Crohn's disease adherent-invasive Escherichia coli colonize and induce strong gut inflammation in transgenic mice expressing human CEACAM

Abnormal expression of CEACAM6 is observed at the apical surface of the ileal epithelium in Crohn's disease (CD) patients, and CD ileal lesions are colonized by pathogenic adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC). We investigated the ability of AIEC reference strain LF82 to colonize the intestinal mucosa and to induce inflammation in CEABAC10 transgenic mice expressing human CEACAMs. AIEC LF82 virulent bacteria, but not nonpathogenic E. coli K-12, were able to persist in the gut of CEABAC10 transgenic mice and to induce severe colitis with reduced survival rate, marked weight loss, increased rectal bleeding, presence of erosive lesions, mucosal inflammation, and increased proinflammatory cytokine expression. The colitis depended on type 1 pili expression by AIEC bacteria and on intestinal CEACAM expression because no sign of colitis was observed in transgenic mice infected with type 1 pili–negative LF82-ΔfimH isogenic mutant or in wild-type mice infected with AIEC LF82 bacteria. These findings strongly support the hypothesis that in CD patients having an abnormal intestinal expression of CEACAM6, AIEC bacteria via type 1 pili expression can colonize the intestinal mucosa and induce gut inflammation. Thus, targeting AIEC adhesion to gut mucosa represents a new strategy for clinicians to prevent and/or to treat ileal CD

Prophylactic and therapeutic strategies to limit Adherent-Invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) in the digestive tract in the context of Chron's disease

La maladie de Crohn (MC) est une maladie inflammatoire chronique du tube digestif caractérisée par un état d’hyperactivation du système immunitaire intestinal. Les données cliniques et expérimentales montrent que l’étiologie de la MC serait une réponse immunitaire aberrante à des facteurs environnementaux et/ou infectieux chez un hôte génétiquement prédisposé. Les patients atteints de MC présentent une perméabilité intestinale anormalement élevée pouvant expliquer la stimulation du système immunitaire intestinal par les bactéries et antigènes du microbiote. La muqueuse iléale des patients atteints de MC est anormalement colonisée par des souches de Escherichia coli ayant la propriété d’adhérer et d’envahir les cellules épithéliales intestinales, de survivre et de se multiplier dans les macrophages en entraînant la sécrétion de TNF-α (Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha). Un pathovar de E. coli associé à la MC et dénommé AIEC pour « Adherent-Invasive E. coli » a été défini. Les souches AIEC adhérent via l’adhésine FimH des pili de type 1 aux résidus mannose de la glycoprotéine CEACAM6, anormalement exprimée au niveau de l’épithélium iléal des patients atteints de MC. Au cours de la maladie, l’inflammation intestinale peut être contrôlée par les traitements médicamenteux ou la chirurgie sans pour autant obtenir de rémission complète et définitive.Le but du travail était d’analyser les conséquences de l’infection par des bactéries AIEC in vivo dans un modèle murin reproduisant l’interaction AIEC/CEACAM6 et de proposer des stratégies pour éliminer ces bactéries de l’intestin. Nous avons montré que les AIEC avaient la capacité d’altérer la fonction de barrière de l’épithélium intestinal chez des souris transgéniques CEABAC10 exprimant CEACAM6. Cette altération est associée à une forte induction de l’expression de la protéine de jonction Claudine-2, comme observée chez les patients atteints de MC. Nous avons ensuite démontré que la levure S. cerevisiae CNCM I-3856 et des produits de levures étaient capables de maintenir l’intégrité de la barrière intestinale des souris en prévenant la colonisation du tractus digestif par les bactéries AIEC. Dans une deuxième partie, nous nous sommes intéressés au développement de nouvelles molécules antagonistes de l’adhésine FimH. Les thiazolylaminomannosides ont montré un puissant effet inhibiteur de l’adhésion des bactéries AIEC à des cellules épithéliales intestinales. Les heptyl-mannosides sont également de puissants inhibiteurs de l’adhésion des AIEC et leur présentation en multivalence sur des corps polymériques ou des cyclodextrines potentialisent l’effet anti-adhésif. De manière intéressante, certains heptyl-mannosides diminuent fortement la colonisation de l’intestin par les bactéries AIEC et préviennent la colite chez des souris CEABAC10. Toutefois, la multivalence n’apporte pas d’efficacité supplémentaire dans ce contexte. En conclusion, deux stratégies anti-adhésives ont été étudiées : les levures et les mannosides. Elles pourraient être proposées aux patients atteints de MC fortement colonisés par les AIEC afin d’éliminer ces bactéries du tractus digestif pour espérer diminuer l’inflammation. Les perspectives à ce travail seront la mise au point de techniques de détection simples et rapides des personnes colonisées ou susceptibles d’être colonisées par ces souches de E. coli pour cibler la population à traiter par les probiotiques levures et les molécules anti-adhésives.Crohn’s disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with a multifactorial etiology, resulting from an exacerbated inflammatory response to intestinal microbes and/or microbial components in genetically susceptible hosts. CD patients present an increased intestinal permeability which can favor the overstimulation of the intestinal immune system by bacteria or antigens from microbiota. Ileal mucosa from CD patients is abnormally colonized by Escherichia coli strains sharing the ability to adhere to and to invade intestinal epithelial cells, to survive and to replicate within macrophages, inducing high secretion of TNF-α (Tumor Necrosis Factor-). These strains associated with CD are grouped in a pathovar of E. coli named AIEC for « Adherent-Invasive E. coli ». AIEC bacteria adhere via the adhesin FimH localized at the tip of the type 1 pili, to mannose residues exposed on the glycoprotein CEACAM6 abnormally expressed at the ileal mucosa of CD patients. Currently, intestinal inflammation can be controlled with drugs or intestinal surgery but total remission cannot be yet achieved. The aim of the present work was to investigate consequences of AIEC infection in a murine model mimicking the AIEC/CEACAM6 interaction and to test different strategies to eradicate these bacteria from the gut. We showed that AIEC bacteria altered barrier function of the intestinal epithelium in transgenic CEABAC10 mice expressing human CEACAM6. The overexpression of the pore-forming tight junction protein claudin-2 was correlated with the increase intestinal permeability, as observed in CD patients. We demonstrated that the yeast strain S. cerevisiae CNCM I-3856, as well as some yeast products, were able to prevent increase of intestinal permeability in decreasing AIEC gut colonization. In a second part, we investigated another strategy targeting AIEC bacteria using antagonists to FimH adhesin. Thiazolylaminomannosides molecules exerted a strong inhibitory effect on the ability of AIEC bacteria to adhere to intestinal epithelial cells. Heptyl-mannosides (HM) also shared high inhibitory properties in vitro and their efficacy can be potentiated when HM are harbored in multiple copies on polymeric or cyclodextrin cores. Interestingly, some HM molecules strongly decreased AIEC gut colonization and the signs of colitis in vivo, in AIEC LF82-infected CEABAC10 mice. In that context, multivalency did not improve inhibitors efficacy.To conclude, two different strategies were studied: probiotic yeasts and anti-adhesive mannosides. These treatments should be proposed in CD patients highly colonized by AIEC bacteria in order to eliminate these bacteria from the gut and to decrease intestinal inflammation. Future works will focus on the development of quick and easy detection methods to determine people colonized or susceptible to be colonized by AIEC bacteria to treat this subpopulation of CD patients

Foodborne enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli: from gut pathogenesis to new preventive strategies involving probiotics

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) are a major cause of traveler's diarrhea and infant mortality in developing countries. Given the rise of antibiotic resistance worldwide, there is an urgent need for the development of new preventive strategies. Among them, a promising approach is the use of probiotics. Although many studies, mostly performed under piglet digestive conditions, have shown the beneficial effects of probiotics on ETEC by interfering with their survival, virulence or adhesion to mucosa, underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This review describes ETEC pathogenesis, its modulation by human gastrointestinal cues as well as novel preventive strategies with a particular emphasis on probiotics. The potential of in vitro models simulating human digestion in elucidating probiotic mode of action will be discussed

The potential of FimH as a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of Crohn’s disease

International audienceIntroduction: Crohn's disease (CD) is a life-long chronic disorder characterized by intestinal inflammation. Current treatments for CD are directed towards abnormal immune responses rather than the intestinal bacteria that trigger intestinal inflammation. Areas covered: Adherent-Invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) bacteria abnormally colonize the ileal mucosa in a subgroup of CD patients. They can promote or perpetuate chronic inflammation and are therefore an interesting therapeutic target. Various strategies that target these E. coli strains have been developed to promote their intestinal clearance. Here, we review current AIEC-targeted strategies, especially anti-adhesive strategies, that are based on the development of FimH antagonists. We discuss their potential as personalized microbiota-targeted treatments for CD patients abnormally colonized by AIEC. Expert opinion: A large panel of mannose-derived FimH antagonists were tested for their ability to inhibit E. coli adhesion to host cells. Documented reports suggest that monovalent mannosides are promising candidates that could represent a complementary therapeutic strategy to prevent intestinal inflammation in the E. coli-colonized CD patient subgroup. Ongoing research continues to improve the pharmacokinetic properties of mannosides, and hopefully, clinical trials will be performed in CD patients in the near future

Heteropolysaccharides from S. cerevisiae show anti-adhesive properties against E. coli associated with Crohn’s disease

