A Role for Salivary Peptides in the Innate Defense Against Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Diarrheal disease from enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) causes significant worldwide morbidity and mortality in young children residing in endemic countries and is the leading cause of traveler's diarrhea. As ETEC enters the body through the oral cavity and cotransits the digestive tract with salivary components, we hypothesized that the antimicrobial activity of salivary proteins might extend beyond the oropharynx into the proximal digestive tract.

Results

Here, we show that the salivary peptide histatin-5 binds colonization factor antigen I pili, thereby blocking adhesion of ETEC to intestinal epithelial cells. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that histatin-5 stiffens the typically dynamic pili, abolishing their ability to function as spring-like shock abs

SUBMITTER: Brown JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5894089 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature