scholarly journals Retraction of enteropathogenic E. coli type IV pili promotes efficient host cell colonization, effector translocation and tight junction disruption

Gut Microbes ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Aroeti ◽  
Gil Friedman ◽  
Efrat Zlotkin-Rivkin ◽  
Michael S. Donnenberg
mBio ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Basso ◽  
Michel Ragno ◽  
Sylvie Elsen ◽  
Emeline Reboud ◽  
Guillaume Golovkine ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT   Clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa lacking the type III secretion system genes employ a toxin, exolysin (ExlA), for host cell membrane disruption. Here, we demonstrated that ExlA export requires a predicted outer membrane protein, ExlB, showing that ExlA and ExlB define a new active two-partner secretion (TPS) system of P. aeruginosa . In addition to the TPS signals, ExlA harbors several distinct domains, which include one hemagglutinin domain, five arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) motifs, and a C-terminal region lacking any identifiable sequence motifs. However, this C-terminal region is important for the toxic activity, since its deletion abolishes host cell lysis. Using lipid vesicles and eukaryotic cells, including red blood cells, we demonstrated that ExlA has a pore-forming activity which precedes cell membrane disruption of nucleated cells. Finally, we developed a high-throughput cell-based live-dead assay and used it to screen a transposon mutant library of an ExlA-producing P. aeruginosa clinical strain for bacterial factors required for ExlA-mediated toxicity. The screen resulted in the identification of proteins involved in the formation of type IV pili as being required for ExlA to exert its cytotoxic activity by promoting close contact between bacteria and the host cell. These findings represent the first example of cooperation between a pore-forming toxin of the TPS family and surface appendages in host cell intoxication. IMPORTANCE The course and outcome of acute, toxigenic infections by Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates rely on the deployment of one of two virulence strategies: delivery of effectors by the well-known type III secretion system or the cytolytic activity of the recently identified two-partner secreted toxin, exolysin. Here, we characterize several features of the mammalian cell intoxication process mediated by exolysin. We found that exolysin requires the outer membrane protein ExlB for export into extracellular medium. Using in vitro recombinant protein and ex vivo assays, we demonstrated a pore-forming activity of exolysin. A cellular cytotoxicity screen of a transposon mutant library, made in an exolysin-producing clinical strain, identified type IV pili as bacterial appendages required for exolysin toxic function. This work deciphers molecular mechanisms underlying the activity of novel virulence factors used by P. aeruginosa clinical strains lacking the type III secretion system, including a requirement for the toxin-producing bacteria to be attached to the targeted cell to induce cytolysis, and defines new targets for developing antivirulence strategies.


F1000Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anand Prakash Singh ◽  
Saima Aijaz

Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) causes acute intestinal infections in infants in the developing world. Infection typically spreads through contaminated food and water and leads to severe, watery diarrhea. EPEC attaches to the intestinal epithelial cells and directly injects virulence factors which modulate multiple signaling pathways leading to host cell dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate the onset of diarrhea are poorly defined. A major target of EPEC is the host cell tight junction complex which acts as a barrier and regulates the passage of water and solutes through the paracellular space. In this review, we focus on the EPEC effectors that target the epithelial barrier, alter its functions and contribute to leakage through the tight junctions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 199 (23) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad K. Kern ◽  
Eric A. Porsch ◽  
Joseph W. St. Geme

ABSTRACT Kingella kingae is an important pathogen in young children and initiates infection by colonizing the posterior pharynx. Adherence to pharyngeal epithelial cells is an important first step in the process of colonization. In the present study, we sought to elucidate the interplay of type IV pili (T4P), a trimeric autotransporter adhesin called Knh, and the polysaccharide capsule in K. kingae adherence to host cells. Using adherence assays performed under shear stress, we observed that a strain expressing only Knh was capable of higher levels of adherence than a strain expressing only T4P. Using atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we established that the capsule had a mean depth of 700 nm and that Knh was approximately 110 nm long. Using cationic ferritin capsule staining and thin-section transmission electron microscopy, we found that when bacteria expressing retractile T4P were in close contact with host cells, the capsule was absent at the point of contact between the bacterium and the host cell membrane. In a T4P retraction-deficient mutant, the capsule depth remained intact and adherence levels were markedly reduced. These results support the following model: T4P make initial contact with the host cell and mediate low-strength adherence. T4P retract, pulling the organism closer to the host cell and displacing the capsule, allowing Knh to be exposed and mediate high-strength, tight adherence to the host cell surface. This report provides the first description of the mechanical displacement of capsule enabling intimate bacterial adherence to host cells. IMPORTANCE Adherence to host cells is an important first step in bacterial colonization and pathogenicity. Kingella kingae has three surface factors that are involved in adherence: type IV pili (T4P), a trimeric autotransporter adhesin called Knh, and a polysaccharide capsule. Our results suggest that T4P mediate initial contact and low-strength adherence to host cells. T4P retraction draws the bacterium closer to the host cell and causes the displacement of capsule. This displacement exposes Knh and allows Knh to mediate high-strength adherence to the host cell. This work provides new insight into the interplay of T4P, a nonpilus adhesin, and a capsule and their effects on bacterial adherence to host cells.


F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anand Prakash Singh ◽  
Saima Aijaz

Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) causes acute intestinal infections in infants in the developing world. Infection typically spreads through contaminated food and water and leads to severe, watery diarrhea. EPEC attaches to the intestinal epithelial cells and directly injects virulence factors which modulate multiple signaling pathways leading to host cell dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate the onset of diarrhea are poorly defined. A major target of EPEC is the host cell tight junction complex which acts as a barrier and regulates the passage of water and solutes through the paracellular space. In this review, we focus on the EPEC effectors that target the epithelial barrier, alter its functions and contribute to leakage through the tight junctions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne D. Villela ◽  
Hanjeong Harvey ◽  
Katherine Graham ◽  
Lori L. Burrows

ABSTRACTTfpW is an oligosaccharyltransferase that modifies the subunits of type IV pili from group IV strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with oligomers of α-1,5-linked-D-arabinofuranose (D-Araf). Besides its oligosaccharyltransferase activity, TfpW may be responsible for periplasmic translocation and polymerization of D-Araf. Here we investigated these potential roles of TfpW in Pa5196 pilin glycosylation. Topology studies confirmed the periplasmic location of loop 1 and the large C-terminus domain, however the central portion of TfpW had an indeterminate configuration. Reconstitution of the Pa5196 pilin glycosylation system by providing pilA, tfpW +/- tfpX and the D-Araf biosynthesis genes PsPA7_6246-6249 showed that TfpW is sufficient for glycan polymerization and transfer to pilins in P. aeruginosa PAO1, while TfpX is also necessary in Escherichia coli. In addition to PsPA7_6246, DprE1 (PsPA7_6248) and DprE2 (PsPA7_6249), the GtrA-like component PsPA7_6247 was required for pilin glycosylation in E. coli versus PAO1. In a PAO1 ΔarnE/F mutant, loss of PsPA7_6247 expression decreased the level of pilin glycosylation, suggesting that arnE/F may play a role in pilin glycosylation when PsPA7_6247 is absent. Bacterial two-hybrid studies showed interactions of TfpW with itself, TfpX, PsPA7_6247 and DprE2, suggesting the formation of a complex that enables efficient pilin glycosylation. Fluorescence microscopy of E. coli and Pa5196ΔdprE1 expressing a DprE1-sGFP fusion showed that the protein is expressed in the cytoplasm, supporting our model that includes cytoplasmic biosynthesis of the lipid carrier-linked D-Araf precursor prior to its periplasmic translocation. Together these data suggest that TfpW may be the first example of a trifunctional flippase, glycosyltransferase, and oligosaccharyltransferase.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Golovkine ◽  
Laurence Lemelle ◽  
Claire Burny ◽  
Cedric Vaillant ◽  
Jean-Francois Palierne ◽  
...  

