Published: Vol 5, Iss 14, Jul 20, 2015 DOI: 10.21769/BioProtoc.1536 Views: 8640
Reviewed by: Fanglian HeKanika Gera
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Abstract
Leptospira interrogans can infect a myriad of mammalian hosts, including humans (Bharti et al., 2003; Ko et al., 2009). Following acquisition by a suitable host, leptospires disseminate via the bloodstream to multiple tissues, including the kidneys, where they adhere to and colonize the proximal convoluted renal tubules (Athanazio et al., 2008). Infected hosts shed large number of spirochetes in their urine and the leptospires can survive in different environmental conditions before transmission to another host. Differential gene expression by Leptospira spp. permits adaption to these new conditions. Here we describe a protocol for the cultivation of Leptospira interrogans within Dialysis Membrane Chambers (DMCs) implanted into the peritoneal cavities of Sprague-Dawley rats (Caimano et al., 2014). This technique was originally developed to study mammalian adaption by the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi (Akins et al., 1998; Caimano, 2005). The small pore size (8,000 MWCO) of the dialysis membrane tubing used for this procedure permits access to host nutrients but excludes host antibodies and immune effector cells. Given the physiological and environmental similarities between DMCs and the proximal convoluted renal tubule, we reasoned that the DMC model would be suitable for studying in vivo gene expression by L. interrogans. In a 20 to 30 min procedure, DMCs containing virulent leptospires are surgically-implanted into the rat peritoneal cavity. Nine to 11 days post-implantation, DMCs are explanted and organisms recovered. Typically, a single DMC yields ~109 mammalian host-adapted leptospires (Caimano et al., 2014). In addition to providing a facile system for studying the transcriptional and physiologic changes pathogenic L. interrogans undergo within the mammal, the DMC model also provides a rationale basis for selecting new targets for mutagenesis and the identification of novel virulence determinants.
Caution: Leptospira interrogans is a BSL-2 level pathogen and known to be excreted in the urine of infected animals. Animals should be handled and disposed of using recommended Animal Biosafety Levels (ABSL) for infectious agents using vertebrate animal guidelines.
Note: All protocols using live animals must conform to governmental regulations regarding the care and use of laboratory animals. The success of this protocol is dependent on the proper use of aseptic techniques during all stages of both dialysis membrane chamber preparation and animal surgery.
Materials and Reagents
Equipment
Procedure
Representative data
Figure 3. Virulent leptospires become mammalian host-adapted during growth within dialysis membrane chambers. Representative whole cell lysates of leptospires cultivated to late-logarithmic phase in EMJH medium at 30 °C in vitro (IV) and within dialysis membrane chambers (DMC) implanted into the peritoneal cavities of female Sprague-Dawley rats. A. Lysates were loaded according to the numbers of leptospires (5 x 106 per lane) or total protein (5 µg per lane) and stained with SYPRO Ruby gel stain. Arrows and asterisks are used to highlight examples of polypeptides whose expression appears to be increased or decreased, respectively, within DMCs compared to in vitro. Molecular mass markers are indicated on the left. B. Immunoblot analyses using rabbit polyclonal antisera directed against Sph2 (Matsunaga et al., 2007), LipL32 (Haake et al., 2000) and LipL41 (Shang et al., 1996). An arrow is used to indicate a band of the predicted molecular mass for SphH, a second, closely related sphingomyelinase in L. interrogans recognized by antiserum directed against Sph2 (Matsunaga et al., 2007; Carvalho et al., 2010). Image reproduced from Caimano et al. (2014).
Recipes
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Ms. Anna Allard for her superb technical assistance and Dr. Justin Radolf his continued support of our work. This work is supported by NIH Grants AI029735 (MJC), Brazilian CNPq grants 481133/2011-9 and 483052/2012-4 (AJAM) and CNPq/SWE/CSF grant 246433/2012-4 (AAG).
References
Article Information
Copyright
© 2015 The Authors; exclusive licensee Bio-protocol LLC.
How to cite
Grassmann, A. A., McBride, A. J. A., Nally, J. E. and Caimano, M. J. (2015). Generation of Mammalian Host-adapted Leptospira interrogans by Cultivation in Peritoneal Dialysis Membrane Chamber Implantation in Rats. Bio-protocol 5(14): e1536. DOI: 10.21769/BioProtoc.1536.
Category
Microbiology > Microbial cell biology > Cell isolation and culture
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