Propionic Acid Promotes the Virulent Phenotype of Crohn’s Disease-Associated Adherent-Invasive Escherichia coli

Publication date: 18 February 2020Source: Cell Reports, Volume 30, Issue 7Author(s): Michael J. Ormsby, Síle A. Johnson, Nuria Carpena, Lynsey M. Meikle, Robert J. Goldstone, Anne McIntosh, Hannah M. Wessel, Heather E. Hulme, Ceilidh C. McConnachie, James P.R. Connolly, Andrew J. Roe, Conor Hasson, Joseph Boyd, Eamonn Fitzgerald, Konstantinos Gerasimidis, Douglas Morrison, Georgina L. Hold, Richard Hansen, Daniel Walker, David G.E. SmithSummaryPropionic acid (PA) is a bacterium-derived intestinal antimicrobial and immune modulator used widely in food production and agriculture. Passage of Crohn’s disease-associated adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) through a murine model, in which intestinal PA levels are increased to mimic the human intestine, leads to the recovery of AIEC with significantly increased virulence. Similar phenotypic changes are observed outside the murine model when AIEC is grown in culture with PA as the sole carbon source; such PA exposure also results in AIEC that persists at 20-fold higher levels in vivo. RNA sequencing identifies an upregulation of genes involved in biofilm formation, stress response, metabolism, membrane integrity, and alternative carbon source utilization. PA exposure also increases virulence in a number of E. coli isolates from Crohn’s disease patients. Removal of PA is sufficient to reverse these phenotypic changes. Our data indicate that exposure to PA results in AIEC resistance and increased virulence in its presence....
Source: Cell Reports - Category: Cytology Source Type: research