2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (3) ◽  
pp. 848-854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Sauvonnet ◽  
Pierre Gounon ◽  
Anthony P. Pugsley

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli K-12 possesses at least 16 chromosomal genes related to genes involved in the formation of type IV pili in other gram-negative bacteria. However, E. coli K-12 does not produce type IV pili when grown under standard laboratory conditions. The results of reverse transcription-PCR, operon fusion analysis, and immunoblotting demonstrated that several of the putativeE. coli piliation genes are expressed at very low levels. Increasing the level of expression of the major pilin gene (ppdD) and the linked assembly genes hofB andhofC (homologues of the Pseudomonas aeruginosatype IV pilus assembly genes pilB and pilC) did not lead to pilus production. However, expression of theppdD gene in P. aeruginosa led to assembly of PpdD into pili that were recognized by antibodies directed against the PpdD protein. Assembly of PpdD into pili in P. aeruginosawas dependent on the expression of the pilB andpilC genes and independent of expression of the P. aeruginosa pilin structural gene pilA.


mBio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Nieto ◽  
Abby R. Kroken ◽  
Melinda R. Grosser ◽  
Benjamin E. Smith ◽  
Matteo M. E. Metruccio ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa is among bacterial pathogens capable of twitching motility, a form of surface-associated movement dependent on type IV pili (T4P). Previously, we showed that T4P and twitching were required for P. aeruginosa to cause disease in a murine model of corneal infection, to traverse human corneal epithelial multilayers, and to efficiently exit invaded epithelial cells. Here, we used live wide-field fluorescent imaging combined with quantitative image analysis to explore how twitching contributes to epithelial cell egress. Results using time-lapse imaging of cells infected with wild-type PAO1 showed that cytoplasmic bacteria slowly disseminated throughout the cytosol at a median speed of >0.05 μm s−1 while dividing intracellularly. Similar results were obtained with flagellin (fliC) and flagellum assembly (flhA) mutants, thereby excluding swimming, swarming, and sliding as mechanisms. In contrast, pilA mutants (lacking T4P) and pilT mutants (twitching motility defective) appeared stationary and accumulated in expanding aggregates during intracellular division. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed that these mutants were not trapped within membrane-bound cytosolic compartments. For the wild type, dissemination in the cytosol was not prevented by the depolymerization of actin filaments using latrunculin A and/or the disruption of microtubules using nocodazole. Together, these findings illustrate a novel form of intracellular bacterial motility differing from previously described mechanisms in being directly driven by bacterial motility appendages (T4P) and not depending on polymerized host actin or microtubules. IMPORTANCE Host cell invasion can contribute to disease pathogenesis by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Previously, we showed that the type III secretion system (T3SS) of invasive P. aeruginosa strains modulates cell entry and subsequent escape from vacuolar trafficking to host lysosomes. However, we also showed that mutants lacking either type IV pili (T4P) or T4P-dependent twitching motility (i) were defective in traversing cell multilayers, (ii) caused less pathology in vivo, and (iii) had a reduced capacity to exit invaded cells. Here, we report that after vacuolar escape, intracellular P. aeruginosa can use T4P-dependent twitching motility to disseminate throughout the host cell cytoplasm. We further show that this strategy for intracellular dissemination does not depend on flagellin and resists both host actin and host microtubule disruption. This differs from mechanisms used by previously studied pathogens that utilize either host actin or microtubules for intracellular dissemination independently of microbe motility appendages.


2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (14) ◽  
pp. 2436-2447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eitan E. Zahavi ◽  
Joshua A. Lieberman ◽  
Michael S. Donnenberg ◽  
Mor Nitzan ◽  
Kobi Baruch ◽  
...  

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is an important human pathogen that causes acute infantile diarrhea. The type IV bundle-forming pili (BFP) of typical EPEC strains are dynamic fibrillar organelles that can extend out and retract into the bacterium. The bfpF gene encodes for BfpF, a protein that promotes pili retraction. The BFP are involved in bacterial autoaggregation and in mediating the initial adherence of the bacterium with its host cell. Importantly, BFP retraction is implicated in virulence in experimental human infection. How pili retraction contributes to EPEC pathogenesis at the cellular level remains largely obscure, however. In this study, an effort has been made to address this question using engineered EPEC strains with induced BFP retraction capacity. We show that the retraction is important for tight-junction disruption and, to a lesser extent, actin-rich pedestal formation by promoting efficient translocation of bacterial protein effectors into the host cells. A model is proposed whereby BFP retraction permits closer apposition between the bacterial and the host cell surfaces, thus enabling timely and effective introduction of bacterial effectors into the host cell via the type III secretion apparatus. Our studies hence suggest novel insights into the involvement of pili retraction in EPEC pathogenesis.


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