Identification of Campylobacter jejuni genes involved in its interaction with epithelial cells.
Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of infectious gastroenteritis in industrialized nations. Its ability to enter and survive within nonphagocytic cells is thought to be very important for pathogenesis. However, little is known about the C. jejuni determinants that mediate these processes. Through an extensive transposon mutagenesis screen, we have identified several loci that are required for C. jejuni efficient entry and survival within epithelial cells. Among these loci, insertional mutations in aspA, aspB, and sodB resulted in drastic reduction in C. jejuni entry and/or survival within host cells and a severe defect in colonization in an animal model. The implications of these findings for the understanding of C. jejuni-host cell interactions are discussed.
Section of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University School of Medicine, Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine, 295 Congress Ave., New Haven, CT 06536, USA.
Veronica
V
Novik
Dirk
D
Hofreuter
Jorge E
JE
Galán
D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002460:Cell Line; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000382:microbiology*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D055786:Gene Knockout Techniques; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D050296:Microbial Viability; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D037521:Virulence Factors