The complete genome sequence of Mycoplasma hominis LBD-4 has been determined and the gene content ascribed. The 715,165-bp chromosome contains 620 genes, including 14 carried by a strain-variable prophage genome related to Mycoplasma fermentans MFV-1 and Mycoplasma arthritidis MAV-1. Comparative analysis with the genome of M. hominis PG21(T) reveals distinctive arrangements of repeat-containing...

Sprague-Dawley rats infected with Mycoplasma arthritidis by tail vein inoculation develop extensive disseminated joint inflammation, frequently accompanied by conjunctivitis and anterior uveitis. The intraocular inflammation is apparently directed at mycoplasmas localized within the stroma of the ciliary body, which have been detected with monoclonal antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence. T...

Concentrated broth constituents markedly enhanced the development of abscesses after subcutaneous injection of Mycoplasma arthritidis. Under appropriate conditions, both virulent and avirulent strains of M. arthritidis produced toxic effects in mice, as detected by the development of necrotic abscesses and death of the animals. The treatment of mice at birth with M. arthritidis antigens rendere...

Culture supernatants of the arthritogenic bacteria Mycoplasma pneumonia, Mycoplasma arthritidis, Borrelia burgdorferi and Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae stimulated primary cultures of human fibroblasts to release reactive oxygen species into the environment, whereas cell walls and membranes of these bacteria had no effects. Lipopolysaccharides of various gram-negative bacteria and lipid A, the li...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Mycoplasma arthritidis mitogen (MAM) superantigen has been shown to induce chronic arthritis, which resembles human rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a rodent model. However, its role as a causative agent in human RA is not well understood yet. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of MAM superantigen gene in the synovial fluid (SF) of RA patients. MATERIA...

The lack of a cell wall, flagella, fimbria, and other extracellular appendages and the possession of only a single membrane render the mycoplasmas structurally simplistic and ideal model organisms for the study of glycoconjugates. Most species have genomes of about 800 kb and code for few proteins predicted to have a role in glycobiology. The murine pathogens Mycoplasma arthritidis and Mycoplas...

The Mycoplasma arthritidis mitogen (MAM) superantigen (SAg) is a potent activator of human and murine cells and is produced by an organism that is a cause of acute and chronic arthritis of rodents. It is phylogenetically unrelated to other bacterial SAgs and exhibits a number of unique features. We recently demonstrated that MAM differentially regulates the cytokine responses of different mouse...

We have previously shown that Mycoplasma arthritidis produces a soluble T-cell mitogen (MAM) which is active for most mouse strains that express the alpha chain of the I-E molecule (E alpha) encoded within the murine major histocompatibility complex. The lymphocytes from mice injected intravenously with the MAM exhibited a marked decrease in their ability to respond in vitro to MAM, to phytohem...