Vaginal epithelial cells regulate membrane adhesiveness to co-ordinate bacterial adhesion

Authors

Jessica A. Younes, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen
Karin Klappe, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen
Jan Willem Kok, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen
Henk J. Busscher, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen
Gregor Reid, Lawson Health Research Institute
Henny C. Van der Mei, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1-2016

Journal

Cellular Microbiology

Volume

18

Issue

4

First Page

605

Last Page

614

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.1111/cmi.12537

Abstract

Vaginal epithelium is colonized by different bacterial strains and species. The bacterial composition of vaginal biofilms controls the balance between health and disease. Little is known about the relative contribution of the epithelial and bacterial cell surfaces to bacterial adhesion and whether and how adhesion is regulated over cell membrane regions. Here, we show that bacterial adhesion forces with cell membrane regions not located above the nucleus are stronger than with regions above the nucleus both for vaginal pathogens and different commensal and probiotic lactobacillus strains involved in health. Importantly, adhesion force ratios over membrane regions away from and above the nucleus coincided with the ratios between numbers of adhering bacteria over both regions. Bacterial adhesion forces were dramatically decreased by depleting the epithelial cell membrane of cholesterol or sub-membrane cortical actin. Thus, epithelial cells can regulate membrane regions to which bacterial adhesion is discouraged, possibly to protect the nucleus.