Hung Chia-Suei, Dodson Karen W, Hultgren Scott J
Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Nat Protoc. 2009;4(8):1230-43. doi: 10.1038/nprot.2009.116. Epub 2009 Jul 30.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) inflict extreme pain and discomfort to those affected and have profound medical and socioeconomic impact. Although acute UTIs are often treatable with antibiotics, a large proportion of patients suffer from multiple recurrent infections. Here, we describe and provide a protocol for a robust murine UTI model that allows for the study of uropathogens in an ideal setting. The infections in the urinary tract can be monitored quantitatively by determining the bacterial loads at different times post-infection. In addition, the simple bladder architecture allows observation of disease progression and the uropathogenic virulence cascade using a variety of microscopic techniques. This mouse UTI model is extremely flexible, allowing the study of different bacterial strains and species of uropathogens in a broad range of mouse genetic backgrounds. We have used this protocol to identify important aspects of the host-pathogen interaction that determine the outcome of infection. The time required to complete the entire procedure will depend on the number of bacterial strains and mice included in the study. Nevertheless, one should expect 4 h of hands-on time, including inoculum preparation on the day of infection, transurethral inoculation, tissue harvest and post-harvest processing for a small group of mice (e.g., 5 mice).
尿路感染（UTIs）给患者带来极大的疼痛和不适，并对医学和社会经济产生深远影响。尽管急性尿路感染通常可用抗生素治疗，但很大一部分患者会反复感染。在此，我们描述并提供了一种用于强健的小鼠尿路感染模型的方案，该模型能在理想环境中研究尿路致病菌。通过测定感染后不同时间的细菌载量，可以定量监测尿路中的感染情况。此外，简单的膀胱结构使得利用各种显微镜技术观察疾病进展和尿路致病毒力级联反应成为可能。这种小鼠尿路感染模型极具灵活性，能够在广泛的小鼠遗传背景下研究不同的细菌菌株和尿路致病菌种类。我们已使用该方案确定了宿主 - 病原体相互作用中决定感染结果的重要方面。完成整个实验所需的时间将取决于研究中所包含的细菌菌株数量和小鼠数量。不过，对于一小群小鼠（例如5只小鼠），预计实际操作时间为4小时，包括感染当天的接种体制备、经尿道接种、组织采集以及采集后的处理。
