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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060
EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 106, No. 2, 2011, pp. 139-145
Bioline Code: oc11024
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge

Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Vol. 106, No. 2, 2011, pp. 139-145

 en The ability of haemolysins expressed by atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli check for this species in other resources to bind to extracellular matrix components
Magalhães, Caroline A.; Rossato, Sarita S.; Barbosa, Ângela S.; dos Santos, Thiago O.; Elias, Waldir P.; Sircili, Marcelo P. & Piazza, Roxane M.F.

Abstract

Typical and atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli check for this species in other resources (EPEC) are considered important bacterial causes of diarrhoea. Considering the repertoire of virulence genes, atypical EPEC (aEPEC) is a heterogeneous group, harbouring genes that are found in other diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes, such as those encoding haemolysins. Haemolysins are cytolytic toxins that lyse host cells disrupting the function of the plasma membrane. In addition, these cytolysins mediate a connection to vascular tissue and/or blood components, such as plasma and cellular fibronectin. Therefore, we investigated the haemolytic activity of 72 aEPEC isolates and determined the correlation of this phenotype with the presence of genes encoding enterohaemolysins (Ehly) and cytolysin A (ClyA). In addition, the correlation between the expression of haemolysins and the ability of these secreted proteins to adhere to extracellular matrix (ECM) components was also assessed in this study. Our findings demonstrate that a subset of aEPEC presents haemolytic activity due to the expression of Ehlys and/or ClyA and that this activity is closely related to the ability of these isolates to bind to ECM components.

Keywords
enteropathogenic Escherichia coli - atypical EPEC - enterohaemolysins - cytolysin A - extracellular matrix components

 
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