Yersinia V-antigen exploits toll-like receptor 2 and CD14 for interleukin 10-mediated immunosuppression.

A characteristic of the three human-pathogenic Yersinia spp. (the plague agent Yersinia pestis and the enteropathogenic Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia enterocolitica) is the expression of the virulence (V)-antigen (LcrV). LcrV is a released protein which is involved in contact-induced secretion of yersinia antihost proteins and in evasion of the host's innate immune response. Here we report that recombinant LcrV signals in a CD14- and toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2)-dependent fashion leading to immunosuppression by interleukin 10 induction. The impact of this immunosuppressive effect for yersinia pathogenesis is underlined by the observation that TLR2-deficient mice are less susceptible to oral Y. enterocolitica infection than isogenic wild-type animals. In summary, these data demonstrate a new ligand specificity of TLR2, as LcrV is the first known secreted and nonlipidated virulence-associated protein of a Gram-negative bacterium using TLR2 for cell activation. We conclude that yersiniae might exploit host innate pattern recognition molecules and defense mechanisms to evade the host immune response.