The minor pilin PilV provides a conserved adhesion site throughout the antigenically variable meningococcal type IV pilus
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Significance: Type IV pili (T4P) are among the most widespread adhesive factors in prokaryotes. In pathogenic Neisseria , the major pilin, which provides the structural framework for the filamentous T4P, undergoes antigenic variation allowing the bacteria to evade the humoral immune response without impacting host-cell adhesion. Here, we show that a minor pilin, PilV, is distributed throughout the pilus and contributes to Neisseria meningitidis adhesion and that antibodies to PilV block meningococcal adhesion in vivo. Our results provide a mechanism whereby N. meningitidis varies its immunodominant major pilin to escape antibody recognition while maintaining conserved sites throughout the pilus for host receptor binding. They further suggest a strategy to prevent or block deadly N. meningitidis infections by targeting this minor pilin.
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Bacteria first attach reversibly to teeth through van der Waals forces and hydrophobic interactions, then use pili to irreversibly attach to tooth surfaces and form colonies to stabilize attachment.
“Bacteria first attach reversibly to teeth through van der Waals forces and hydrophobic interactions. They use their pili to irreversibly attach to tooth surfaces, and form colonies to stabilize their attachment10.”
From Recent advances in the pathogenesis and prevention strategies of dental calculus (2024) · cites this paper as [10]
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- M. Coureuil et al., Molecular interactions between Neisseria meningitidis and its human host. Cell. Microbiol. 21, e13063 (2019).
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- Authors
- Barnier, J.-P., Meyer, J., Kolappan, S., Bouzinba-Ségard, H., Gesbert, G., Jamet, A., Frapy, E., Schönherr-Hellec, S., Capel, E., Virion, Z., Dupuis, M., Bille, E., Morand, P., Schmitt, T., Bourdoulous, S., Nassif, X., Craig, L., & Coureuil, M.
- Affiliations
- Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades (FR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Simon Fraser University (CA)
- Hôpital Paris Saint-Joseph (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Barnier, Jean-Philippe
- Meyer, Julie
- Kolappan, Subramania
- Bouzinba-Ségard, Haniaa
- Gesbert, Gaël
- Jamet, Anne
- Frapy, Eric
- Schönherr-Hellec, Sophia
- Capel, Elena
- Virion, Zoé
- Dupuis, Marion
- Bille, Emmanuelle
- Morand, Philippe
- Schmitt, Taliah
- Bourdoulous, Sandrine
- Nassif, Xavier
- Craig, Lisa
- Coureuil, Mathieu
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2021-11
- Volume
- 118
- Issue
- 45
- Pages
- e2109364118
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC8609321
- OpenAlex
- W3210308867
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3
- FWCI
- 3.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-15-CE15-0002-01, ANR-14-IFEC-0006-01)
- Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (-)
- Gouvernement du Canada | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (-)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Bacterial Infections and Vaccines
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Biochemical and Structural Characterization
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Endocrinology › Escherichia coli research studies
- Keywords
- type IV pili, minor pilin, Neisseria meningitidis, antigenic variation, bacterial adhesion, host receptor binding, antibody escape, anti-adhesion therapy
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Antibodies, Bacterial Adhesion, Bacterial Proteins, Cell Line, Drug Evaluation, Preclinical, Female, Humans, Meningococcal Infections, Neisseria meningitidis, Fimbriae, Bacterial, Mice, SCID, Mice
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