The Influence of pH on the Specific Adhesion of P Piliated Escherichia coli

Abstract

Adhesion to host tissues is an initiating step in a majority of bacterial infections. In the case of Gram-negative bacteria this adhesion is often mediated by a specific interaction between an adhesin, positioned at the distal end of bacterial pili, and its receptor on the surface of the host tissue. Furthermore, the rod of the pilus, and particularly its biomechanical properties, is believed to be crucial for the ability of bacteria to withstand external forces caused by, for example, (in the case of urinary tract infections) urinary rinsing flows by redistributing the force to several pili. In this work, the adhesion properties of P-piliated E. coli and their dependence of pH have been investigated in a broad pH range by both the surface plasmon resonance technique and force measuring optical tweezers. We demonstrate that P piliated bacteria have an adhesion ability throughout the entire physiologically relevant pH range (pH 4.5 – 8). We also show that pH has a higher impact on the binding rate than on the binding stability or the biomechanical properties of pili; the binding rate was found to have a maximum around pH 5 while the binding stability was found to have a broader distribution over pH and be significant over the entire physiologically relevant pH range. Force measurements on a single organelle level show that the biomechanical properties of P pili are not significantly affected by pH.

Novel Morphological Findings of Human Sperm Removal by Leukocytes in In Vivo and In Vitro Conditions: Preliminary Study

“…Moreover, it possesses P fimbriae (called P pili) . These superficial structures appear to be a virulent factor involved in adherence of pathogens to uroepithelial cells of human kidneys and bladder, and this has been shown to be associated with acute pyelonephritis and persistent presence of uropathogenic E. coli in the mammalian kidney . P fimbriae are known to be mannose‐resistant adhesins but recognize α‐D‐galactopyranosyl‐(1‐4) β‐D‐galactopyranoside receptor (epitope) in the globoseries of glycosphingolipids; therefore, they are distinct from common type 1 fimbriae …”

The Nanomechanical Properties of Lactococcus lactis Pili Are Conditioned by the Polymerized Backbone Pilin

“…The suspension was then vortexed 3 times and centrifuged (9300 g, 30 min, 4°C). Supernatants were treated with ammonium sulfate (55% (w/v)) overnight [ 37 , 38 ]. The precipitated pili were harvested by centrifugation (9300 g, 30 min, 21°C), extensively dialyzed against PBS, and filtered using a 0.2 μm low-protein binding filter.…”

An in vitro model of catheter-associated urinary tract infections to investigate the role of uncommon bacteria on the Escherichia coli microbial consortium

“…All specifications of the flow cell reactor and on the assembling of the system are provided in Supplementary material (Supplementary Method 1). While the dynamic system used here has geometric features distinct from urinary catheters, important aspects involved in CAUTIs were simulated such as the composition of the AUM, which was reported as suitable to mimic the urine in a wide range of microbial studies [21][22][23][24][25]. The temperature of AUM was kept at 37 • C, corresponding to the human body temperature.…”