Journal
MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 209, Issue 6, Pages 669-680Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00430-020-00691-1
Keywords
E; coli; P; aeruginosa; S; aureus; S; epidermidis; Chronic bacterial infection; Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs); Phagocytosis
Categories
Funding
- Lundbeck Foundation
- Torben and Alice Frimodt Fonden
- Aase og Ejnar Danielsens Fond og Kong Christian X fond
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The ability of bacteria to aggregate and form biofilms impairs phagocytosis by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). The aim of this study was to examine if the size of aggregates is critical for successful phagocytosis and how bacterial biofilms evade phagocytosis. We investigated the live interaction between PMNs andPseudomonas aeruginosa,Staphylococcus aureus,Escherichia coliandStaphylococcus epidermidisusing confocal scanning laser microscopy. Aggregate size significantly affected phagocytosis outcome and larger aggregates were less likely to be phagocytized. Aggregates ofS. epidermidiswere also less likely to be phagocytized than equally-sized aggregates of the other three species. We found that only aggregates of approx. 5 mu m diameter or smaller were consistently phagocytosed. We demonstrate that planktonic and aggregated cells of all four species significantly reduced the viability of PMNs after 4 h of incubation. Our results indicate that larger bacterial aggregates are less likely to be phagocytosed by PMNs and we propose that, if the aggregates become too large, circulating PMNs may not be able to phagocytose them quickly enough, which may lead to chronic infection.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available