Abstract
It is increasingly being recognised that the interplay between commensal and pathogenic bacteria can dictate the outcome of infection. Consequently, there is a need to understand how commensals interact with their human host and influence pathogen behaviour at epithelial surfaces. Neisseria meningitidis, a leading cause of sepsis and meningitis, exclusively colonises the human nasopharynx and shares this niche with several other Neisseria species, including the commensal Neisseria cinerea. Here, we demonstrate that during adhesion to human epithelial cells N. cinerea co-localises with molecules that are also recruited by the meningococcus, and show that, similar to N. meningitidis, N. cinerea forms dynamic microcolonies on the cell surface in a Type four pilus (Tfp) dependent manner. Finally, we demonstrate that N. cinerea colocalises with N. meningitidis on the epithelial cell surface, limits the size and motility of meningococcal microcolonies, and impairs the effective colonisation of epithelial cells by the pathogen. Our data establish that commensal Neisseria can mimic and affect the behaviour of a pathogen on epithelial cell surfaces.
Highlights
IntroductionDespite being a deadly pathogen, acquisition of N. meningitidis most often results in asymptomatic colonisation of the nasopharynx
Neisseria meningitidis is an important cause of septicaemia and meningitis [1]
We have examined how Neisseria cinerea, a typically commensal species that colonises the human nasopharynx similar to the closely-related pathogen Neisseria meningitidis, engages with human epithelial cells
Summary
Despite being a deadly pathogen, acquisition of N. meningitidis most often results in asymptomatic colonisation of the nasopharynx. Adhesion to epithelial cells is key for colonisation and is mediated largely by type IV pili (Tfp) [3, 4] which induce localisation of host proteins such as CD44 at the site of meningococcal attachment [5, 6], while ezrin, actin and cholesterol accumulate beneath adherent bacteria [6,7,8,9]. Within the nasopharynx the meningococcus exists with a community of microorganisms This local microbiota includes several other Neisseria species [14, 15] which are generally considered to be ‘commensal Neisseria’ several of these species can occasionally cause disease [16,17,18]. Further understanding of the interaction of pathogenic and commensal Neisseria with the host and with each other is needed
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