A human urothelial microtissue model reveals shared colonization and survival strategies between uropathogens and commensals.

ABSTRACT: Urinary tract infection is among the most common infections worldwide, typically studied in animals and cell lines with limited uropathogenic strains. Here, we assessed diverse bacterial species in a human urothelial microtissue model exhibiting full stratification, differentiation, innate epithelial responses, and urine tolerance. Several uropathogens invaded intracellularly, but also commensal Escherichia coli, suggesting that invasion is a shared survival strategy, not solely a virulence hallmark. The E. coli adhesin FimH was required for intracellular bacterial community formation, but not for invasion. Other shared lifestyles included filamentation (Gram-negatives), chaining (Gram-positives), and hijacking of exfoliating cells, while biofilm-like aggregates were formed m

SUBMITTER: Flores C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10631729 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature