The Potential Virulence Factors ofProvidencia stuartii: Motility, Adherence, and Invasion
Providencia stuartiiis the most commonProvidenciaspecies capable of causing human infections. CurrentlyP. stuartiiis involved in high incidence of urinary tract infections in catheterized patients. The ability of bacteria to swarm on semisolid (viscous) surfaces and adhere to and invade host cells determines the specificity of the disease pathogenesis and its therapy. In the present study we demonstrated morphological changes ofP. stuartiiNK cells during migration on the viscous medium and discussed adhesive and invasive properties utilizing the HeLa-M cell line as a host model. To visualize the interaction ofP. stuartiiNK bacterial cells with eukaryotic cellsin vitroscanning electron and confocal microscopy were performed. We found that bacteriaP. stuartiiNK are able to adhere to and invade HeLa-M epithelial cells and these properties depend on the age of bacterial culture. Also, to invade the host cells the infectious dose of the bacteria is essential. The microphotographs indicate that after incubation of bacterialP. stuartiiNK cells together with epithelial cells the bacterial cells both were adhered onto and invaded into the host cells.