Mycoplasma origin of tumor cell protein

Flanagan, Brian; Newton, D.J.; Johnson, Peter

doi:10.1038/nm0298-133a

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…They can infect many cell types by either surface attachment to the cell membrane or fusion with the host cells [20] . Persistent mycoplasma infection induces chromosomal instability and malignant transformation of mammalian cells [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , and certain tumor-associated proteins are proposed to have a mycoplasma origin [28] . Mycoplasma infection of tumor cells were reported to increase tumor cell invasiveness [29] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exosomes Released from Mycoplasma Infected Tumor Cells Activate Inhibitory B Cells

Yang

Chalasani

et al. 2012

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mycoplasmas cause numerous human diseases and are common opportunistic pathogens in cancer patients and immunocompromised individuals. Mycoplasma infection elicits various host immune responses. Here we demonstrate that mycoplasma-infected tumor cells release exosomes (myco+ exosomes) that specifically activate splenic B cells and induce splenocytes cytokine production. Induction of cytokines, including the proinflammatory IFN-γ and the anti-inflammatory IL-10, was largely dependent on the presence of B cells. B cells were the major IL-10 producers. In splenocytes from B cell deficient μMT mice, induction of IFN-γ+ T cells by myco+ exosomes was greatly increased compared with wild type splenocytes. In addition, anti-CD3-stimulated T cell proliferation was greatly inhibited in the presence of myco+ exosome-treated B cells. Also, anti-CD3-stimulated T cell signaling was impaired by myco+ exosome treatment. Proteomic analysis identified mycoplasma proteins in exosomes that potentially contribute to the effects. Our results demonstrate that mycoplasma-infected tumor cells release exosomes carrying mycoplasma components that preferentially activate B cells, which in turn, are able to inhibit T cell activity. These results suggest that mycoplasmas infecting tumor cells can exploit the exosome pathway to disseminate their own components and modulate the activity of immune cells, in particular, activate B cells with inhibitory activity.

show abstract