urease in the pathogenesis of pyelonephritis. QuinnE L,
KassE H.
Biology of pyelonephritis Churchill Livingstone; London:69–88
KhanA J,
UbrianiR S,
BombachE,
AgbayaniM M,
RatnerH,
EvansH E.
1978; Initial urinary tract infection caused by Proteus mirabilis in infancy and childhood. Journal of Pediatrics 93:791–793
KilianM,
MesteckyJ,
SchrohenloherR E.
1979; Pathogenic species of the genus Haemophilus and Streptococcus pneumoniae produce immunoglobulin A1 protease. Infection and Immunity 26:143–149
KilianM,
ThomsenB,
PetersenT E,
BleegH S.
1983a; Occurrence and nature of bacterial IgA proteases. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 409:612–624
LarssonP,
OllingS.
1977; O antigen distribution and sensitivity to the bactericidal effect of normal human serum of Proteus strains from clinical specimens. Medical Microbiology and Immunology 163:77–82
MulksM H,
PlautA G.
1978; IgA protease production as a characteristic distinguishing pathogenic from harmless Neisseriaceae
. New England Journal of Medicine 299:973–976
MulksM H,
KornfeldS J,
PlautA G.
1980a; Specific proteolysis of human IgA by Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae
. Journal of Infectious Diseases 141:450–456
MulksM H,
PlautA G,
FeldmanH A,
FrangioneB.
1980b; IgA proteases of two distinct specificities are released by Neisseria meningitidis
. Journal of Experimental Medicine 152:1442–1447
MusherD M,
GriffithD P,
YawnD,
RossenR D.
1975; Role of urease in pyelonephritis resulting from urinary tract infection with Proteus
. Journal of Infectious Diseases 131:177–181
PazinG J,
BraudeA I.
1974; Immobilizing antibodies in urine. II. Prevention of ascending spread of Proteus mirabilis
. Investigative Urology 12:129–133
PeerboomsP G H,
VerweijA M J J,
MacLarenD M.
1983; Investigation of the haemolytic activity of Proteus mirabilis strains. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 49:1–11
SeniorB W.
1983a; Proteus morgani is less frequently associated with urinary tract infections than Proteus mirabilis—an explanation. Journal of Medical Microbiology 16:317–322
SeniorB W,
BradfordN C,
SimpsonD S.
1980; The ureases of Proteus strains in relation to virulence for the urinary tract. Journal of Medical Microbiology 13:507–512
SeniorB W,
LarssonP.
1983; A highly discriminatory multityping scheme for Proteus mirabilis and Proteus vulgaris
. Journal of Medical Microbiology 16:193–202
SeniorB W,
LeslieD L.
1986; Rare occurrence of Proteus vulgaris in faeces: a reason for its rare association with urinary tract infections. Journal of Medical Microbiology 21:139–144
SilverblattF J.
1974; Host-parasite interaction in the rat renal pelvis. A possible role for pili in the pathogenesis of pyelonephritis. Journal of Experimental Medicine 140:1696–1711
SilverblattF J,
OfekI.
1978; Influence of pili on the virulence of Proteus mirabilis in experimental hematogenous pyelonephritis. Journal of Infectious Diseases 138:664–667
SorensenC H,
KilianM.
1984; Bacterium-induced cleavage of IgA in nasopharyngeal secretions from atopic children. Acta Pathologica, Microbiologica et Immunologica Scandinavica Section C 92:85–87
Svandborg EdénC,
LarssonP,
LombergH.
1980; Attachment of Proteus mirabilis to human urinary sediment epithelial cells in vitro is different from that of Escherichia coli
. Infection and Immunity 27:804–807
UmezawaH,
AoyagiT.
1977; Activities of proteinase inhibitors of microbial origin. BarrettA J.
Proteinases in mammalian cells and tissues North Holland, Amsterdam:637–662
YoungH.
1978; Identification and penicillinase testing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from primary isolation cultures on modified New York City medium. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 7:247–250