title: Adherence and toxicity of Yersinia enterocolitica 0:3 and 0:9 containing virulence-associated plasmids for various cultured cells.
abstract: Plasmid (47 and 44 Mdal, respectively) containing strains of Yersinia enterocolitica 0:3 and 0:9 adhered to and were toxic for HEp-2 human epithelial and Y-1 adrenal cells in vitro, At 37 degrees C, but not at room temperature, the adhesion of the bacteria lead to rounding and partial detachment of the cultured cells. UV-inactivated plasmid-positive Y. enterocolitica were neither adherent nor toxic for the cells but were readily endocytosed by HEp-2 cells. The adherence of plasmid-positive Y. enterocolitica 0:3 and 0:9 on epithelial cells may be pathogenetically important as an initial step for intestinal colonization, and possibly in Y. enterocolitica-induced diarrhoea. Plasmid-positive Y. enterocolitica also adhered to the surface of cultured human macrophages and were apparently not phagocytosed as effectively as the plasmid-negative derivatives of the same bacteria. Thus resistance to phagocytosis may form an additional plasmid-dependent virulence property of Y. enterocolitica 0:3 and 0:9.
mesh_terms: D000268:Adhesiveness; D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D010587:Phagocytosis; D010957:Plasmids; D013696:Temperature; D014774:Virulence; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology