Mycolactone cytotoxicity in Schwann cells could explain nerve damage in Buruli ulcer.

Buruli ulcer is a chronic painless skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. The local nerve damage induced by M. ulcerans invasion is similar to the nerve damage evoked by the injection of mycolactone in a Buruli ulcer mouse model. In order to elucidate the mechanism of this nerve damage, we t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Junichiro En, Sho Kitamoto, Akira Kawashima, Suguru Yonezawa, Yoshito Kishi, Norihisa Ishii, Masamichi Goto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-08-01
Series:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5559071?pdf=render
Description
Summary:Buruli ulcer is a chronic painless skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. The local nerve damage induced by M. ulcerans invasion is similar to the nerve damage evoked by the injection of mycolactone in a Buruli ulcer mouse model. In order to elucidate the mechanism of this nerve damage, we tested and compared the cytotoxic effect of synthetic mycolactone A/B on cultured Schwann cells, fibroblasts and macrophages. Mycolactone induced much higher cell death and apoptosis in Schwann cell line SW10 than in fibroblast line L929. These results suggest that mycolactone is a key substance in the production of nerve damage of Buruli ulcer.
ISSN:1935-2727
1935-2735