Event Abstract Back to Event The Long Polar Fimbriae of STEC O157:H7 are inducers of intestinal inflammation and reliable markers for identification of pathogenic E. coli. Alfredo Torres1* 1 University of Texas, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, United States Alfredo Torres1*, Douglas Botkin1, Vinoth Sankarapani1, Roberto Vidal2, Lidia Cantero2, and Mauricio J. Farfan2 1 Dept Microbiol & Immunol, University of Texas Medical Branch, USA 2 School of Medicine, University of Chile, Chile Background. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 contains two non-identical loci encoding the long polar fimbriae (Lpf). Mutations in one or both of the lpf loci confer diminished colonization abilities in different animal models of infection and alter human intestinal tissue tropism. Further, it was demonstrated that different lpfA (putative major subunit) gene alleles are highly prevalent among STEC and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) strains associated with severe and/or epidemic disease. Therefore, we sought to investigate the involvement of Lpf in the STEC-induced intestinal inflammation and to determine whether lpf alleles can be used for a rapid and specific identification of virulent E. coli strains. Aims: To assess the role of Lpf as an inducer of intestinal inflammation and as a biomarker for diagnosis. Methods. Secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines in response to STEC wild type and lpf isogenic mutants was evaluated on non-polarized intestinal epithelial cells. The intracellular pathways activated by Lpf were determined using an array containing representative genes of 18 different signal transduction pathways. Finally, a multiplex PCR (mPCR) method was established containing genes unique to STEC and EPEC. Results. Of 27 cytokines assayed, IL-8 and GM-CSF were significantly reduced in the lpfA double mutant as compared to wild-type strain. The array analysis also demonstrated that the NF-κB pathway is activated in response to Lpf-producing STEC. A screen of gDNA from a collection of STEC and EPEC strains revealed that the mPCR was successful in predicting the correct pathotype in the majority of the strains tested. Conclusions. In this study, we demonstrated a role for Lpf in colonization and STEC-induced intestinal inflammation. Further, approximately ¾ of the isolates from a diarrheagenic E. coli collection were correctly identified via mPCR, strongly suggesting that the assay could be used as rapid diagnostic tool to detect STEC and EPEC strains. Keywords: Lpf, inducer of inflammation and biomarker, STEC O157:57 Conference: ECMIS - E. coli and the Mucosal Immune System : Interaction, Modulation and Vaccination, Ghent, Belgium, 2 Jul - 5 Jul, 2011. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Immune responses in humans, ruminants, pigs and poultry Citation: Torres A (2011). The Long Polar Fimbriae of STEC O157:H7 are inducers of intestinal inflammation and reliable markers for identification of pathogenic E. coli.. Front. Immunol. Conference Abstract: ECMIS - E. coli and the Mucosal Immune System : Interaction, Modulation and Vaccination. doi: 10.3389/conf.fimmu.2011.01.00013 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 26 Sep 2011; Published Online: 03 Oct 2011. * Correspondence: Prof. Alfredo Torres, University of Texas, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Galveston, Texas, 77555, United States, altorres@utmb.eu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Alfredo Torres Google Alfredo Torres Google Scholar Alfredo Torres PubMed Alfredo Torres Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.