title: The role of quorum sensing in Escherichia coli (ETEC) virulence factors.
abstract: Quorum sensing (QS) is a signaling system among bacteria mediated by auto-inducer substances (AI). Whenever the concentration of these molecules reaches a threshold corresponding to a high cell density or quorum, the whole population starts a coordinated expression of specific genes. Studies have shown that epinephrine is also responsible for activating specific bacterial genes. This work aimed to investigate the role of conditioned medium (containing AI), epinephrine and their association on growth, motility, F4 fimbriae and heat-labile toxin (LT) expression on enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC, E68). A significant increase in motility, F4 and LT expression, was observed in the ETEC culture supplemented with conditioned medium and epinephrine. These findings suggest that ETEC uses some components of conditioned medium (e.g., AI molecules), host molecules (epinephrine), and their association to modulate the expression of important virulence genes.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Biotecnologia, Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil. Electronic address: regis-ts@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Régis Tuchtenhagen
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Sturbelle
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: lucostaavila@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Luciana Farias da Costa
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: de Avila
authors.affiliation: Pós-graduação em Saúde Animal na Amazônia, Universidade Federal do Pará, PA, Brazil. Electronic address: talitaroos@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Talita Bandeira
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Roos
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: lopesborchardt@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jéssica Lopes
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Borchardt
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: ritinhaconceicao@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Rita de Cássia dos Santos
authors.initials: Rde C
authors.lastname: da Conceição
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Biotecnologia, Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil. Electronic address: odir@ufpel.edu.br.
authors.forename: Odir Antonio
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Dellagostin
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Biotecnologia, Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil. Electronic address: fabio_leite@ufpel.edu.br.
authors.forename: Fábio Pereira Leivas
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Leite
mesh_terms: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D054307:Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000235:genetics; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D053038:Quorum Sensing; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D004768:Enterotoxins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C026888:K88 antigen, E coli; D037521:Virulence Factors; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins; C027538:heat-labile enterotoxin, E coli; D004837:Epinephrine
keywords: Auto-inducers; Catecholamines; Quorum sensing; Virulence