Humoral Immunity in the Gut Selectively Targets Phenotypically Virulent Attaching-and-Effacing Bacteria for Intraluminal Elimination.

ABSTRACT: Virulence factors expressed by enteric bacteria are pivotal for pathogen colonization and induction of intestinal disease, but the mechanisms by which host immunity regulates pathogen virulence are largely unknown. Here we show that specific antibody responses are required for downregulation of virulence gene expression in Citrobacter rodentium, an enteric pathogen that models human infections with attaching-and-effacing bacteria. In the absence of antibodies against the pathogen, phenotypically virulent C. rodentium, accumulated and infected the epithelium and subsequently invaded the lamina propia, causing host lethality. IgG induced after infection recognized virulence factors and bound virulent bacteria within the intestinal lumen, leading to their engulfment by neutrophils, while phen

SUBMITTER: Kamada N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4433422 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature