Daniela Chessa

SipA, SopA, SopB, SopD, and SopE2 Contribute to Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhimurium Invasion of Epithelial Cells

ABSTRACT The centisome 63 type III secretion system (T3SS-1) encoded by Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI1) mediates invasion of epithelial cells by Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium. Characterization of mutants lacking individual genes has revealed that T3SS-1 secreted proteins (effectors) SopE2 and SopB are required for invasion while the SipA protein accelerates entry into cells. Here we have revisited the question of which T3SS-1 effectors contribute to the invasion of epithelial cells by complementing a strain lacking all of the effector genes that are required to cause diarrhea in a calf (a sipA sopABDE2 mutant). Introduction of either the cloned sipA, the cloned sopB, or the cloned sopE2 gene increased the invasiveness of the sipA sopABDE2 mutant for nonpolarized HT-29 cells. However, a contribution of sopA or sopD to invasion was not apparent when invasion assays were performed with the nonpolarized colon carcinoma cell lines T84 and HT-29. In contrast, introduction of either the sopA, the sopB, the sopD, or the sopE2 gene increased the invasiveness of the sipA sopABDE2 mutant for polarized T84 cells. Furthermore, introduction of a plasmid carrying sipA and sopB increased the invasiveness of the sipA sopABDE2 mutant for polarized T84 cells significantly compared to the introduction of plasmids carrying only sipA or sopB. We conclude that SipA, SopA, SopB, SopD, and SopE2 contribute to S. enterica serotype Typhimurium invasion of epithelial cells in vitro.

The Vi Capsular Antigen of Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhi Reduces Toll-Like Receptor-Dependent Interleukin-8 Expression in the Intestinal Mucosa

ABSTRACT Human infections with nontyphoidal Salmonella serotypes, such as S. enterica serotype Typhimurium, are characterized by a massive neutrophil influx in the colon and terminal ileum. In contrast, neutrophils are scarce in intestinal infiltrates of typhoid fever patients. Here, we show that in S. enterica serotype Typhi, the causative agent of typhoid fever, expression of the Vi capsular antigen reduced expression of the neutrophil chemoattractant interleukin-8 (IL-8) in host cells. Capsulated bacteria elicited IL-8 expression in polarized human epithelial cells (T84) and human macrophage-like cells (THP-1) in vitro at significantly reduced levels compared to noncapsulated bacteria. Experiments with a human cell line (HEK293) transfected with human Toll-like receptors (TLRs) demonstrated that in the presence of TLR5 or TLR4/MD2/CD14, a noncapsulated serotype Typhi mutant was able to induce the expression of IL-8, while this host response was significantly reduced when cells were infected with the capsulated serotype Typhi wild type. The relevance of these in vitro observations for the interaction of serotype Typhi with its human host was further studied ex vivo using human colonic tissue explants. Expression of IL-8 was detected in human colonic tissue explants infected with serotype Typhimurium or a noncapsulated serotype Typhi mutant. In contrast, infection with the serotype Typhi wild type did not elicit IL-8 expression in colonic tissue explants. Collectively, these data suggest that the scarcity of neutrophils in intestinal infiltrates of typhoid fever patients is due to a capsule-mediated reduction of TLR-dependent IL-8 production in the intestinal mucosa.

The Vi-capsule prevents Toll-like receptor 4 recognition of Salmonella

The viaB locus enables Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi to reduce Toll‐like receptor (TLR) dependent cytokine production in tissue culture models. This DNA region contains genes involved in the regulation (tviA), biosynthesis (tviBCDE) and export (vexABCDE) of the Vi capsule. Expression of the Vi capsule in S. Typhimurium, but not expression of the TviA regulatory protein, reduced tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) and IL‐6 production by murine bone‐marrow derived macrophages. Production of TNF‐α and IL‐6 was dependent on expression of TLR4 as stimulation of macrophages from TLR4−/− mice with S. Typhimurium did not result in expression of these cytokines. Intraperitoneal infection of mice with S. Typhimurium induced expression of TNF‐α and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the liver. Introduction of the cloned viaB region into S. Typhimurium reduced TNF‐α and iNOS expression to levels observed after infection with a S. Typhimurium msbB mutant. In contrast, no differences in TNF‐α expression between the S. Typhimurium wild type and strains expressing the Vi‐capsule or carrying a mutation in msbB were observed after infection of TLR4−/− mice. We conclude that the Vi capsule prevents both in vitro and in vivo recognition of S. Typhimurium lipopolysaccharide by TLR4.

