Haemagglutinins and adhesion of Escherichia coli to HEp2 epithelial cells.

Strains of Escherichia coli producing type-1 fimbriae, associated with mannose-sensitive haemagglutinin (MSHA), or three antigenically different kinds of 'MRE' fimbriae, associated with mannose-resistant and eluting haemagglutinins (MREHAs), adhered poorly to HEp2 epithelial cells in an in-vitro adhesion model previously used to demonstrate the importance of motility and type-1 fimbriae for the attachment of strains of Salmonella typhimurium to HEp2 cells. Strains of E. coli producing narrow-spectrum MREHA, agglutinating human erythrocytes only of 14 red-cell species tested, adhered well to HEp2 cells, particularly so when bacteria produced MSHA (and type-1 fimbriae) along with the narrow-spectrum 'man-only' MREHA. These findings are discussed with regard to recent observations suggesting that narrow-spectrum 'man-only' MREHA in E. coli may be associated with fine, fibrillar appendages 2-nm wide.