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Infection and Immunity, July 2005, p. 4385-4390, Vol. 73, No. 7
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/IAI.73.7.4385-4390.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Katherine Smollett,2,
Jennifer Cleary,1
Junkal Garmendia,2
Ania Straatman-Iwanowska,1
Gad Frankel,2 and
Stuart Knutton1*
Institute of Child Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B4 6NH,1 Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom2
Received 10 November 2004/ Returned for modification 22 December 2004/ Accepted 2 February 2005
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The genes encoding the A/E phenotype are encoded on a pathogenicity island (PAI) termed the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) (9, 20). The LEE encodes a filamentous type III secretion system (FTTSS) (6, 17, 23) that delivers effector proteins which subvert host cell physiology for the benefit of the extracellular bacterium (10). Five translocated effector proteins (Map, Tir, EspF, EspG, and EspH) are encoded within the LEE (reviewed in reference 11). A number of type III EPEC and EHEC effector proteins have recently been shown to be carried on prophages (2, 12, 21).
The LEE-encoded effector EspG does not appear to be involved in A/E lesion formation (8, 24), but it does share homology with a region of the VirA effector of Shigella which interacts with tubulin heterodimers and causes microtubule instability (26). In some EPEC strains, an EspG-like protein (Orf3) is found on a different PAI termed EspC (8). This suggested microtubules as a likely target for EspG and Orf3. EPEC colonizes brush border cells of the human small intestine. The aim of this investigation was to determine the effect of EspG and Orf3 on the microtubule network following EPEC infection of intestinal brush border cells.
EspG and Orf3 are translocated by the LEE FTTSS into host cells. EspG has been shown to be translocated into host cells by the LEE FTTSS (8). Secretion of Orf3 by wild-type EPEC but not by an FTTSS mutant similarly suggested that Orf3 is also a type III effector protein (19). To confirm this, we used a novel fluorescence method based on a translational fusion of the protein of interest with mature TEM-1 ß-lactamase. Translocation can be detected directly within live host cells using the fluorescent ß-lactamase substrate CCF2/AM (3). We performed this translocation assay infecting HeLa cells with wild-type E2348/69 (18) and, as control, FTTSS (escF) mutant EPEC strains carrying pICC305 and pICC306, plasmids which encode a translational fusion of EspG and Orf3 to TEM-1 ß-lactamase under the control of an isopropyl-ß-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG)-inducible promoter (Table 1). We verified the production of the fusion proteins in whole bacterial cell lysates by Western blot assay (data not shown) and analyzed their translocation into infected HeLa cells (Fig. 1). Uninfected HeLa cells or cells infected with EPEC expressing pCX340 (negative control, empty vector) appeared green, indicating the absence of TEM-1 activity (Fig. 1b). In contrast, cells infected with bacteria expressing EspG-TEM or Orf3-TEM appeared blue (Fig. 1c and d), indicating that TEM-1 was translocated into the host cells. Moreover, this translocation was fully dependent on an active type III secretion system, given that no translocation was observed when HeLa cells were infected with the escF mutant strain carrying pICC305 or pICC306 (Fig. 1e and f). These results confirm Orf3 as a type III translocated protein.
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TABLE 1. Strains and plasmids used in the study
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FIG. 1. Translocation of EPEC effector proteins EspG and Orf3 into live HeLa cells using TEM-1 fusion and fluorescence microscopy. HeLa cells were infected with E2348/69 expressing pCX327 (positive control) (a), pCX340 (negative control) (b), pICC305 (c), or pICC306 (d) or with EPEC escF expressing pICC305 (e) or pICC306 (f). Blue fluorescence demonstrates translocation of EspG and Orf3 when expressed in the E2348/69 background (c, d), whereas green fluorescence indicates lack of translocation when expressed from the type III secretion escF mutant (e, f).
