ArticleInfection and immunity2009
The Sca2 autotransporter protein from Rickettsia conorii is sufficient to mediate adherence to and invasion of cultured mammalian cells.
Article in Infection and immunity, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 66 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
66 citing papers in PubMed, 93 citations in OpenAlex.
- Targeting surface cell antigen 2 increases sensitivity of Rickettsia typhi detection.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Discerning dangerous gain of function: most gain of function (GoF) research does not involve infectious microbes.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Review
- Article
- The host calcium system contributes to intracellularInfection and immunity · 2025Article
- Critical roles ofInfection and immunity · 2024Article
- Identification of an autotransporter peptidase of Rickettsia rickettsii responsible for maturation of surface exposed autotransporters.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Single particle cryo-EM analysis of Rickettsia conorii Sca2 reveals a formin-like core.Journal of structural biology · 2023Article
- Rickettsia felis DNA recovered from a child who lived in southern Africa 2000 years ago.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Pathogenicity and virulence ofVirulence · 2022Review
- Transposon mutagenesis of Rickettsia felis sca1 confers a distinct phenotype during flea infection.PLoS pathogens · 2022Article
- Review
- Moonlighting in Rickettsiales: Expanding Virulence Landscape.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2022Review
- Subversion of host cell signaling: The arsenal of Rickettsial species.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Review
- Phylogenetic Classification and Functional Review of Autotransporters.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Review
- Article
- Contribution of classical complement activation and IgM to the control of Rickettsia infection.Molecular microbiology · 2021Article
- Mediterranean Spotted Fever: Current Knowledge and Recent Advances.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2021Review
- Cells within cells: Rickettsiales and the obligate intracellular bacterial lifestyle.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2021Review
- The enigmatic biology of rickettsiae: recent advances, open questions and outlook.Pathogens and disease · 2021Review
- Rickettsia-host interaction: strategies of intracytosolic host colonization.Pathogens and disease · 2021Review
6 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Obligate intracellular bacteria of the genus Rickettsia must adhere to and invade the host endothelium in order to establish an infection. These processes require the interaction of rickettsial surface proteins with mammalian host cell receptors. A previous bioinformatic analysis of sequenced rickettsial species identified a family of at least 17 predicted "surface cell antigen" (sca) genes whose products resemble autotransporter proteins. Two members of this family, rOmpA and rOmpB of spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae have been identified as adhesion and invasion factors, respectively; however, little is known about the putative functions of the other sca gene products. An intact sca2 gene is found in the majority of pathogenic SFG rickettsiae and, due to its sequence conservation among these species, we predict that Sca2 may play an important function at the rickettsial surface. Here we have shown that sca2 is transcribed and expressed in Rickettsia conorii and have used a heterologous gain-of-function assay in E. coli to determine the putative role of Sca2. Using this system, we have demonstrated that expression of Sca2 at the outer membrane of nonadherent, noninvasive E. coli is sufficient to mediate adherence to and invasion of a panel of mammalian cells, including endothelial cells. Furthermore, soluble Sca2 protein is capable of diminishing R. conorii invasion of cultured mammalian cells. This is the first evidence that Sca2 participates in the interaction between SFG rickettsiae and host cells and suggests that in addition to other surface proteins, Sca2 may play a critical role in rickettsial pathogenesis.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.