Hag directly mediates the adherence of Moraxella catarrhalis to human middle ear cells.

ABSTRACT: Moraxella catarrhalis is a human pathogen that causes otitis media in young children and lung infections in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In this study, the role of the surface protein Hag in the adherence of multiple M. catarrhalis strains was examined. The hag genes of four clinical isolates were disrupted with a spectinomycin resistance cassette, and the binding of isogenic mutants to primary cultures of human middle ear epithelial cells (HMEE), as well as A549 pneumocytes, was measured. These experiments revealed that the attachment of most mutants to both cell types was 10-fold less than that of their wild-type progenitors. To determine whether Hag directly mediates adherence to human cells, the hag genes from three M. catarrhalis isolates were cloned and expres

SUBMITTER: Bullard B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1201204 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature