Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) mainly infect small infants and children and represent an important causative agent of gastroenteritis worldwide. In developing countries, EPEC constitutes a major cause of infant mortality. Together with the human pathogen enterohämorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) and the murine pathogen Citrobacter rodentium, EPEC belongs to a group of so called attaching and effacing (A/E) bacteria. These bacteria are able to intimately attach to the intestinal epithelium, thereby causing an alteration of the mucosal homeostasis and diarrhea. In this work Dupont et al., demonstrate the first in vivo model for EPEC. They show that EPEC forms A/E lesion-like microcolonies at the neonatal epithelial surface dependent on previously known virulence factors. Microcolony formation induces a moderate but distinct transcriptional epithelial response and alteration of the microbiota. Importantly, adult individuals can be colonized after antibiotic treatment or when bred as germ-free animals but EPEC fails to develop A/E-lesion like microcolonies. This model for the first time allows the analysis of bacterial and host factors involved in the formation of A/E lesions in vivo and the identification of age-dependent factors that determine the particular susceptibility of children for EPEC infection. It may help to improve the clinical management of infected neonates and small children particularly in developing countries in the future.
<link http: dx.doi.org journal.ppat.1005616 external link in new>Age-Dependent Susceptibility to Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) Infection in Mice
Research Article | published 09 May 2016 | PLOS Pathogens
Aline Dupont, Felix Sommer, Kaiyi Zhang, Urska Repnik, Marijana Basic, André Bleich, Mark Kühnel, Fredrik Bäckhed, Yael Litvak, Marcus Fulde, Ilan Rosenshine, Mathias W. Hornef