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Infection and Immunity, December 2003, p. 7069-7078, Vol. 71, No. 12
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.12.7069-7078.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Section of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Illinois at Chicago, and West Side Branch, Chicago Veterans Administration Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
Received 3 June 2003/ Returned for modification 15 July 2003/ Accepted 8 September 2003
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Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) causes diarrheal disease and is a major contributor to the high rate of infant mortality in developing countries (22, 33). Intimate adherence between EPEC and host intestinal epithelial cells results in the formation of attaching-and-effacing (A/E) lesions on the surface of epithelial cells (14). The formation of A/E lesions has been shown to be an intricate, multistep process that requires type III secretion machinery that is encoded on a pathogenicity island known as the locus of enterocyte effacement (19). The type III secretory apparatus provides an avenue through which bacterial proteins and effector molecules are translocated into the host cell cytoplasm. A hollow filamentous structure composed of EPEC secreted protein A (EspA) serves as the conduit for protein shuttling from the pathogen to the host cell (15, 27). Pores are formed in the host cell membrane by EspB and -D, thus allowing the bacteria to deliver effector molecules directly to the host cell cytoplasm (34). One of these molecules is the translocated intimin receptor (Tir). Tir is injected into the host cell (5, 12), phosphorylated, and inserted into the cell membrane, where it serves as a receptor for intimin, an outer membrane adhesin of EPEC. As a result, intimate adherence is facilitated. Interestingly, intimin has been shown to interact with cells independent of Tir and to bind ß1-integrin in vitro (8). The physiological ramifications of these interactions have yet to be determined.
It has been shown previously that another enteric pathogen, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, utilizes ß1-integrin as a receptor for the outer membrane protein invasin, thus driving cell invasion (10). Although ß1-integrin is normally limited to the basolateral domains of nonspecialized intestinal epithelial cells, Y. pseudotuberculosis-induced neutrophil transmigration across intestinal epithelial monolayers was shown to disrupt TJs, allowing ß1-integrin to redistribute to the apical membrane, where it could serve as a ligand for invasin and increase the invasion of this organism (18). The potential role of ß1-integrin as a receptor for EPEC intimin has not been explored in host-pathogen model systems.
In intact epithelia, ß1-integrin is restricted to the basolateral membrane and thus is not available for interaction with luminally positioned microbial pathogens. EPEC infection has been shown to induce alterations in host intestinal epithelial functions, including stimulation of the inflammatory responses (25, 26), changes in ion transport (4, 9), and disruption of the TJ barrier (2, 23, 30, 35). Disruption of the TJ barrier is accompanied by structural changes in the arrangement of TJ-associated proteins (29). While EPEC-induced TJ alterations have a profound effect on barrier function, the impact on fence function (maintenance of cell polarity) has not been examined. In this study, we show that EPEC infection of intestinal epithelial cells also perturbs the TJ fence, facilitating redistribution of basolateral membrane proteins. The relocalization of basolaterally restricted proteins, such as ß1-integrin, to the apical cell surface provides the opportunity for novel interactions with EPEC. Using a well-defined intestinal epithelial model system, we demonstrate here a role for ß1-integrin in the pathogenesis of EPEC infection.
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Bacterial strains and infection of monolayers. EPEC strain E2348/69, a wild-type strain initially characterized by Knutton et al. (13), and the tir mutant CVD463 (previously published as SE896) (7) were generous gifts from James Kaper, University of Maryland. The espD mutant UMD870 was kindly provided by Michael Donnenberg, University of Maryland. Bacterial cultures were grown overnight in Luria-Bertani broth and then diluted (1:33) in antibiotic-free cell culture medium containing 0.5% newborn calf serum and 0.5% mannose. Bacteria were grown at 37°C in a shaking incubator until the mid-log growth phase. EPEC and equivalent amounts of antibiotic-free Dulbeccos modified Eagle medium were added to the apical surfaces of T84 monolayers grown on collagen-coated permeable supports at a multiplicity of infection of 100. Bacteria and monolayers were then coincubated at 37°C in a 5% CO2 water-jacketed incubator for 1 h. Nonadherent organisms were removed by gentle washing with warm medium and then incubated for specified times. This well-characterized model has been used to explore the impact of EPEC infection on various intestinal epithelial functions (9, 25, 26, 29).
Biotinylation and immunoprecipitation. Surface biotinylation of T84 membranes was performed as described by McCormick et al. (18). Briefly, T84 monolayers grown on 5-cm2 permeable supports (Transwells; Costar, Cambridge, Mass.) were washed with cold Hanks balanced salt solution (HBSS) and cooled to 4°C. Apical or basolateral surfaces of control or EPEC-infected monolayers were selectively biotinylated by application of biotin sulfo-N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (EZ-link sulfo-NHS-biotin; Pierce Biochemical, Rockford, Ill.), dissolved in HBSS at 0.5 mg/ml, for 20 min at 4°C. The reaction was then quenched by treatment with 50 mM NH4Cl in HBSS for 20 min at 4°C. The monolayers were washed, and cells were scraped into 10 mM HEPES (pH 7.4)-3.5 mM MgCl2-150 mM NaCl-1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride-10 mM chymostatin-10 mM leupeptin-1 mM pepstatin. The extracts were centrifuged at 4,000 x g for 5 min, and the pellets were solubilized in the same buffer with the addition of 2% Triton X-100. A 500-µg aliquot of extracted protein, as quantified by the Bradford assay (1), was incubated overnight with 3.0 µg of monoclonal ß1-integrin antibody (BD Transduction Laboratories, San Diego, Calif.) or 3.0 µg of Na+/K+ ATPase antibody (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.), followed by incubation with 0.4 ml of 50% protein A-Sepharose for 1 h. Immunoprecipitates were washed with 10 mM NaH2PO4 (pH 7.4)-1% Nonidet P-40-0.4 M NaCl-2 mM EDTA-0.1 M NaF-1 mM benzamidine-10 mM chymostatin-10 mM leupeptin-1 mM pepstatin, denatured in sample buffer, and subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting as previously described (25). Nitrocellulose membranes were blocked with Zymed blocking solution (Zymed Laboratories, South San Francisco, Calif.). Biotin-labeled proteins were visualized by incubation with alkaline phosphatase-conjugated streptavidin (Pierce Biochemical) and developed with nitroblue tetrazolium-5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolylphosphate solution (Zymed Laboratories). Membranes were scanned and densitometric analysis was performed with the Alpha Imager 1220 System.
Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy. The localization of specific proteins was determined by immunofluorescence confocal microscopy experiments. Monolayers were rinsed after infection with ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and either fixed for 10 min in 1% formaldehyde and permeabilized for 10 min in 0.2% Triton X-100 or fixed and permeabilized for 20 min in 100% methanol at -20°C. Cells were then blocked for 20 min in 1% bovine serum albumin in PBS. Monolayers were incubated with antibody specific for Na+/K+ ATPase (Sigma) and/or ß1-integrin (BD Transduction Laboratories) or phalloidin-fluorescein isothiocyanate (Molecular Probes, Eugene, Oreg.) and assessed by confocal microscopy. For Fig. 2A, monolayers that had been used for electrophysiology experiments in the presence of ß1-integrin antibody were washed thoroughly with PBS and incubated with 5 µg of anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) conjugated to Alexa568 (Molecular Probes) per ml. The filters were then rinsed thrice with PBS, excised from the support, and mounted with the Prolong antifade kit (Molecular Probes). Confocal analysis was performed with an LSM510 laser scanning confocal microscope (Zeiss, Thornwood, N.Y.).
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FIG. 2. Confocal
micrographs show that EPEC infection allows
ß1-integrin to migrate to the apical membrane.