Capsule-mediated immune evasion: a new hypothesis explaining aspects of typhoid fever pathogenesis.

The genus Salmonella contains a group of closely related organisms that are pathogenic for humans and other vertebrates. The human disease manifestations caused most frequently by Salmonella serotypes worldwide are typhoid fever and gastroenteritis (reviewed in reference [102][1]). Both illnesses

The Capsule Encoding the viaB Locus Reduces Interleukin-17 Expression and Mucosal Innate Responses in the Bovine Intestinal Mucosa during Infection with Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhi

ABSTRACT The viaB locus contains genes for the biosynthesis and export of the Vi capsular antigen of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi. Wild-type serotype Typhi induces less CXC chemokine production in tissue culture models than does an isogenic viaB mutant. Here we investigated the in vivo relevance of these observations by determining whether the presence of the viaB region prevents inflammation in two animal models of gastroenteritis. Unlike S. enterica serotype Typhimurium, serotype Typhi or a serotype Typhi viaB mutant did not elicit marked inflammatory changes in the streptomycin-pretreated mouse model. In contrast, infection of bovine ligated ileal loops with a serotype Typhi viaB mutant resulted in more fluid accumulation and higher expression of the chemokine growth-related oncogene alpha (GROα) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) than did infection with the serotype Typhi wild type. There was a marked upregulation of IL-17 expression in both the bovine ligated ileal loop model and the streptomycin-pretreated mouse model, suggesting that this cytokine is an important component of the inflammatory response to infection with Salmonella serotypes. Introduction of the cloned viaB region into serotype Typhimurium resulted in a significant reduction of GROα and IL-17 expression and in reduced fluid secretion. Our data support the idea that the viaB region plays a role in reducing intestinal inflammation in vivo.

Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium Std fimbriae bind terminal α(1,2)fucose residues in the cecal mucosa

The std operon encodes a fimbrial adhesin of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium that is required for attachment to intestinal epithelial cells and for cecal colonization in the mouse. To study the mechanism by which this virulence factor contributes to colonization we characterized its binding specificity. Std‐mediated binding to human colonic epithelial (Caco‐2) cells could be abrogated by removing N‐linked glycans. Adherence of Std fimbriated S. Typhimurium to Caco‐2 cells could be blocked by co‐incubation with H type 2 oligosaccharide (Fucα1‐2Galβ1‐4GlcNAc) or by pretreatment of cells with α1‐2 fucosidase. In contrast, pretreatment of Caco‐2 cells with neuraminidase or co‐incubation with the type 2 disaccharide precursor (Galβ1‐4GlcNAc) did not reduce adherence of Std fimbriated S. Typhimurium. Binding of purified Std fimbriae to Fucα1‐2Galβ1‐4GlcNAc in a solid phase binding assay was competitively inhibited by Ulex europaeus agglutinin‐I (UEA‐I), a lectin specific for Fucα1‐2 moieties. Purified Std fimbriae and UEA both bound to a receptor localized in the mucus layer of the murine cecum. These data suggest that the std operon encodes an adhesin that binds an α1‐2 fucosylated receptor(s) present in the cecal mucosa.

Regulation of the Salmonella enterica std Fimbrial Operon by DNA Adenine Methylation, SeqA, and HdfR

DNA adenine methylase (dam) mutants of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium grown under laboratory conditions express the std fimbrial operon, which is tightly repressed in the wild type. Here, we show that uncontrolled production of Std fimbriae in S. enterica serovar Typhimurium dam mutants contributes to attenuation in mice, as indicated by the observation that an stdA dam strain is more competitive than a dam strain upon oral infection. Dam methylation appears to regulate std transcription, rather than std mRNA stability or turnover. A genetic screen for std regulators showed that the GATC-binding protein SeqA directly or indirectly represses std expression, while the poorly characterized yifA gene product serves as an std activator. YifA encodes a putative LysR-like protein and has been renamed HdfR, like its Escherichia coli homolog. Activation of std expression by HdfR is observed only in dam and seqA backgrounds. These data suggest that HdfR directly or indirectly activates std transcription. Since SeqA is unable to bind nonmethylated DNA, it is possible that std operon derepression in dam and seqA mutants may result from unconstrained HdfR-mediated activation of std transcription. Derepression of std in dam and seqA mutants of S. enterica occurs in only a fraction of the bacterial population, suggesting the occurrence of either bistable expression or phase variation.

