Participation of the Cytoskeletal and Lysosomal Compartments in Campylobacter jejuni Invasion of Caco-2 cells, the Cellular Response by Morphometric Analysis and the Presence of Cytokine and Chemokine Transcripts

B B Fonseca; I L Santos; D A Rossi; R T Melo; T G Araújo; C U Vieira; E P Mendonça; M E Beletti

doi:10.1007/s12088-012-0324-5

Participation of the Cytoskeletal and Lysosomal Compartments in Campylobacter jejuni Invasion of Caco-2 cells, the Cellular Response by Morphometric Analysis and the Presence of Cytokine and Chemokine Transcripts

Indian J Microbiol. 2013 Jun;53(2):155-62. doi: 10.1007/s12088-012-0324-5. Epub 2012 Nov 11.

Authors

B B Fonseca¹, I L Santos², D A Rossi², R T Melo², T G Araújo³, C U Vieira³, E P Mendonça², M E Beletti⁴

Affiliations

¹ Electronic Microscopy Centre at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia-MG, Brazil ; Applied Animal Biotechnology Laboratory at the School of Veterinary Science, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia-MG, Brazil ; Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Rua Ceará, sem número, segundo andar, sala 23, bloco 2D, Campus Umuarama, CEP 38400-902 Uberlândia-MG, Brazil.
² Applied Animal Biotechnology Laboratory at the School of Veterinary Science, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia-MG, Brazil.
³ Genetics Laboratory of the Institute of Genetics and Biochemistry, The Universidade Federal de Uberlâdia, Uberlândia-MG, Brazil.
⁴ Electronic Microscopy Centre at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia-MG, Brazil.

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the participation of actin and tubulin in the process of internalisation, the interaction of bacterial phagosomes with lysosomes, the morphometric changes and the expression of inflammatory cytokines in Caco-2 cells infected with Campylobacter jejuni. Both actin and tubulin participated in the process of internalisation. Inside the cells, lysosomes fuse with phagosomes, which may lead to bacterial death because after 2 h, the bacteria were not detected by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). There is increased expression of TGF-β3 during the early stages, and IL-8 was expressed after 60 min p.i. This work showed that C. jejuni invades and causes major morphometric changes in epithelial cells. In response, the cells increase their expression of cytokines that can lead to inflammation. The mechanisms of invasion are dependent on actin and tubulin, and once internalised, lysosomes fuse with phagosomes.

Keywords: Cytoskeleton; IL-8; Invasion; Lysosomes; TGF-β3.