The Characterization of a Sneathia Amnii Cytotoxin and its Potential Role in Health Disparities Affecting Women of African Ancestry
Location
Access Type
Open Access
Entry Number
57
Start Date
4-7-2021 9:00 AM
End Date
4-7-2021 9:15 AM
Department
Biological Science
Abstract
Women of African descent are 51.4% more likely at risk of developing bacterial vaginosis (BV), which is a gateway to more adverse outcomes such as pregnancy complications like spontaneous abortions. Sneathia amnii is a pathogenic anaerobe found in the female urogenital tract that is associated with adverse outcomes such as preterm birth, BV, and chorioamnionitis amongst pregnant women and women of childbearing age and other health issues in neonates. S. amnii has been found at a greater prevalence in the vaginal microbiota of women of African ancestry, which links it to a potential role in the disparities observed in health outcomes for these women.S. amnii encodes the cytopathogenic toxin A (CptA), an exotoxin that perforates fetal membranes and lyses red blood cells. This study seeks to determine which domains of the cytotoxin (N or C-terminal) have cytotoxic and hemolytic capabilities. Our work has revealed that the C-terminal domain is involved in binding to a receptor on the host cell surface and that the N-terminal domain is the pore-forming domain. Our work also found evidence that suggests the C-terminal binding domain can competitively inhibit the cytolytic activity of full-length CptA, which suggests that the toxin binds to a specific receptor and the binding is saturable. Advances in our understanding of CptA and S. amnii pathogenicity will lead to a greater understanding of the prevalence of S. amnii in the vaginal microbiome of women of African ancestry when compared to women of European ancestry.
Keywords: Sneathia amnii, pore formation, domains, cytotoxin, bacterial vaginosis, preterm birth
Faculty Mentor(s)
Prof. Jamie L. BrooksDr. Ghislaine LewisDr. Beth SavageDr. Kimberly Jefferson
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The Characterization of a Sneathia Amnii Cytotoxin and its Potential Role in Health Disparities Affecting Women of African Ancestry
Women of African descent are 51.4% more likely at risk of developing bacterial vaginosis (BV), which is a gateway to more adverse outcomes such as pregnancy complications like spontaneous abortions. Sneathia amnii is a pathogenic anaerobe found in the female urogenital tract that is associated with adverse outcomes such as preterm birth, BV, and chorioamnionitis amongst pregnant women and women of childbearing age and other health issues in neonates. S. amnii has been found at a greater prevalence in the vaginal microbiota of women of African ancestry, which links it to a potential role in the disparities observed in health outcomes for these women.S. amnii encodes the cytopathogenic toxin A (CptA), an exotoxin that perforates fetal membranes and lyses red blood cells. This study seeks to determine which domains of the cytotoxin (N or C-terminal) have cytotoxic and hemolytic capabilities. Our work has revealed that the C-terminal domain is involved in binding to a receptor on the host cell surface and that the N-terminal domain is the pore-forming domain. Our work also found evidence that suggests the C-terminal binding domain can competitively inhibit the cytolytic activity of full-length CptA, which suggests that the toxin binds to a specific receptor and the binding is saturable. Advances in our understanding of CptA and S. amnii pathogenicity will lead to a greater understanding of the prevalence of S. amnii in the vaginal microbiome of women of African ancestry when compared to women of European ancestry.
Keywords: Sneathia amnii, pore formation, domains, cytotoxin, bacterial vaginosis, preterm birth