Letter abstract


Nature Medicine 13, 625 - 630 (2007)
Published online: 8 April 2007 | doi:10.1038/nm1572

Cyclic AMP–regulated exocytosis of Escherichia coli from infected bladder epithelial cells

Brian L Bishop1, Mathew J Duncan1, Jeongmin Song1, Guojie Li2, David Zaas3 & Soman N Abraham1,2,4

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The superficial bladder epithelium is a powerful barrier to urine and also serves as a regulator of bladder volume, which is achieved by apical exocytosis of specialized fusiform vesicles during distension of the bladder. We report that type 1 fimbriated uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) circumvents the bladder barrier by harboring in these Rab27b/CD63-positive and cAMP-regulatable fusiform vesicles within bladder epithelial cells (BECs). Incorporation of UPEC into BEC fusiform compartments enabled bacteria to escape elimination during voiding and to re-emerge in the urine as the bladder distended. Notably, treatment of UPEC-infected mice with a drug that increases intracellular cAMP and induces exocytosis of fusiform vesicles reduced the number of intracellular E. coli.

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  1. Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
  2. Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
  3. Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
  4. Department of Immunology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.

Correspondence to: Brian L Bishop1 e-mail: blb7@duke.edu

Correspondence to: Soman N Abraham1,2,4 e-mail: soman.abraham@duke.edu



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