RosE represses Std fimbrial expression in Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium

The Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) genome contains a large repertoire of putative fimbrial operons that remain poorly characterized because they are not expressed in vitro. In this study, insertions that induced expression of the putative stdABCD fimbrial operon were identified from a random bank of transposon mutants by screening with immuno‐magnetic particles for ligand expression (SIMPLE). Transposon insertions upstream of csgC and lrhA or within dam, setB and STM4463 (renamed rosE) resulted in expression of StdA and its assembly into fimbrial filaments on the cell surface. RosE is a novel negative regulator of Std fimbrial expression as indicated by its repression of a std::lacZ reporter construct and by binding of the purified protein to a DNA region upstream of the stdA start codon. Expression of Std fimbriae in the rosE mutant resulted in increased attachment of S. typhimurium to human colonic epithelial cell lines (T‐84 and CaCo‐2). A rosE mutant exhibited a reduced ability to compete with virulent S. typhimurium for colonization of murine organs, while no defect was observed when both competing strains carried a stdAB deletion. These data suggest that a tight control of Std fimbrial expression mediated by RosE is required during host pathogen interaction.

Binding specificity of Salmonella plasmid-encoded fimbriae assessed by glycomics.

The Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) genome encodes 12 intestinal colonization factors of the chaperone/usher fimbrial assembly class; however, the binding specificity is known for only one of these adhesins, known as type 1 fimbriae. Here we explored the utility of glycomics to determine the carbohydrate binding specificity of plasmid-encoded fimbriae from S. Typhimurium. A cosmid carrying the pef operon was introduced into Escherichia coli and expression of fimbrial filaments composed of PefA confirmed by flow cytometry and immune-electron microscopy. Plasmid-encoded fimbriae were purified from the surface of E. coli, and the resulting preparation was shown to contain PefA as the sole major protein component. The binding of purified plasmid-encoded fimbriae to a glycanarray suggested that this adhesin specifically binds the trisaccharide Galβ1–4(Fucα1–3)GlcNAc, also known as the Lewis X (Lex) blood group antigen. Results from the glycanarray were validated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in which plasmid-encoded fimbriae bound Lex-coated wells in a concentration-dependent manner. The binding of plasmid-encoded fimbriae to Lex-coated wells could be inhibited by co-incubation with soluble Lex antigen. Our results establish glycomic analysis as a promising new approach for determining the carbohydrate binding specificity of bacterial adhesins.

Host Restriction of Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhi Is Not Caused by Functional Alteration of SipA, SopB, or SopD

ABSTRACT Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi is a strictly human adapted pathogen that does not cause disease in nonprimate vertebrate hosts, while Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium is a broad-host-range pathogen. Serotype Typhi lacks some of the proteins (effectors) exported by the invasion-associated type III secretion system that are required by serotype Typhimurium for eliciting fluid secretion and inflammation in bovine ligated ileal loops. We investigated whether the remaining serotype Typhi effectors implicated in enteropathogenicity (SipA, SopB, and SopD) are functionally exchangeable with their serotype Typhimurium homologues. Serotype Typhi elicited fluid accumulation in bovine ligated ileal loops at levels similar to those elicited by a noninvasive serotype Typhimurium strain (the sipA sopABDE2 mutant) or by sterile culture medium. However, introduction of the cloned serotype Typhi sipA, sopB, and sopD genes complemented the ability of a serotype Typhimurium sipA sopABDE2 mutant to elicit fluid secretion in bovine ligated ileal loops. Introduction of the cloned serotype Typhi sipA, sopB, and sopD genes increased the invasiveness of a serotype Typhimurium sipA sopABDE2 mutant for human colon carcinoma epithelial (HT-29 and T84) cells and bovine kidney (MDBK) cells. Translational fusions between the mature TEM-1 β-lactamase reporter and SipA or SopD demonstrated that serotype Typhi translocates these effectors into host cells. We conclude that the inability of serotype Typhi to cause fluid accumulation in bovine ligated ileal loops is not caused by a functional alteration of its SipA, SopB, and SopD effector proteins with respect to their serotype Typhimurium homologues.