(A) Uninfected monolayers and those infected with EPEC for
6 h were immunostained with antibodies to
ß1-integrin. Note that in uninfected monolayers the
staining for ß1-integrin is basolateral and limited
to the lateral membrane. EPEC-infected monolayers revealed a
significant presence of ß1-integrin at the apical
pole of the cells, indicating free access and redistribution to the
apical membrane after infection. Data are presented as yz
single focal planes. (B) Confocal microscopy of uninfected
and EPEC-infected monolayers dual labeled for actin (red) and
ß1-integrin (green). In uninfected monolayers the
ß1-integrin is primarily limited to the basal
surface, with some lateral localization, but restricted to the region
basolateral to the apical actin-myosin ring. (C) Following
EPEC infection, apically localized regions of actin aggregation are
seen and correspond with microcolony attachment as viewed by
differential interference contrast microscopy. Colocalization of
ß1-integrin to the same A/E lesions is indicated by
a yellow
signal.
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Disruption of TJ fence function prior to infection by using "calcium switch." Following the measurement of baseline TER, monolayers were exposed to medium containing 5 mM EDTA for 10 min in order to disrupt the cell polarity and allow basolateral membrane proteins to redistribute to the apical membrane. TER was measured to ensure that TJs were disrupted (17). Monolayers were then switched to medium containing a normal concentration of calcium and no EDTA in order to allow the reestablishment of the TJ barrier (3). TER was measured at regular intervals to ensure the recovery of TER; monolayers were then infected with either wild type EPEC, tir mutant strain CVD463, or espD mutant strain UMD870 in the presence or absence of ß1-integrin antibody, and TER was measured at the indicated times.
Statistical analysis. Statistical analysis was performed by using a paired t test. All data represent the mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM). Significance was determined as P < 0.05.
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FIG. 1. EPEC
infection induces redistribution of basolateral membrane proteins. T84
monolayers that were either uninfected; infected with EPEC for 2, 4, or
6 h, or EDTA treated were selectively surface membrane
labeled with activated biotin. Extracted proteins were
immunoprecipitated with either
Na+/K+ ATPase or
ß1-integrin antibodies and quantified by alkaline
phosphatase-streptavidin immunoblots. (A) Immunoprecipitation
specific for Na+/K+ ATPase in
uninfected monolayers, monolayers infected for 6 h, and
monolayers exposed to 4 mM EDTA for 10 min revealed a redistribution of
protein from the basolateral (BL) to the apical (AP) surface following
EPEC infection (P = 0.05; n = 3) and
EDTA treatment (P = 0.004; n = 3).
(B) Immunoprecipitation of ß1-integrin was
performed on uninfected monolayers; monolayers infected with EPEC for
2, 4, or 6 h; and EDTA-treated monolayers. A progressive and
significant redistribution of ß1-integrin to the
apical surface was observed by 6 h postinfection (P
= 0.03; n = 4). Immunoblots are representative
of those from four separate experiments. Densitometry values are
expressed as mean percentages of the total (apical plus basolateral)
±
SEM.
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Uninfected control and EPEC-infected monolayers were dual labeled for actin and ß1-integrin. In this way, A/E lesion formation could be identified as apical aggregates of actin. In uninfected monolayers, actin localized primarily to the region of the actomyosin ring at the apical part of the cell as well as in stress fibers along the basal surface (Fig. 2B). Little overlap in the staining of these two molecules was seen. In contrast, after 6 h of EPEC infection, focal aggregates of actin appeared at the apical membrane, consistent with A/E lesion formation. In addition, bright areas of staining for ß1-integrin colocalized at these focal actin plaques. In order to confirm that these focal areas of apical actin and ß1-integrin staining were in fact situated under adherent EPEC microcolonies, fluorescent images were overlaid onto differential interference contrast images of the same field in which bacterial microcolonies are visualized. Figure 2C shows that, in fact, the focal areas of colocalized apical actin and ß1-integrin staining correspond to EPEC attachment sites.
Antibody to ß1-integrin attenuates the decrease in TER in response to EPEC infection. TJ barrier function can be assessed by measuring the TER across a confluent cell monolayer. One well-described physiological consequence of EPEC infection on model intestinal epithelia is a significant time- and dose-dependent decrease in TER. A possible role for apically positioned ß1-integrin on this functional phenotype has not been explored. Therefore, the potential downstream effects of interactions between ß1-integrin and the bacterial surface on the TJ barrier were assessed by blocking the association of ß1-integrin with EPEC over the time course of infection (Fig. 3). Cell monolayers were infected in the presence or absence of monoclonal antibodies against ß1-integrin. The presence of ß1-integrin antibodies had no influence on the EPEC-induced decrease in TER at early time points (2 h) but significantly attenuated the subsequent decrease in TER (Fig. 3). In the absence of antibody or in the presence of isotype IgG, TER continued to progressively drop. Interestingly, ß1-integrin antibody did not prevent the apical redistribution of this protein as determined by immunofluorescent staining (data not shown). These data suggest that redistributed ß1-integrin is involved in the physiological perturbations in the later stages of infection.
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FIG. 3. ß1-Integrin
antibody attenuates the EPEC-induced decrease in TER. T84 monolayers
were infected with EPEC in the absence or presence of 1 µg of
ß1-integrin monoclonal antibody per ml or 1
µg of isotyped IgG per ml and incubated for 6 h. TER
was measured at 2, 4, and 6 h and expressed as the percent
change from baseline values. There was no significant difference (N.S.)
in the decrease in TER following EPEC infection with and without IgG.
In contrast, antibody against ß1-integrin provided a
significant level of protection at both 4 and 6 h
postinfection. The data shown represent the mean ± SEM
(n = 21 to 24; *P = 0.054,
0.005, and 0.001 for 2, 4, and 6 h postinfection,
respectively) from seven experiments with triplicate or quadruplicate
samples.
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FIG. 4. (A)
The tir deletion strain CVD463 ( tir EPEC)
has no impact on TER. Uninfected T84 monolayers and those uninfected
with wild-type EPEC or EPEC tir were serially
assessed for TER. As shown, expression of Tir is required for the
EPEC-associated decrease in TER. The data shown represent the mean
± SEM (n = 8; P = 0.003 for
EPEC versus tir EPEC) from three experiments with
duplicate or triplicate samples. (B) Deletion of tir
also blocks redistribution of ß1-integrin.
Uninfected T84 monolayers or those infected with EPEC
tir or wild-type EPEC for 6 h were
selectively labeled with biotin on the apical (AP) or basolateral (BL)
surface, immunoprecipitated with ß1-integrin
antibody, and detected with alkaline phosphatase-streptavidin. Even
after 6 h of infection, no redistribution of
ß1-integrin was detected in the monolayers infected
with EPEC tir (EPEC tir versus
wild-type EPEC after 6 h [n = 3],
P = 0.02). Densitometry data are presented as
percentages of the total for the apical and basolateral surfaces. The
immunoblot is representative of those from three separate
experiments.
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FIG. 5. (A)
ß1-Integrin is trapped on the apical surface after
EDTA treatment. T84 monolayers were treated with 5 mM EDTA for 10 min
to disrupt TJs and allow for redistribution of basolateral proteins to
the apical surface. EDTA was then removed, and calcium was restored to
reseal TJs for a 3-h recovery period. Apical surfaces of the nontreated
and EDTA-treated monolayers were biotinylated, and
ß1-integrin was immunoprecipitated and detected with
alkaline phosphatase-streptavidin. A significant amount of
ß1-integrin was found to be biotinylated after EDTA
treatment and recovery. (B) Control monolayers and monolayers
treated with EDTA were allowed to recover and were then fixed and
stained for ß1-integrin (green) and actin (red). In
control monolayers ß1-integrin is basolateral to the
actin-myosin ring. However, in EDTA-treated monolayers,
ß1-integrin stains at and above this ring,
indicating that is has moved to the apical pole after EDTA disruption.