International audienceThe Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-3856 was previously reported to strongly inhibit adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells in vitro and to favor AIEC elimination from the gut in a murine model of Crohn's disease in vivo. In order to identify which cell wall components of yeast are responsible for AIEC elimination, constituent polysaccharides of yeast were isolated and their anti-adhesive ability against AIEC adhesion in vitro was screened. A fraction containing mannan, β-glucan and α-glucan extracted from yeast cell-walls was shown to inhibit 95% of AIEC adhesion in vitro and was thus identified as the strongest anti-adhesive yeast cell wall component. Furthermore, this mannan-glucan-containing fraction was shown to accelerate AIEC decolonization from gut in vivo. This fraction could be proposed as a treatment to eliminate AIEC bacteria in patients with Crohn's disease, a microbial trigger of intestinal inflammation

Novel approach to bind and specifically detect FimH-expressing E. coli using heptylmannose-functionalized cellulose

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An adherent-invasive Escherichia coli -colonized mouse model to evaluate microbiota-targeting strategies in Crohn's disease

International audienceABSTRACT Adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) were investigated for their involvement in the induction/chronicity of intestinal inflammation in Crohn's disease (CD). AIEC gut establishment is favoured by overexpression of the glycoprotein CEACAM6 in the ileal epithelium. We generated a transgenic mouse model, named ‘Vill-hCC6’, in which the human CEACAM6 gene was under the control of the villin promoter, conditioning expression in the small intestine. We demonstrated that CEACAM6 is strongly expressed in the small intestine mucosa and is correlated with numerous glycosylations displayed at the brush border of enterocytes. Ex vivo, the AIEC–enterocyte interaction was enhanced by CEACAM6 expression and necessitated the presence of the bacterial adhesive factor FimH. Finally, AIEC bacteria preferentially persisted in a FimH-dependent manner in the ileal mucosa of Vill-hCC6 mice compared to wild-type mice. This preclinical model opens new perspectives in the mechanistic study of the AIEC pathobiont and represents a valuable tool to evaluate the efficacy of new strategies to eliminate AIEC implanted in the ileal mucosa, such as phages, inhibitory and/or anti-virulence molecules, or CRISPR-based strategies targeting virulence or fitness factors of AIEC bacteria

Cyclomodulins in Urosepsis Strains of Escherichia coli▿

Determinants of urosepsis in Escherichia coli remain incompletely defined. Cyclomodulins (CMs) are a growing functional family of toxins that hijack the eukaryotic cell cycle. Four cyclomodulin types are actually known in E. coli: cytotoxic necrotizing factors (CNFs), cycle-inhibiting factor (Cif), cytolethal distending toxins (CDTs), and the pks-encoded toxin. In the present study, the distribution of CM-encoding genes and the functionality of these toxins were investigated in 197 E. coli strains isolated from patients with community-acquired urosepsis (n = 146) and from uninfected subjects (n = 51). This distribution was analyzed in relation to the phylogenetic background, clinical origin, and antibiotic resistance of the strains. It emerged from this study that strains harboring the pks island and the cnf1 gene (i) were strongly associated with the B2 phylogroup (P, <0.001), (ii) frequently harbored both toxin-encoded genes in phylogroup B2 (33%), and (iii) were predictive of a urosepsis origin (P, <0.001 to 0.005). However, the prevalences of the pks island among phylogroup B2 strains, in contrast to those of the cnf1 gene, were not significantly different between fecal and urosepsis groups, suggesting that the pks island is more important for the colonization process and the cnf1 gene for virulence. pks- or cnf1-harboring strains were significantly associated with susceptibility to antibiotics (amoxicillin, cotrimoxazole, and quinolones [P, <0.001 to 0.043]). Otherwise, only 6% and 1% of all strains harbored the cdtB and cif genes, respectively, with no particular distribution by phylogenetic background, antimicrobial susceptibility, or clinical origin

A library of heptyl mannose-functionalized copolymers with distinct compositions, microstructures and neighboring non-sugar motifs as potent antiadhesives of type 1 piliated E. coli

International audienceA large library of mannosylated copolymers having tunable compositions, microstructures and pendant motifs neighboring mannose of distinct nature were synthesized by combining (i) sequential, batch or semi-batch RAFT (co) polymerizations of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and N-[7-(alpha-D-mannopyranosyloxy) heptyl] methacrylamide (HMM) and (ii) epoxy-amine post-modifications with ethanolamine, (2-amino-ethyl) trimethylammonium chloride or taurine. Examination of the anti-adhesive properties against type 1 piliated E. coli allowed for identifying copolymers among the three series of post-modified glycopolymers capable of efficiently inhibiting bacterial adhesion at 0.1 and 1 mu M (on a mannose unit basis) in pre and post-incubation adhesion assays respectively