Artículo
en Inglés
| SES-SP, SESSP-IBPROD, SES-SP | ID: bud-2813
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O113H21 strains are associated with humandiarrhea and some strains may cause hemolytic–uremic syndrome (HUS). In Brazil, these strains are commonly found in cattle but, so far, were not isolated from HUS patients. Here, a system biology approach was used to investigate the differential transcriptomic and phenotypic responses of enterocyte-like Caco-2 cells to two STEC O113H21 strains with similarvirulence factor profiles (i.e., expressing stx2, ehxA, epeA, espA, iha, saa, sab, and subA) EH41 (Caco-2/EH41), isolated from a HUS patient in Australia, and Ec472/01 (Caco-2/Ec472), isolated from bovine feces in Brazil, during a 3 h period of bacteria–enterocyte interaction. Gene co-expression network analysis for Caco-2/EH41 revealed a quite abrupt pattern of topological variation along 3 h of enterocyte–bacteria interaction when compared with networks obtained for Caco-2/Ec472. Transcriptional module characterization revealed that EH41 induces inflammatory and apoptotic responses in Caco-2 cells just after the first hour of enterocyte–bacteria interaction, whereas the response to Ec472/01 is associated with cytoskeletonorganization at the first hour, followed by the expression of immune response modulators. Scanning electron microscopy showed more intense microvilli destruction in Caco-2 cells exposed to EH41 when compared to those exposed to Ec472/01. Altogether, these results show that EH41 expresses virulencegenes, inducing a distinctive host cell response, and is likely associated with severe pathogenicity.