Rickettsia rickettsii Infection of Cultured Human Endothelial Cells Induces Tissue Factor Expression

Rickettsia rickettsii infection of cultured human endothelial cells induces tissue factor expression.

Microvascular thrombi underlie many of the clinical manifestations of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), a disease characterized by Rickettsia rickettsii infection of vascular endothelial cells. Studies were designed to determine whether R rickettsii-infection of cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells results in tissue factor (TF) induction, a process that could directly activate coa...

Tissue factor mRNA expression in the endothelium of an intact umbilical vein.

Tissue factor (TF) mRNA expression was measured by in situ hybridization in the endothelium of the intact human umbilical vein after infection with Rickettsia rickettsii. At 4 hours, R rickettsii organisms were clearly visible within approximately 70% of endothelial cells by immunocytochemical staining. Quantitation of TF mRNA expression revealed that the level within endothelial cells of the i...

Rickettsia rickettsii infection of cultured endothelial cells induces release of large von Willebrand factor multimers from Weibel-Palade bodies.

The clinical manifestations of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) result from Rickettsia rickettsii (R rickettsii) infection of endothelial cells and are mediated by pathologic changes localized to the vessel, including in situ thrombosis and tissue ischemia. This study uses in vitro infection of cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells with R rickettsii to test the hypothesis that such...

Rickettsia rickettsii Infection of Cultured Human Endothelial Cells Induces NF-kB Activation

Involvement of protein kinase C in Rickettsia rickettsii-induced transcriptional activation of the host endothelial cell.

Our laboratory has reported on a biphasic pattern of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells during infection with Rickettsia rickettsii, an obligate, intracellular bacterium, and the etiologic agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Transcriptional activation of the tissue factor (TF) gene during this infection has been shown to involve NF...