title: Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus surface properties in relation to their adherence to human buccal epithelial cells.
abstract: Adherence to host cells by pathogenic bacteria is achieved through both specific and non-specific mechanisms. The former involve bacterial adhesin and corresponding cell receptors (Gibbons and Van Houte, 1980), while the second include electric charges and hydrophobicity of bacterial cell walls. In a previous study (Beck et al., 1988), we showed that these two cell surface characteristics vary during growth of Staphylococcus aureus in a manner which should promote adherence to host cells. The aims of the current study were to assess: (1) whether the same growth-related variations in surface properties were present in another bacterial species, Streptococcus pneumoniae; (2) whether the adherence of the two types of bacteria to epithelial cells was in fact different at different growth times; and (3) whether such differences were consistent with the observed surface properties.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U14, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Puchelle
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Plotkowski
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peslin
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D004848:Epithelium / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D013499:Surface Properties