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Infection and Immunity, October 2005, p. 6283-6289, Vol. 73, No. 10
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.10.6283-6289.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Type III Effectors EspG and EspG2 Alter Epithelial Paracellular Permeability

Takeshi Matsuzawa,^1,2 Asaomi Kuwae,^1,2 and Akio Abe^1,2*

Laboratory of Bacterial Infection, Kitasato Institute for Life Sciences, Kitasato University, 5-9-1, Shirokane, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8641, Japan,¹ The Kitasato Institute, 5-9-1, Shirokane, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8642, Japan²

Received 7 January 2005/ Returned for modification 3 March 2005/ Accepted 2 June 2005

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) delivers a subset of effectors into host cells via a type III secretion system. Here we show that the type III effector EspG and its homologue EspG2 alter epithelial paracellular permeability. When MDCK cells were infected with wild-type (WT) EPEC, RhoA was activated, and this event was dependent on the delivery of either EspG or EspG2 into host cells. In contrast, a loss of transepithelial electrical resistance and ZO-1 disruption were induced by infection with an espG/espG2 double-knockout mutant, as was the case with the WT EPEC, indicating that EspG/EspG2 is not involved in the disruption of tight junctions during EPEC infection. Although EspG- and EspG2-expressing MDCK cells exhibited normal overall morphology and maintained fully assembled tight junctions, the paracellular permeability to 4-kDa dextran, but not the paracellular permeability to 500-kDa dextran, was greatly increased. This report reveals for the first time that a pathogen can regulate the size-selective paracellular permeability of epithelial cells in order to elicit a disease process.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Bacterial Infection, Kitasato Institute for Life Sciences, Kitasato University, 5-9-1, Shirokane, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8641, Japan. Phone: 81-3-5791-6123. Fax: 81-3-5791-6125. E-mail: abe{at}lisci.kitasato-u.ac.jp.

Editor: J. B. Bliska

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Infection and Immunity, October 2005, p. 6283-6289, Vol. 73, No. 10
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.10.6283-6289.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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