(C) EDTA-treated and recovered monolayers were then infected
with tir EPEC and stained for
ß1-integrin (green) and actin (red). Coalescing of
actin staining was seen following infection, and regions of colocalized
actin and ß1-integrin can be seen. (D)
Redistribution of basolateral proteins to the apical surface of cell
monolayers prior to infection renders tir EPEC
capable of decreasing TER. T84 monolayers were treated with EDTA for 10
min, and TER was measured to confirm disruption of TJs. EDTA was then
removed, and calcium was restored to reseal TJs and trap redistributed
basolateral membrane proteins on the apical surface. TER was measured
prior to and throughout the course of infection with wild-type EPEC or
tir EPEC. EPEC and tir EPEC both
decreased TER significantly compared to uninfected controls, with
P = 4.1 x 10-11 and
P = 2.43 x 10-5,
respectively (n = 6). The presence of
ß1-integrin antibody throughout the course of
infection blocked the tir EPEC-induced decrease in
TER, whereas isotype IgG had no effect ( tir EPEC
versus tir EPEC plus ß1-integrin
antibody, P = 0.002 [n =
9]; tir EPEC versus tir EPEC
plus IgG, P = 0.33 [n =
5]). Error bars indicate
SEMs.
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In an attempt to determine whether intimin contributes to this phenomenon, similar experiments were performed with the intimin deletion strain CVD206 (6). Infection of normal T84 monolayers with the intimin-negative strain did not significantly decrease monolayer resistance through a 6-h time course of infection (uninfected monolayers, 130.8% ± 0.7%; intimin-negative EPEC-infected monolayers, 115.1% ± 14.1% [6 h postinfection; P = 0.16; n = 3]). It should be noted that at the higher multiplicities of infection employed in previously published studies, CVD206 decreased TER by approximately half of that seen in response to wild-type EPEC (23). In order to assess whether expression of the putative ß1-integrin ligand intimin was required for the tir mutant to decrease TER following an EDTA switch, experiments were performed as described above. The rationale for this experiment was that if any bacterial outer membrane structures other than intimin were able to interact with apical ß1-integrin, then TER should decrease to the same extent as that seen with the tir mutant following an EDTA switch. Following an EDTA switch and recovery, the TERs of monolayers infected with CVD206 were not significantly different from those of control monolayers for up to 6 h postinfection (EDTA alone, 153.9% ± 8.4%; EDTA plus CVD206, 131.1% ± 17.1% [P = 0.11; n = 3]). These data imply that intimin is required for the ß1-integrin-mediated drop in resistance following EPEC infection.
Effective type III secretion is required for disruption of the TJ barrier via interactions with ß1-integrin. There are two possible mechanisms that could explain the contribution of ß1-integrin to EPEC-induced decrease in TER. First, interactions between intimin and ß1-integrin could trigger signaling cascades that affect TJs. Alternatively, ß1-integrin may substitute for Tir, securing intimate attachment and effective delivery of effector molecules through type III secretion. In order to distinguish between these two possibilities, studies employing the espD mutant strain were performed. To assess the necessity of an intact type III secretion system in the ß1-integrin-mediated decrease in TER, the calcium switch model was used. While the tir deletion mutant was capable of decreasing TER after EDTA treatment and recovery, the espD mutant EPEC had no significant effect on the TER of these monolayers (Fig. 6). These experiments indicate a requirement for intact type III secretion for disruption of the TJ barrier regardless of the distribution status of ß1-integrin on the cell surface. The role of ß1-integrin in this process therefore is not a result of signaling cascades activated by the interaction of intimin and ß1-integrin but rather is intrinsically tied to a functioning type III secretion system.
