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Projekt Druckansicht

EHEC-Hämolysin: Molekulare und zelluläre Mechanismen der Wirtsschädigung

Fachliche Zuordnung Parasitologie und Biologie der Erreger tropischer Infektionskrankheiten
Förderung Förderung von 2009 bis 2019
Projektkennung Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 157186677
 
Erstellungsjahr 2020

Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse

The hemolysin from enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC-Hly) is a pore-forming toxin of the RTX (repeats-in-toxin) family. It is present in most EHEC strains, which cause bloody diarrhea and severe extraintestinal complications such as renal failure and neurological disorders. We found that EHEC-Hly is associated with outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). This assembly stabilizes the toxin and substantially prolongs its hemolytic activity compared to its free form. A detailed analysis of EHEC OMVs revealed that they carry, besides EHEC-Hly, the major virulence factor of EHEC strains, i.e. Stx2a, as well as the CdtV holotoxin and flagellin. Immunogold-coupled anti-EHEC-Hly antibody exhibited an overall distribution of the toxin in the vesicle population, predominantly on the surface of the vesicles. Employing human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs) and human colon epithelial cells (Caco-2), the kinetics of fluorochrome-labeled OMVs uptake indicated the binding and internalization of EHEC-Hly-containing OMVs in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, the endocytosis of EHEC-Hly-containing OMVs was found to be a dynamin-dependent and largely clathrin-mediated process. Confocal laser scanning microscopy studies of EHEC-Hly association with OMVs and EHEC-Hly trafficking into the endo-lysosomal compartments and mitochondria demonstrated the initial association of EHEC-Hly with OMVs followed by a gradual dissociation from OMVs, escape from the lysosomes and translocation to the mitochondria, which resulted in caspase-9-mediated apoptosis. Of note, lysosomal acidification is necessary for the separation and release of EHEC-Hly from OMVs within lysosomes. EHEC-Hly-harboring OMVs were found to induce production of proinflammatory cytokines in target cells. Interaction studies of OMVs revealed the presence of an OmpA- binding glycoprotein receptor on endothelial and epithelial cells. Knock-down experiments by means of RNA interference (RNAi) using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) allowed for downregulation of the OmpA ligand. Deletions of the genes coding for additional OMV- associated outer membrane proteins including OmpF, OmpC, OmpA, OmpX and OmpW indicated that there is a direct correlation between the OmpA expression and the interaction of the EHEC-Hly with the OMVs. These data suggest that the OMV-OmpA is involved in EHEC-Hly association with and integration into OMVs as well as in the OMV uptake by the host cells.

Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)

 
 

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