梅毒螺旋体外膜蛋白Tp92及其同源蛋白的研究进展

Progress in research of outer membrane protein Tp92 on Treponema pallidum and its homologues

梅毒是由梅毒螺旋体(Tp)引起的一种严重危害人类健康的慢性感染性疾病,由于Tp目前尚不能体外人工培养,从而限制了对Tp致病机制的深入研究。Tp对宿主靶细胞的早期黏附定植是其后续病程发展的关键,而最早与宿主细胞直接接触的Tp外膜及外膜蛋白就成了关注的焦点。随着Tp全基因组序列的解析和分子生物学技术的发展,Tp外膜蛋白的筛选、鉴定及功能研究取得了一定进展。Tp92是首个在感染了梅毒的兔调理素抗毒血清中通过差示免疫筛选方法筛选出来的Tp外膜蛋白,序列高度保守,具有较强的抗原性,与其他螺旋体属及许多革兰阴性菌的外膜蛋白均具有较高的同源性,其在Tp的致病过程及机体的免疫应答中可能发挥着重要作用。就目前Tp外膜蛋白Tp92及其同源蛋白的研究进展进行了综述。

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by infection with Treponema pallidum （ T.pallidum） .It is dis-tributed widely , and the harmfulness is usually serious .Since T.pallidum can not be cultured in vitro availably at present , the further study on the mechanism of Tp is limited .Early colonization of T.pallidum on host target cells is the key to its subsequent progression , and the outer membrane and outer membrane proteins of T.pallidum which firstly contact with host cells have become the world＆#39;s attentive focus .With the development of technique for molecular biology as well as the analy -sis of the complete genome sequences of T.pallidum, some progress has been made in the screening , identification and function of outer membrane protein of T.pallidum.Tp92 was first identified through differential screening of a T.pallidum expression library with opsonic antiserum collected from experimentally infected rabbits , its sequence is highly conserved , and it has a strong antigenicity too .In addition, Tp92 has a high homology to the outer membrane of other spirochetes and many of gram negative bacteria , it probably plays an important role in the pathogenic process and the immune response in human body .The research progress of Tp 92 and its homologues is summarized up respectively in this review .