O55 is one of the most frequent enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) O serogroups implicated in infantile diarrhea in developing countries. Multilocus enzyme electrophoresis analysis showed that this serogroup includes two major electrophoretic types (ET), designated ET1 and ET5. ET1 corresponds to typical EPEC, whilst ET5 comprises strains with different combinations of virulence genes, in...

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) consists of a group of diarrhea-producing E. coli strains, common in developing countries, which do not produce classical toxins and are not truly invasive. EPEC strains adhere to mammalian cells in an intimate fashion, trigger a localized increase in intracellular calcium levels, and elevate inositol phosphate production. We hypothesized that these medi...

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a bacterial pathogen that causes diarrhea in infants by adhering to intestinal epithelial cells. EPEC induces host cell protein phosphorylation and increases intracellular calcium levels that may function to initiate cytoskeletal rearrangement. We found that EPEC triggers the release of inositol phosphates (IPs) after adherence of bacteria to cultured...

The attaching effacing (AE) adherence property is now recognized as an important virulence characteristic of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC). The fluorescent-actin staining (FAS) test (S. Knutton, T. Baldwin, P. H. Williams, and A. S. McNeish, Infect. Immun. 57:1290-1298, 1989), which is diagnostic for the AE lesions produced by EPEC (and Vero cytotoxin-producing E. coli), has provided...

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) possess a filamentous type III secretion system (TTSS) employed to deliver effector proteins into host cells. EspA is a type III secreted protein which forms the filamentous extension to the TTSS and which interacts with host cells during early stages of attaching and effacing (A/E) lesion formation. By immunofluoresc...

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is an important cause of diarrhea in humans. EPEC infection of cultured intestinal epithelial cells induces attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions, alters intestinal ion transport, increases paracellular permeability, and stimulates inflammation. The lack of a small-animal model has restricted in vivo studies examining EPEC-host interactions. The aim of th...

BACKGROUND Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli(EPEC) is a major cause of diarrhoea in children below 5 years of age. Serotyping is classical method for identification of EPEC strains. But serotypic markers are rarely sufficient to reliably identify the strains as Escherichia coli. Introduction of PCR methodology which depends on detection of virulence factors has provided a practical and rapid wa...

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) strains cause watery diarrhea almost exclusively in young children. The basis for this age discrimination has never been determined, but it may be related to host cell receptors. During infection, EPEC strains express type IV bundle-forming pili composed of repeating subunits of the protein called bundlin. The very first interaction between EPEC and in v...

Virulent Escherichia coli strains have commonly been associated with diarrheal illness in humans and animals. Typical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) with intimin gene (eaeA) and E. coli adherence factor plasmid, or atypical EPEC with only eaeA have been implicated in human cases. In the present study, we investigated the prevalence of virulence-associated genes including eaeA in the E...