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PMID: 19432551 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Role of the K2 capsule in Escherichia coli urinary tract infection and serum resistance.

The Journal of infectious diseases ·Vol. 199 ·No. 11 ·2009-06-01 ·Pages 1689-97

Buckles EL, Wang X, Lane MC, Lockatell CV, Johnson DE, Rasko DA, Mobley HL, Donnenberg MS

Abstract

Capsule expression may be important during ascending Escherichia coli urinary tract infections (UTIs). An isogenic ksl(k2)ABCDE mutant of extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) strain CFT073 that could not synthesize the K2 capsule was compared with wild-type CFT073, to determine virulence in a murine model of ascending UTI and in vitro killing assays. No significant differences were observed regarding the abilities of the mutant and the wild-type CFT073 strains to colonize the murine urinary tract in single-challenge infection experiments. However, in competitive-colonization experiments, the mutant was significantly outcompeted by the wild-type strain in urine and the kidneys. The mutant strain was also more susceptible to human serum. Complementation of the mutant with a plasmid containing the ksl(k2)ABCDE genes restored capsule expression, enhanced survival in the murine urinary tract, and restored serum resistance. These results indicate that expression of the K2 capsule is important for the pathogenesis of UTI and provides protection against complement-mediated killing. To our knowledge, this is the first study in which the E. coli capsule has been proven to play a role in infection by use of isogenic mutants and genetic complementation.

MeSH Terms
Animals Bacterial Capsules/genetics Cloning, Molecular Cosmids/genetics DNA Primers Disease Models, Animal Escherichia coli/genetics,pathogenicity Escherichia coli Infections/blood,genetics Humans Mice Mice, Inbred CBA Molecular Sequence Data Mutation Plasmids Sequence Deletion Urinary Tract Infections/microbiology
Chemicals
DNA Primers
Authors & Affiliations
8 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Buckles Eric L
Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, MD, USA.
Wang Xiaolin
Lane M Chelsea
Lockatell C Virginia
Johnson David E
Rasko David A
Mobley Harry L T
Donnenberg Michael S
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Article Info
Journal
The Journal of infectious diseases
Abbr.
J Infect Dis
ISSN
0022-1899
DOI
10.1086/598524
Published
2009-06-01
Pages
1689-97
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
0413675
PMCID
PMC3872369
Subset
IM
Grants
NIDDK NIH HHS · P01 DK049720 · United States
NIDDK NIH HHS · 2P01 DK49720 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1086/598524 PMC Full Text View journal details
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