title: Disassembly of focal adhesions during apoptosis of endothelial cell line ECV304 infected with Orientia tsutsugamushi.
abstract: Many bacterial pathogens induce apoptosis in their host cells. We observed the cellular effect of ECV304 cells infected with Orientia tsutsugamushi. The infected cells became rounded and floated in culture supernatant. These floating cells as well as adherent cells exhibited typical features of apoptosis, such as DNA fragmentation and TUNEL staining. As many cells detached from growth substrate, we examined the focal adhesion using the immunofluorescence assay method and observed decreased focal adhesions in heavily infected cells. As endothelial cells could undergo apoptosis by the loss of focal adhesions, this change of focal adhesions may account for the Orientia-induced apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chunchon, 200-702, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kee
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: B U
authors.initials: BU
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002460:Cell Line; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D012285:Orientia tsutsugamushi / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*