- Clostridium difficile toxins facilitate bacterial colonization by modulating the fence and gate function of colonic epithelium
- Kasendra, Magdalena Julia <1985>
Subject
- BIO/11 Biologia molecolare
Description
- The contribution of Clostridium difficile toxin A and B (TcdA and TcdB) to cellular intoxication has been extensively studied, but their impact on bacterial colonization remains unclear. By setting-up two- and three-dimensional in vitro models of polarized gut epithelium, we investigated how C. difficile infection is affected by host cell polarity and whether TcdA and TcdB contribute to such events. Indeed, we observed that C. difficile adhesion and penetration of the epithelial barrier is substantially enhanced in poorly polarized or EGTA-treated cells, indicating that bacteria bind preferentially to the basolateral cell surface. In this context, we demonstrated that sub-lethal concentrations of C. difficile TcdA are able to alter cell polarity by causing redistribution of plasma membrane components between distinct surface domains. Taken together, the data suggest that toxin-mediated modulation of host cell organization may account for the capacity of this opportunistic pathogen to gain access to basolateral receptors leading to a successful colonization of the colonic mucosa.
Date
- 2014-04-11
Type
- Doctoral Thesis
- PeerReviewed
Format
- application/pdf
Identifier
urn:nbn:it:unibo-13179
Kasendra, Magdalena Julia (2014) Clostridium difficile toxins facilitate bacterial colonization by modulating the fence and gate function of colonic epithelium , [Dissertation thesis], Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna. Dottorato di ricerca in Biologia cellulare e molecolare