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Infection and Immunity, September 2001, p. 5840-5848, Vol. 69, No. 9
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.9.5840-5848.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Distinct Proinflammatory Host Responses to Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infection in Immortalized Human Cervical and Vaginal Epithelial Cells

Raina Nakova Fichorova,1 Pragnya Jasvantrai Desai,2 Frank C. Gibson III,2 and Caroline Attardo Genco2,*

Fearing Research Laboratory, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115,1 and Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 021182

Received 19 March 2001/Returned for modification 10 May 2001/Accepted 6 June 2001

In this study we utilized immortalized morphologically and functionally distinct epithelial cell lines from normal human endocervix, ectocervix, and vagina to characterize gonococcal epithelial interactions pertinent to the lower female genital tract. Piliated, but not nonpiliated, N. gonorrhoeae strain F62 variants actively invaded these epithelial cell lines, as demonstrated by an antibiotic protection assay and confocal microscopy. Invasion of these cells by green fluorescent protein-expressing gonococci was characterized by colocalization of gonococci with F actin, which were initially detected 30 min postinfection. In all three cell lines, upregulation of interleukin 8 (IL-8) and IL-6, intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (CD54), and the nonspecific cross-reacting antigen (CD66c) were detected 4 h after infection with piliated and nonpiliated gonococci. Furthermore, stimulation of all three cell lines with gonococcal whole-cell lysates resulted in a similar upregulation of IL-6 and IL-8, confirming that bacterial uptake is not essential for this response. Increased levels of IL-1 were first detected 8 h after infection with gonococci, suggesting that the earlier IL-8 and IL-6 responses were not mediated through the IL-1 signaling pathway. The IL-1 response was limited to cultures infected with piliated gonococci and was more vigorous in the endocervical epithelial cells. The ability of gonococci to stimulate distinct proinflammatory host responses in these morphologically and functionally different compartments of the lower female genital tract may contribute directly to the inflammatory signs and symptoms characteristic of disease caused by N. gonorrhoeae.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Boston University School of Medicine, 650 Albany St., Boston, MA 02118. Phone: (617) 414-5305. Fax: (617) 414-5280. E-mail: caroline.genco{at}bmc.org.

Infection and Immunity, September 2001, p. 5840-5848, Vol. 69, No. 9
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.9.5840-5848.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.