Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a bacterial pathogen that infects the epithelial lining of the small intestine and causes diarrhea. Upon attachment to the intestinal epithelium, EPEC uses a Type III Secretion System to inject its own high affinity receptor Translocated intimin receptor (Tir) into the host cell. Tir facilitates tight adhesion and recruitment of actin-regulating prote...

Intestinal dendritic cells (DCs) send processes between epithelial cells into the gut lumen to sample pathogens. Noninvasive entero-pathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) colonize the gut using a type three secretion system (T3SS) to inject effector proteins into epithelial cells. We hypothesized that EPEC might also inject proteins into DC processes to dampen immune recognition. Using a T3SS-linke...

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) specifically recognizes phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) on the outer leaflet of host epithelial cells. EPEC also induces apoptosis in epithelial cells, which results in increased levels of outer leaflet PE and increased bacterial binding. Consequently, it is of interest to investigate whether EPEC infection perturbs host cell phospholipid metabolism and wh...

Intestinal dendritic cells (DCs) send processes between epithelial cells into the gut lumen to sample pathogens. Noninvasive enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) colonize the gut using a type three secretion system (T3SS) to inject effector proteins into epithelial cells. We hypothesized that EPEC might also inject proteins into DC processes to dampen immune recognition. Using a T3SS-linked...

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), a common cause of infant diarrhea, is associated with high risk of mortality in developing countries. The primary niche of infecting EPEC is the apical surface of intestinal epithelial cells. EPEC employs a type three secretion system (TTSS) to inject the host cells with dozens of effector proteins, which facilitate attachment to these cells and success...

We previously reported that enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) infection triggered a large release of ATP from the host cell that was correlated with and dependent on EPEC-induced killing of the host cell. We noted, however, that under some circumstances, EPEC-induced ATP release exceeded that which could be accounted for on the basis of host cell killing. For example, EPEC-induced ATP re...

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) infection of T84 cells induces a decrease in transepithelial resistance, the formation of attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions, and cytokine production. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of EPEC to activate mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases in T84 cells and to correlate these signaling pathways with EPEC-induced cell response...

Annexin 2 is a Ca2+-regulated membrane- and F-actin-binding protein implicated in the stabilization or regulation of membrane/cytoskeleton contacts, or both, at the plasma membrane and at early endosomal membranes. To analyze the dynamic nature of such action we investigated whether annexin 2 could be found at sites of localized actin rearrangements occurring at the plasma membrane of HeLa cell...

The enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE)-encoded effectors EspF and Map are multifunctional and have an impact on the tight junction barrier while the non-LEE-encoded proteins NleH1 and NleH2 possess significant anti-inflammatory activity. In order to address the temporal expression of these important genes in vivo, their promoters were cloned upstream o...

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) alters many functions of the host intestinal epithelia. Inflammation is initiated by activation of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB, and paracellular permeability is enhanced via a Ca2+- and myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK)-dependent pathway. The aims of this study were to identify signaling pathways by which EPEC triggers inflammation and to determine whether...