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FIG. 6. The
espD deletion strain UMD870 ( espD EPEC) has
no effect on TER after EDTA treatment and recovery. Monolayers were
treated with EDTA for 10 min to disrupt TJs, thus allowing
redistribution of ß1-integrin to the apical surface.
They were serially assessed for TER and, once recovered, infected with
wild-type (w.t.) EPEC, tir EPEC, and
espD EPEC. Following EDTA treatment, both
tir EPEC and wild-type EPEC caused a significant
decrease in TER, with P = 4.7 x
10-9 and 1.7 x 10-9,
respectively (n = 6), compared to uninfected
monolayers at 5 h postinfection. Monolayers infected with
espD EPEC were not significantly different from
uninfected monolayers at 5 h postinfection (P
= 0.104; n = 12). Error bars indicate
SEMs.
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This finding is particularly relevant with regard to the polar distribution of the potential intimin binding partner ß1-integrin. The interaction of intimin and ß1-integrin has been clearly demonstrated in vitro (8). The use of cell culture models to study this interaction, however, has yielded controversial results. Frankel et al. (8) found that latex beads coated with the C-terminal portion of intimin fused to maltose-binding protein (MBP-Int280) or soluble MBP-Int280 bound to HEp-2 cells. Others were unable to reproduce these data but instead found that preinfection of eukaryotic cells with an intimin-negative strain of EPEC, but not an EspB-negative strain, rendered HeLa, HEp-2, and Caco-2 cells able to bind both MBP-Int280 and E. coli HB101 expressing EPEC intimin (24). The conclusion of that study was that a bacterium-induced signaling event was responsible for the binding phenotype. Although these studies predated the discovery of Tir, the findings are interesting given that CVD463, a tir deletion mutant, was able to decrease TER following calcium switch TJ disruption and recovery. Neither the degree of cell confluence nor the expression and distribution of polarized proteins, such as ß1-integrin, were examined in these studies.
Interestingly, a recent report by Sinclair and
O'Brien (29a) showed
that intimin-
expressed on the outer membrane of the related
pathogen enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) 0157:H7 binds to
nucleolin, a eukaryotic receptor for the extracellular matrix protein
laminin, in addition to its cognate, bacterially derived receptor Tir.
Not only did attached EHEC colocalize to sites of surface-expressed
nucleolin, but the presence of nucleolin antibody interfered with EHEC
binding to eukaryotic HEp-2 cells, suggesting that this host receptor
contributes to EHEC pathogenesis. The polar expression of nucleolin on
intestinal epithelial cells, however, has not been examined. It is
interesting that several enteric pathogens, i.e., EHEC, EPEC, and
Yersinia, exploit two different host cell receptors that share
a common function, the binding of an extracellular matrix
protein.
This study illustrates that although altered barrier function has been an area of intense interest, the secondary loss of cell polarity following TJ disruption may be yet another aspect of EPEC pathogenesis. Indeed, a similar paradigm has been demonstrated for Y. pseudotuberculosis. In this case, the outer membrane protein invasin, which confers the invasive phenotype of this pathogen, also binds to ß1-integrin (10). While Yersinia is believed to initially exploit specialized intestinal cells, such as M cells or dendritic cells, that may harbor ß1-integrin on their apical surface, McCormick et al. (18) addressed the question of whether Yersinia might be able to access this basolateral receptor on nonspecialized intestinal epithelial cells. Like that with all enteric pathogens, infection with Yersinia is associated with intestinal inflammation, defined as the transmigration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) across the intestinal epithelial layer. PMN cross this protective layer by traversing TJs, resulting in temporary disruption of the barrier (21). Perturbation of TJs, either by inducing PMN transmigration with the chemoattractant formylated Met-Leu-Phe or by calcium chelation with EDTA, resulted in the localization of ß1-integrin to the apical surface of model intestinal epithelia, thus rendering monolayers more susceptible to invasion by Yersinia. Infection by Yersinia has also been shown to directly perturb the TJ barrier by causing ZO-1 and occludin to dissociate from the TJ complex (31). These effects on TJs were found to be dependent upon YopE, a Yersinia protein delivered into host cells by type III secretion.
Our data indicate that over the course of EPEC infection, the disruption of TJs is followed by the redistribution of cell surface proteins. This physiological alteration leads to exciting new possibilities for the discovery of novel pathogen-host interactions. Previously published in vitro data have convincingly demonstrated that ß1-integrin is capable of interacting with the EPEC outer membrane protein intimin, the cognate ligand for Tir (8). Evidence of physiological relevance for this interaction, however, has not been pursued. The coupling of our immunofluorescence and selective biotinylation data showing the appearance of ß1-integrin on the apical pole of intestinal epithelial monolayers following EPEC infection with the attenuation of barrier disruption in the presence of ß1-integrin antibody provides this evidence. Interestingly, the drop in TER was identical for EPEC alone at 2 h and EPEC plus ß1-integrin antibody at 4 h, suggesting that the later decrease may be predominantly ß1-integrin mediated. Furthermore, "trapping" of ß1-integrin on the apical cell surface prior to infection by the tir mutant strain resulted in a drop in TER. In contrast, the tir mutant had no effect on the TER of monolayers whose polarity was intact. Particularly convincing were data demonstrating that antibody to ß1-integrin, but not isotype IgG, prevented the decrease in TER by the tir deletion strain following EDTA treatment. Furthermore, an intimin deletion strain did not decrease TER following EDTA treatment, suggesting that interaction between intimin and ß1-integrin interaction is needed. The mechanisms by which ß1-integrin-intimin interactions could effect alterations in TJs include direct signaling events triggered by intimin-ß1-integrin association or substitution of ß1-integrin for Tir in securing intimate attachment and effective delivery of type III secretion system effectors into host cells. Our data showing that the type III secretion system-defective espD mutant strain had no effect on TER in either intact or polarity-disrupted monolayers support the latter mechanism. EspD forms pores in the host cell membrane, thereby allowing delivery of EPEC effectors into the cytosol; in the absence of such delivery, no effect on TER was seen. We have noted a strong correlation between decreased TER and a functional type III secretion system (unpublished data).
These data support a fine-tuning of the model of EPEC infection, as depicted in Fig. 7. The early stages of EPEC infection have been thoroughly investigated and determined to be the result of attachment and effector molecule injection via a type III secretory apparatus (19). These early events can be temporally linked to the initiation of TJ changes (19, 33). In addition, one specific EPEC effector molecule, EspF, is required for the full impact of EPEC on the TJ barrier (20). The data presented here, however, indicate that there is also a late stage of infection that follows the initial A/E lesion formation and Tir-intimin interactions. This late-stage decrease in TER is potentiated by the migration of ß1-integrin to the apical surface and subsequent interaction with intimin. The physiological relevance of such interactions is substantiated by the prevention of the normally observed TER drop in the later stages of infection when ß1-integrin antibodies were present.
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FIG. 7. Schematic
representation of physiological perturbations due to EPEC infection.
The data presented here suggest a role for
ß1-integrin-intimin interactions in the
course of EPEC infection. Initial Tir-dependent TJ changes interfere
with the ability of the cell to maintain separate apical and
basolateral membrane compartments. The subsequent redistribution of
proteins allows for the previously basolateral
ß1-integrin to appear at the apical pole of the
cell. This provides a fresh platform for interaction with intimin or
other EPEC proteins and further accentuation of host cell
perturbations.
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Many thanks go to James Kaper for his generosity in providing us many EPEC mutant strains for our studies and for his critical review of the manuscript. Thanks also go to V. K. Viswanathan for his intellectual contributions and molecular expertise.
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B in intestinal epithelial cells by enteropathogenic
Escherichia coli. Am. J. Physiol.
273:C1160-C1167.
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