# Molecular mechanisms of neonatal susceptibility to Group B Streptococcus

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2020 · $21,751

## Abstract

Summary
Pneumonia is a leading cause of death in neonates worldwide. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a common
pathogen in neonates but rarely leads to disease in healthy adults. Neonates are first exposed to GBS around
delivery, as GBS frequently colonizes the birth canal. While efforts have focused on reducing maternal
colonization and neonatal transmission, little is known about why the neonatal lung is particularly susceptible to
GBS infection. We developed a novel mouse GBS pneumonia model to better investigate these mechanisms.
Adult mice clear GBS within 24 h, quickly resolve the initial lung inflammation, and universally survive GBS
infection. However, neonatal mice fail to efficiently kill GBS, develop persistent lung inflammation and injury, and
can die from GBS infection. While macrophages populate the fetal lung early in development, alveolar
macrophage differentiation occurs only several days after birth. Therefore, neonates are exposed to inhaled and
aspirated bacteria including GBS without having mature alveolar macrophages in their lungs. Our preliminary
studies suggest immature neonatal lung macrophages fail to mount a normal immune response against GBS
and kill phagocytosed bacteria. GBS avoids detection in the neonatal lung by expressing a capsule coated with
sialic acid, mimicking “self” antigens in the host. Neonatal lung macrophages express very low levels of Siglec-
1, which is required for recognition of sialic acid in the GBS capsule in adults. However neonatal lung
macrophages do express Siglec-E, which suppresses inflammatory signaling upon sialic acid binding. We
hypothesize this combination prevents GBS killing and inhibits the immune response. Neonatal lung
macrophages can phagocytose and kill mutant GBS strains lacking sialic acid in their capsule. These data
suggest that developmental immaturity of sialic acid-Siglec interactions may render the neonatal lung uniquely
susceptible to GBS. This proposal will provide an outstanding opportunity to use novel, state of the art
approaches to further investigate the molecular mechanisms regulating neonatal immunity against GBS.
Experiments will first use knockout mice lacking Siglec-1 or Siglec-E to determine the role of these sialic acid
receptors in fighting GBS infection. Adoptive transfer of adult wild type or Siglec mutant macrophages into
neonatal lungs will determine the relative roles of macrophages versus the existing lung environment. The
proposal will next investigate GBS virulence factors in neonatal pneumonia. Mutant GBS strains lacking capsule
components, sialic acid modifications, and additional virulence factors will be tested in their ability to cause
pneumonia and lung injury in both wild type and Siglec mutant mice. Collectively the aims in this proposal will
identify the unique molecular mechanisms that make newborns particularly susceptible to GBS pneumonia. The
results will lead to development of new strategies for preventing and treating disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9881185
- **Project number:** 5F31HL146066-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Sean J. Lund
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $21,751
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-15 → 2020-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9881185

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9881185, Molecular mechanisms of neonatal susceptibility to Group B Streptococcus (5F31HL146066-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9881185. Licensed CC0.

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