MYCOPLASMAS AND THE RHEUMATIC DISEASES

有理由进一步评估支原体在疾病中的作用。 人类风湿病；这一理论基础是：(I)已建立的 支原体是几种动物关节炎的病原体； (2)积累将人类支原体菌群与 炎症性风湿病的某些方面；以及(Iii)最近的证据 描述驱动人类适应性表面变化的突变系统 支原体物种。本项目的重点是描述相互作用 人类支原体与其宿主的关系，特别强调 有明确风湿性疾病的人。为了进一步描绘一个 支原体在这些疾病中的可能作用，它是特异的 建议：1)用选择性聚合酶链式反应检测发病部位， 对与病理损害相关的支原体进行分类并确定其特征； 2)描述一种新发现的高度个性化的B细胞反应 选择在不同表面上显示的表位指令表的子集 人类支原体的膜脂蛋白；以及3)定义分子 这些支原体物种表面脂蛋白变异的基础。 技术包括聚合酶链式反应扩增和分析目标序列。 宿主衍生材料，免疫筛查方案，以定义模式 血清学反应和膜蛋白基因的特征 通过转座子诱变和标准分子技术。它是 预计从这些研究中产生的信息将直接 有助于了解支原体感染的性质， 它们与风湿性疾病的联系，其机制 发病机制、检测方法和制定策略 控制这些慢性病。

There is a rationale for further evaluating the role of mycoplasmas in the human rheumatic diseases; this rationale is based on (i) the established role of mycoplasmas as etiological agents of several animal arthritides; (ii) accumulating evidence associating the human mycoplasmal flora with aspects of inflammatory rheumatic diseases; and (iii) recent evidence describing mutational systems driving adaptive surface variation of human mycoplasma species. This project focuses on characterizing the interaction of human mycoplasmas with their host, with specific emphasis on individuals with defined rheumatic disorders. To further delineate a possible role of mycoplasmas in these diseases, it is specifically proposed to: 1) examine disease sites by selective PCR to detect, classify, and characterize mycoplasmas associated with pathologic lesions; 2) characterize a newly identified and highly individual B cell response to select subsets of epitope repertoires displayed on variant surface membrane lipoproteins of human mycoplasmas; and 3) define the molecular basis of surface lipoprotein variation in these mycoplasma species. Techniques include PCR amplification and analysis of target sequences in host-derived materials, immunologic screening protocols to define patterns of serologic reactivities, and characterization of membrane protein genes by transposon mutagenesis and standard molecular techniques. It is anticipated that information emerging from these studies will directly contribute to an understanding of the nature of mycoplasma infections, their association with the rheumatic diseases, the mechanism of pathogenesis, methods for detection, and formulation of strategies to control these chronic disorders.