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- and ß-tubulin (Sigma) or rat tubulin antibodies (AbCam) were used for microtubule staining in conjunction with Alexa488 (green)- and Alexa594 (red)-conjugated goat anti-mouse or anti-rat immunoglobulin G second antibody conjugates (Molecular Probes). Fluorescein- or rhodamine-conjugated phalloidin (Sigma) was used to stain cell actin, and bacteria were stained with propidium iodide (Molecular Probes). Fluorescence imaging was performed using a Leica TCS SPII Spectral Confocal Microscope, and confocal illustrations show either single-image sections or image projections through the cell. In uninfected Caco-2 cells, microtubules were observed to be heavily concentrated in the apical region of the cell just below the brush border (Fig. 2). Following 1 h of infection with wild-type EPEC strain E2348/69, we observed localized areas of microtubule depletion in the apical region of the cell which corresponded exactly to the site of adherent bacterial microcolonies (Fig. 2). This result shows that extracellular EPEC is able to disrupt or displace microtubules specifically from the cytosol immediately beneath adherent bacterial microcolonies. The lack of any observed effect on the microtubule cytoskeleton beneath microcolonies of E2348/69 mutant strain UMD880, which lacks an FTTSS (Fig. 2), shows that this effect on the microtubule cytoskeleton is dependent on a functional type III secretion system and effector protein translocation.
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FIG. 2. Confocal images showing uninfected Caco-2 cell monolayers (row 1); Caco-2 cells infected for 1 h with primed cultures of E2348/69 (row 2), type III secretion mutant UMD880 (row 3), the espG mutant (row 4), the orf3 mutant (row 5), and the espG orf3 double mutant (row 6); and cells infected for 3 h with an unprimed culture of the espG orf3 double mutant complemented with cloned espG. Cells were stained for microtubules (MT; column 1) and bacteria (column 2). Columns 1 and 2 are maximum projections; column 3 shows transverse projections through cell monolayers that have also been stained for cellular actin (red). E2348/69-, espG-, and orf3-infected cells reveal microtubule depletion (column 1, asterisks) beneath adherent bacterial microcolonies (column 2, asterisks) but not in cells infected with UMD880 or the espG orf3 double mutant. Microtubule depletion was restored with the espG orf3 double mutant possessing cloned espG. Bars, 20 µm.
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Red recombinase method (7) and verified by PCR (Table 1). Following a 1-h infection, the espG mutant exhibited localized microtubule depletion similar to the wild type, as did the orf3 mutant (Fig. 2). In contrast, the double espG orf3 mutant did not induce microtubule depletion (Fig. 2). Complementation of this effect was assessed using the double-knockout mutant possessing cloned espG (Table 1). Lack of efficient bundle-forming pilus expression by this strain meant that bacteria did not aggregate efficiently during priming. Consequently, complementation studies were carried out using unprimed bacteria and a 3-h infection. Although only small microcolonies of adherent bacteria were produced by this strain, it was clear, nevertheless, that the ability to disrupt the microtubule cytoskeleton was restored when the espG orf3 double mutant was complemented with espG (Fig. 2). These results indicate that both EspG and Orf3 are effectors that can induce microtubule depletion and only when both effectors are absent is this effect eliminated. In view of this defined Orf3 phenotype, we renamed Orf3 EspG2. EspG is localized to the region of microtubule depletion. Microtubule depletion could be due to depolymerization or displacement of microtubules, although, based on studies of Shigella VirA, EspG is likely to induce microtubule disruption as a direct result of binding to tubulin. We therefore localized EspG in infected Caco-2 cells and performed time course studies to determine the kinetics of EspG translocation and microtubule depletion. EspG was visualized using carboxy hemagglutinin (HA)-tagged EspG expressed from an IPTG-inducible promoter in wild-type E2348/69 and in the espG mutant with the FTTSS escF mutant used as control (Table 1). EspG-HA was detected using a monoclonal HA antibody (Covance). Following a 1-h infection with E2348/69(pICC307) or espG(pICC307), EspG was detected within Caco-2 cells and localized immediately beneath adherent bacterial microcolonies in the region of microtubule depletion (Fig. 3b and c). No labeling was seen in uninfected cells, in cells infected with wild-type E2348/69 lacking HA-tagged EspG (Fig. 3a), or in cells infected with the escF(pICC307) control strain, which was unable to translocate EspG-HA (Fig. 3d).
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FIG. 3. Confocal image projections through Caco-2 cell monolayers infected for 1 h with wild-type E2348/69 (a), E2348/69(pICC307) (b), espG(pICC307) (c), and escF(pICC307) (d) and stained for HA (green), actin (red), and bacteria (blue). EspG-HA is translocated into Caco-2 cells by E2348/69(pICC307) (b) and espG(pICC307) (c) and is localized beneath bacterial microcolonies. EspG-HA is not translocated by the type III mutant escF(pICC307) (d). Bar, 10 µm.
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FIG. 4. Confocal images of Caco-2 cells (A, B) and HEp-2 cells (C) infected with E2348/69(pICC307). Panel A, cells infected for 15, 30, 45, and 60 min and stained for HA (green), actin (red), and bacteria (blue). Translocated EspG-HA is detectable in cells only after 30 min and then continuously up to 1 h. Panels B and C, cells infected for 30 min and stained for HA (green) and microtubules (MT; red). In Caco-2 cells, bacteria were stained blue. In HEp-2 cells, bacteria were visualized by phase contrast. Both panels show translocated EspG-HA beneath adherent bacterial microcolonies colocalized with areas of microtubule depletion. Microtubules appear to be disrupted rather than displaced. Bars: A and C, 10 µm; B, 20 µm.
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EspG involvement in actin microfilament rearrangements. The recent report by Matsuzama et al. (19) also showed that EspG and EspG2 modulate the host cell actin cytoskeleton. These effectors induced actin stress fiber formation in serum-starved HeLa epithelial and Swiss 3T3 fibroblast cells by a mechanism that involved release of microtubule-bound GEF-H1 and activation of the RhoA-ROCK signaling pathway (19). In Caco-2 cells, actin is concentrated in the apical brush border surface and also along the basolateral and basal cell surfaces (Fig. 5A). Following a 1-h infection, wild-type E2348/69 produced actin rearrangements and A/E lesions on the apical brush border surface of Caco-2 cells but we observed no alterations to the basal and basolateral actin cytoskeleton (Fig. 5B). The espG, espG2, and espG espG2 mutants all produced A/E lesions on Caco-2 cells similar to the wild type and as with the wild type, there was no detectable alteration to the basal and basolateral actin cytoskeleton (data not shown). The different infection conditions used in this study compared to those of Matsuzama et al. might explain the observed differences in actin rearrangements, although this is unlikely since, in our experience, a 1-h infection with primed EPEC produces infection levels and cellular effects equivalent to a 3-h infection with unprimed bacteria. In polarized intestinal cells, we were unable to detect EspG/EspG2-dependent modulation of the actin cytoskeleton, which suggests that microtubule-dependent activation of signaling pathways promoted by these effectors in intestinal cells results in downstream effects different from those seen in nonpolarized epithelial cells and fibroblasts.
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FIG. 5. Confocal images showing uninfected Caco-2 cells (A) and Caco-2 cells infected for 1 h with wild-type E2348/69 (B). Cells were stained for actin (green) and bacteria (red), and image sections show the apical, basolateral, and basal regions of cells and z projections through the cell monolayer. Caco-2 cells possess an apical brush border rich in actin and membrane-associated basolateral and basal actin (A). E2348/69 infection results in bacterial adhesion and actin accretion at the apical brush border surface of Caco-2 cells but no detectable changes in basolateral and basal cell actin (B). Bars, 10 µm.
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This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust.
Robert K. Shaw and Katherine Smollett contributed equally to this paper. ![]()
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