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Lactobacillus crispatus and its enolase and glutamine synthetase influence interactions between Neisseria gonorrhoeae and human epithelial cells

  • Microbial Pathogenesis and Host-Microbe Interaction
  • Published:
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Abstract

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, an obligatory human pathogen causes the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea, which remains a global health problem. N. gonorrhoeae primarily infects the mucosa of the genitourinary tract, which in women, is colonized by natural microbiota, dominated by Lactobacillus spp., that protect human cells against pathogens. In this study, we demonstrated that precolonization of human epithelial cells with Lactobacillus crispatus, one of the most prevalent bacteria in the female urogenital tract, or preincubation with the L. crispatus enolase or glutamine synthetase impairs the adhesion and invasiveness of N. gonorrhoeae toward epithelial cells, two crucial steps in gonococcal pathogenesis. Furthermore, decreased expression of genes encoding the proinflam-matory cytokines, TNFα and CCL20, which are secreted as a consequence of N. gonorrhoeae infection, was observed in N. gonorrhoeae-infected epithelial cells that had been preco-lonized with L. crispatus or preincubated with enolase and glutamine synthetase. Thus, our results indicate that the protection of human cells against N. gonorrhoeae infection is a complex process and that L. crispatus and its proteins enolase and glutamine synthetase can have a potential role in protecting epithelial cells against gonococcal infection. Therefore, these results are important since disturbances of the micro-biota or of its proteins can result in dysbiosis, which is associated with increased susceptibility of epithelium to pathogens.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Centre (grant no. UMO-2014/15/B/NZ6/02514) and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education through the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw intramural grant DSM #86-011500-36. Scanning electron microscopy and the equipment used for the LC-MS analysis was sponsored in part by the Centre for Preclinical Research and Technology (CePT), a project cosponsored by the European Regional Development Fund and Innovative Economy and The National Cohesion Strategy of Poland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Virology, Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Miecznikowa 1, 02-096, Warsaw, Poland

    Jagoda Płaczkiewicz, Paulina Chmiel, Ewelina Malinowska & Agnieszka Kwiatek

  2. Nalecz Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, Polish Academy of Sciences, Ks. Trojdena 4, 02-109, Warsaw, Poland

    Pawel Bącal

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  1. Jagoda Płaczkiewicz
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Correspondence to Agnieszka Kwiatek.

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Płaczkiewicz, J., Chmiel, P., Malinowska, E. et al. Lactobacillus crispatus and its enolase and glutamine synthetase influence interactions between Neisseria gonorrhoeae and human epithelial cells. J Microbiol. 58, 405–414 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-020-9505-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-020-9505-9

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