''Malacoplasma penetrans'' (formerly ''Mycoplasma penetrans'') is a species of Gram-positive bacteria.
It is
pathogenic
In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ.
The term ...
, though many infected show no symptoms. It is a sexually transmitted disease, though an infant may be infected during birth.
Description
It has an elongated shape and its cells possess two internal compartments, one packed with granules, the other filled with coarse granules (consistent with ribosomal structures). The organism has properties of adherence through a specific organelle called the tip organelle. ''M. Penetrans'' has a coding sequence (MYPE1570) similar to that of MYPE470 in ''Mycoplasma pneumoniae'' which codes for an accessory protein that aids in cytadherence,
the adherence to respiratory epithelium. This similarity suggests ''M. penetrans'' could attach to host cells through cytadherence. Also, the CDS MYPE1550, which is near MYPE1570, of ''M. penetrans'' is orthologous to the hemadsorption protein HMW2 of ''M pneumoniae'', suggesting the potential for ''M. penetrans'' to attach to and invade red blood cells.
Virulence factors
''Mycoplasma penetrans'', like many bacteria, exhibits a mechanism by which it can avoid an immune response in the host cells. This avoidance of immune responses is known as a
virulence factor
Virulence factors (preferably known as pathogenicity factors or effectors in botany) are cellular structures, molecules and regulatory systems that enable microbial pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa) to achieve the following:
* c ...
. The virulence factor that ''M. penetrans'' displays is
antigenic variation
Antigenic variation or antigenic alteration refers to the mechanism by which an Pathogen, infectious agent such as a protozoan, bacterium or virus alters the proteins or carbohydrates on its surface and thus avoids a host (biology), host immune r ...
, the ability to exchange or switch antigens against which the host cell produces antibodies. The ''mpl'' gene encodes for the bacteria's antigens and, like most genes, it contains a
promoter region. In ''M. penetrans'', this promoter region can undergo reversible inversion, allowing for variation in antigen production and, thus, the source for ''M. penetrans'' antigenic variation.
Diseases
''Mycoplasma penetrans'' has been shown to hinder
p53
p53, also known as tumor protein p53, cellular tumor antigen p53 (UniProt name), or transformation-related protein 53 (TRP53) is a regulatory transcription factor protein that is often mutated in human cancers. The p53 proteins (originally thou ...
, a tumor suppressing gene that aids in regulating the cell cycle. There have also been cases of
malignant pleural effusion, when patients exhibited chronic ''M. penetrans'' infection with various immunodeficiencies (such as HIV infections or anticancer treatment).
This particular species is also a sexually transmitted disease and one cause of
pelvic inflammatory disease
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), also known as pelvic inflammatory disorder, is an infection of the upper part of the female reproductive system, mainly the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, and inside of the pelvis. Often, there may be no ...
.
References
Further reading
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External links
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LPSNType strain of ''Mycoplasma penetrans'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase''Mycoplasma penetrans'' Genome Project
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3869048
Bacteria described in 1992
penetrans