Uropathogenic E. coli is a major cause of urinary tract infections (UTIs), but current antibiotics do not always effectively clear the persistent infection. To identify drugs that eliminate uropathogenic E. coli persisters, we screened a clinical drug library consisting of 1524 compounds using high throughput drug exposure assay in 96-well plates. Bacterial survival was assessed by growth on LB...

Recently we have described the molecular cloning of the genetic determinant coding for the S-fimbrial adhesin (Sfa), a sialic acid-recognizing pilus frequently found among extraintestinal Escherichia coli isolates. Fimbriae from the resulting Sfa+ E. coli K-12 clone were isolated, and an Sfa-specific antiserum was prepared. Western blots indicate that S fimbriae isolated from different uropatho...

Urinary tract infections primarily caused by uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli) remain a significant public health problem in both developed and developing countries. An important virulence determinant in uropathogenesis is biofilm formation which requires expression of fimbriae, flagella, and other surface components such as lipopolysaccharides. In this study, we explored the ...

The sigma E regulon encodes proteins for maintenance and repair of the Escherichia coli cell envelope. Previously, we observed that an antirepressor of sigma E, DegS, is essential for uropathogenic E. coli virulence. Here we use a mouse urinary tract infection model to assay the virulence of mutants of E. coli genes described as sigma E dependent. Deletion mutants of candidate genes were made i...

The sfa(I) determinant encoding the S-fimbrial adhesin of uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains was found to be located on a pathogenicity island of uropathogenic E. coli strain 536. This pathogenicity island, designated PAI III(536), is located at 5.6 min of the E. coli chromosome and covers a region of at least 37 kb between the tRNA locus thrW and yagU. As far as it has been determined, PAI...

The design, synthesis, and characterization of enterobactin-antibiotic conjugates, hereafter Ent-Amp/Amx, where the β-lactam antibiotics ampicillin (Amp) and amoxicillin (Amx) are linked to a monofunctionalized enterobactin scaffold via a stable poly(ethylene glycol) linker are reported. Under conditions of iron limitation, these siderophore-modified antibiotics provide enhanced antibacterial a...

BACKGROUND The role of calcium oxalate crystals and deposits in UTI pathogenesis has not been established. The objectives of this study were to identify bacteria present in pediatric urolithiasis and, using in vitro and in vivo models, to determine the relevance of calcium oxalate deposits during experimental pyelonephritis. METHODS Pediatric kidney stones and urine were collected and both cu...

background: uropathogenic escherichia coli o- serogroups with their virulence factors are the most prevalent causes of utis. objectives: the present investigation was performed to study the virulence factors and o-serogroups profiles of upec isolated from iranian pediatric patients. patients and methods: this cross sectional investigation was performed on 100 urine samples collected from hospit...

The mass profiles of cell-free extracts of 180 commensal and pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli were determined by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS). While some peaks were highly conserved in all E. coli, several peaks occurred only in some strains, showing heterogeneity among them. We did not detect strain-specific peaks for any of the E. coli categories tested. However, review of the fully...

TcpC, a new Toll/interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing protein of uropathogenic Escherichia coli involved in the suppression of innate immunity, was found in 2008. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of tcpC and its association with virulence factors and phylogenetic groups among strains from a collection of 212 E. coli isolates from urinary tract and skin and soft t...