title: Stimulation of bacterial adherence by neutrophil defensins varies among bacterial species but not among host cell types.
abstract: Adherence of Haemophilus influenzae to bronchial epithelial cells is enhanced by neutrophil defensins, which are released from activated neutrophils during inflammation [Gorter et al. (1998) J. Infect. Dis. 178, 1067-1078]. In this study, we showed that the adherence of H. influenzae to various epithelial, fibroblast-like and endothelial cell types was significantly enhanced by defensins (20 microg ml(-1)). Defensins stimulated also the adherence of Moraxella catarrhalis, Neisseria meningitidis and nonencapsulated Streptococcus pneumoniae to the NCI-H292 cell line. In contrast, defensins did not affect the adherence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, encapsulated S. pneumoniae, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis. These results suggest that the defensin-enhanced adherence might support the adherence and possibly persistence of the selected bacterial species using the respiratory tract as port of entry.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Vaccine Research, National Institute for Public Health and Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. annelies.gorter@rivm.nl
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Gorter
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Hiemstra
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Bentzmann
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: van Wetering
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dankert
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Alphen
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects*; D001980:Bronchi; D002460:Cell Line; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D023082:Defensins; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000382:microbiology; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D001936:Moraxella catarrhalis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011506:Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D023082:Defensins; D011506:Proteins