Departamento de Microbiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Pathog Dis. 2013 Mar;67(2):104-7. doi: 10.1111/2049-632X.12027. Epub 2013 Feb 21.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections in humans. Proteus mirabilis is an opportunistic pathogen, capable of causing severe UTIs, with serious kidney damage that may even lead to death. Several virulence factors are involved in the pathogenicity of this bacterium. Among these, adherence to the uroepithelium mediated by fimbriae appears to be a significant bacterial attribute related to urovirulence. Proteus mirabilis expresses several types of fimbriae that could be involved in the pathogenesis of UTI, including uroepithelial cell adhesin (UCA). In this report, we used an uropathogenic P. mirabilis wild-type strain and an isogenic ucaA mutant unable to express UCA to study the pathogenic role of this fimbria in UTI. Ability of the mutant to adhere to desquamated uroepithelial cells and to infect mice using different experimental UTI models was significantly impaired. These results allow us to conclude that P. mirabilis UCA plays an important role in the colonization of the urinary tract.
尿路感染（UTIs）是人类最常见的细菌性感染之一。奇异变形杆菌是一种机会致病菌，能够引起严重的尿路感染，严重的肾脏损伤甚至可能导致死亡。这种细菌的致病性涉及多种毒力因子。其中，菌毛介导的对尿路上皮的黏附似乎是与尿路毒力相关的重要细菌特性。奇异变形杆菌表达多种可能参与尿路感染发病机制的菌毛，包括尿上皮细胞黏附素（UCA）。在本报告中，我们使用尿路致病性 P. mirabilis 野生型菌株和无法表达 UCA 的同种系 ucaA 突变体来研究这种菌毛在尿路感染中的致病作用。突变体黏附脱落尿路上皮细胞和使用不同的实验性尿路感染模型感染小鼠的能力显著受损。这些结果使我们得出结论，奇异变形杆菌 UCA 在尿路定植中起着重要作用。
