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Title: Rickettsial entry into host cells: finding the keys to unlock the doors

Author
item PALMER, G - Washington State University
item Noh, Susan

Submitted to: Infection and Immunity
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/10/2012
Publication Date: 8/20/2013
Citation: Palmer, G.H., Noh, S.M. 2013. Rickettsial entry into host cells: finding the keys to unlock the doors. Infection and Immunity. 80(11):3746-3747.

Interpretive Summary: This commentary highlights recent findings published in Infection and Immunity that have broad implications for vaccine development to Rickettsial pathogens in general, and Anaplasma marginale, specifically.

Technical Abstract: In this issue of Infection and Immunity, Ojogun et al. present compelling evidence that A. phagocytophilum outer membrane protein A (OmpA) is required for efficient entry into host myeloid cells. Using classical approaches, this team of investigators led by Jason Carlyon shows that entry can be blocked by specific antibody to OmpA and competitively inhibited by both full-length OmpA and the predicted N-terminal extracellular domain. In this discovery, their data adds to the identification of outer membrane proteins shown to mediate rickettsial binding with and/or entry into specific target host cells. The work by Ojogun et al. stands out in the dissection of the interaction between the bacterial surface protein and with the specific receptor components. This report implicating OmpA in cellular entry has both provided the most refined molecular basis for rickettsial cell invasion to date and established direction for vaccine development against a subset of rickettsial pathogens in which OmpA is highly conserved.