Mucin glycans attenuate the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in infection.

ABSTRACT: A slimy, hydrated mucus gel lines all wet epithelia in the human body, including the eyes, lungs, and gastrointestinal and urogenital tracts. Mucus forms the first line of defence while housing trillions of microorganisms that constitute the microbiota¹. Rarely do these microorganisms cause infections in healthy mucus¹, suggesting that mechanisms exist in the mucus layer that regulate virulence. Using the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a three-dimensional (3D) laboratory model of native mucus, we determined that exposure to mucus triggers downregulation of virulence genes that are involved in quorum sensing, siderophore biosynthesis and toxin secretion, and rapidly disintegrates biofilms-a hallmark of mucosal infections. This phenotypic switch is triggered by mu

SUBMITTER: Wheeler KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7157942 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature