Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection liberates transmissible, cytotoxic prion amyloids.

ABSTRACT: Patients who recover from pneumonia subsequently have elevated rates of death after hospital discharge as a result of secondary organ damage, the causes of which are unknown. We used the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common cause of hospital-acquired pneumonia, as a model for investigating this phenomenon. We show that infection of pulmonary endothelial cells by P. aeruginosa induces production and release of a cytotoxic amyloid molecule with prion characteristics, including resistance to various nucleases and proteases. This cytotoxin was self-propagating, was neutralized by anti-amyloid Abs, and induced death of endothelial cells and neurons. Moreover, the cytotoxin induced edema in isolated lungs. Endothelial cells and isolated lungs were protected from cytotoxin-ind

SUBMITTER: Balczon R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5471513 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature