Effect of Non-Specific Porins from the Outer Membrane of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis on Mice Brain Cortex Tissues

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Olga Yu. Portnyagina^1,a*, Darya N. Ivashkevich², Inessa V. Duizen², Ludmila S. Shevchenko¹, and Olga D. Novikova¹

¹G. B. Elyakov Pacific Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 690021 Vladivostok, Russia

²A. V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 690041 Vladivostok, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received August 3, 2022; Revised November 25, 2022; Accepted December 20, 2022

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It was found that a single-dose immunization of mice with Yersinia pseudotuberculosis porins OmpF and OmpC causes development of pathological changes in the deep layers of cerebral cortex characterized by dystrophic changes in the cells against the background of the increasing titer of specific antibodies. At the same time, the increased level of caspase-3 expression is observed in the neurons, which indicates induction of proapoptotic signaling pathways. The obtained results indicate potential ability of nonspecific pore-forming proteins of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria to initiate development of degenerative changes in brain cells.

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KEY WORDS: Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, OmpF, OmpC porins, neurodegeneration, caspase-3, apoptosis

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297923010121

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