Abstract
Corynebacterium diphtheriae, generally considered an extracellular coloniser, was evaluated for its ability to enter and survive within HEp-2 monolayers by gentamicin protection assay. Intracellular viability of HC01 strain, isolated from endocarditis, was more expressive (2.59%) than observed in 241 (0.21%) and CDC-E8392 (1.93%) strains. Electron microscopy of C. diphtheriae-infected HEp-2 cells revealed intracellular bacteria inside membrane-bound vacuoles. Bacterial internalisation was totally inhibited by 5 μM cytochalasin E and significantly inhibited by 100 μM genistein ( P<0.05). Therefore, C. diphtheriae presents the ability to survive within cultured epithelial cells and signalling cascade as well as actin polymerisation are required for entry of diphtheria bacilli into HEp-2 cells.
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