Physiological heterogeneity of uropathogenic Escherichia coli in bladder epithelial cell infection model

Abstract

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), which invades host cells, is the primary agent of urinary tract infections. Antibiotics are commonly used to treat UTIs. During the long treatment period, bacteria are getting resistant to antibiotics. To increase understanding of antibiotic treatment efficiency of urinary tract infections an in vitro model of intracellular and extracellular infections was needed. Within these, an infection model with HTB-9 human bladder cells and UPEC CFT073 strain has been established. Specific experiments were designed to compare the different conditions to see what the ideal way would be to get the infection to a level where we can use the model to follow infection and antibiotic treatment. To test the viability of the cell, we have compared the CFU results with flow cytometry-based cell counting. The data suggests that bacteria that specifically attach to bladder epithelial cells are targeted by host antimicrobial peptides.