Mycoplasma exploits mammalian tunneling nanotubes for cell-to-cell dissemination

BMB Rep. 2019 Aug;52(8):490-495. doi: 10.5483/BMBRep.2019.52.8.243.

Abstract

Using tunneling nanotubes (TNTs), various pathological molecules and viruses disseminate to adjacent cells intercellularly. Here, we show that the intracellular invasion of Mycoplasma hyorhinis induces the formation of actin- and tubulin-based TNTs in various mammalian cell lines. M. hyorhinis was found in TNTs generated by M. hyorhinis infection in NIH3T3 cells. Because mycoplasma-free recipient cells received mycoplasmas from M. hyorhinis-infected donor cells in a mixed co-culture system and not a spatially separated co-culture system, direct cell-to-cell contact via TNTs was necessary for the intracellular dissemination of M. hyorhinis. The activity of Rac1, which is a small GTP binding protein, was increased by the intracellular invasion of M. hyorhinis, and its pharmacological and genetic inhibition prevented M. hyorhinis infection-induced TNT generation in NIH3T3 cells. The pharmacological and genetic inhibition of Rac1 also reduced the cell-to-cell dissemination of M. hyorhinis. Based on these data, we conclude that intracellular invasion of M. hyorhinis induces the formation of TNTs, which are used for the cell-to-cell dissemination of M. hyorhinis. [BMB Reports 2019; 52(8): 490-495].

Publication types

  • News

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Communication
  • Mice
  • Mycoplasma hyorhinis / metabolism*
  • NIH 3T3 Cells
  • Nanotubes / microbiology*