Lack of correlation between haemagglutination and adherence to epithelial cells in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

Abstract

Summary. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was examined for its haemagglutinating activity and adherence to cultured epithelial cells (HEp-2) in relation to possession of a virulence (VW) plasmid and to growth conditions. VW-lacking (VW -) bacteria were isolated from ten VW' strains of each serovar which, after they were grown on CFA plates at 37"C, agglutinated the erythrocytes from five different species. In contrast to the bacteria possessing the plasmid (VW') half of the VW-bacteria, grown on CFA plates at 37"C, did not agglutinate any of the erythrocytes used and the other half agglutinated only human erythrocytes. Furthermore, when grown on CFA plates at 25"C, neither VW' nor VW-bacteria showed a haemagglutinating activity. When the bacteria were grown in CFA broth, only two strains grown at 25°C did not agglutinate any of the erythrocytes tested. The VW+ and VW-bacteria of the remaining strains, grown either at 25°C or 37"C, showed relatively high haemagglutinating activity. Adherence to HEp-2 cells did not correlate with haemagglutinating activity in Y . pseudotuberculosis; the VW + bacteria grown at 37°C adhered to HEp-2 cells more efficiently than either the VW -derivatives or the VW ' bacteria grown at 25"C, regardless of the growth medium. These results indicate that some of the haemagglutinins detected on Y. pseudotuberculosis are not involved in the adherence to HEp-2 cells.

Adhesion of Yersinia enterocolitica to human epithelial cell lines and to rabbit and human small intestinal tissue

“…Most previous publications dealing with the adhesive properties of Yersiniue have studied the interaction between these bacteria and various epithelial cell lines (e.g. 5 , 12,13,17,19,22,26,28). In one study, strains of the Y. enterocoliticu pathogenic serotypes 0:3, 0:8 and 0:9 adhered to and invaded enterocytes of human fetal gut (4).…”

“…Two chromosomal loci, which code for invasion of epithelial cells, have recently been identified (24). However, other investigations have provided evidence that both chromosomal and plasmid genes may be involved in the adhesion process (12,13,17,26).…”

Characterization of an Amorphous and Soluble Hemagglutinin from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

“…Kawaoka et al (14) reported that Y. pseudotuberculosis strains isolated from various mammalian species including human, monkey, pig, dog, rabbit, guinea pig, rat, duck and pigeon, produced HA in the culture medium and that the HA productivity of the yersinial strain was unrelated to the binding ability of it to mammalian epithelial cells. An essential step in infections caused by enteroinvasive bacteria is the penetration of intestinal cells (5,12,22,25).InY.pseudotuberculosis a single chromosomal gene (inv) that encodes a 103-kilodalton protein (invasin) is sufficient to confer an invasive character on noninvasive E. coli HB101 (10,11,15).…”

“…It seems likely that the relationships between HA, plasmid, invasion and adherence differ from case to case. The hemagglutinin in pathogenic Y. enterocolitica (15) expressed on the cell surface of VW+ bacteria grown at 37 C was considered to confer hydrophobic property on the cells, while the HA produced by Y. pseudotuberculosis grown at 37 C did not confer hydrophobicity to the cells (14). Each of the HAs purified from the strains R148R and TP1040 appeared to be composed of a single protein with a molecular weight of 14,000 to 15,000, which were virtually identical to that of the HA previously purified from the strain Inoue (29).…”

“…Some yersinial strains isolated from human and animals also have pilus-like structures, and manifest HA activity against erythrocytes from some species (13,24). Kawaoka et al (14), however, demonstrated that Y. pseudotuberculosis strains isolated from human and various animals were able to produce HA without correlation with any cell surface appendages. Recently, we (29) purified HA with a molecular weight of 14.5 kDa from Y. pseudotuberculosis strain Inoue and determined N-terminal amino acid sequence of the first 30 residues, but morphological aspects of the HA had remained obscure.…”