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Infection and Immunity, December 2006, p. 6957-6964, Vol. 74, No. 12
0019-9567/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00905-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Antibodies Enhance Interaction of Vibrio cholerae with Intestinal M-Like Cells ^,

Unit for Animal Medicine,¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan²

Received 7 June 2006/ Returned for modification 7 July 2006/ Accepted 15 September 2006

Intestinal M cells bear a receptor for secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) (sIgA) facing the lumen of the epithelial surfaces. Cells bearing this receptor are also found throughout an experimental monolayer consisting of polarized Caco-2 cells, a colon adenocarcinoma cell line. The presence of antibodies (mainly sIgA) in the lumen of the small intestine led us to explore the participation of the sIgA receptor and antibodies in the interaction of Caco-2-associated M-like cells with the mucosal pathogen Vibrio cholerae. Here, we demonstrate that sIgA antibodies isolated from pooled healthy human colostrums, as well as IgG from pooled healthy human serum, can recognize V. cholerae. Furthermore, opsonization enhances M-like-cell transcytosis of V. cholerae strains. We also show that the cholera toxin (CT) receptor ganglioside GM₁ colocalizes with the sIgA receptor in cells of the epithelial monolayer. Both sIgA and IgG antibodies compete for the attachment of soluble CT subunit B to immobilized GM₁. Our results indicate that in this in vitro model system of intestinal epithelia, human sIgA and IgG contribute to the uptake of V. cholerae by M-like cells, probably through an interaction with GM₁. Our results support previous findings of others showing that sIgA can act as an endogenous adjuvant and that sIgA is important for the antigen-sampling function of M cells.

Published ahead of print on 25 September 2006.

Editor: J. N. Weiser

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