The Spore Coat Protein CotE Facilitates Host Colonization by Clostridium difficile.

ABSTRACT: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is an important hospital-acquired infection resulting from the germination of spores in the intestine as a consequence of antibiotic-mediated dysbiosis of the gut microbiota. Key to this is CotE, a protein displayed on the spore surface and carrying 2 functional elements, an N-terminal peroxiredoxin and a C-terminal chitinase domain. Using isogenic mutants, we show in vitro and ex vivo that CotE enables binding of spores to mucus by direct interaction with mucin and contributes to its degradation. In animal models of CDI, we show that when CotE is absent, both colonization and virulence were markedly reduced. We demonstrate here that the attachment of spores to the intestine is essential in the development of CDI. Spores are usually regarded as biochem

SUBMITTER: Hong HA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5853579 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature