A proteinaceous fraction of wheat bran may interfere in the attachment of enterotoxigenic E. coli K88 (F4+) to porcine epithelial cells

PLoS One. 2014 Aug 13;9(8):e104258. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104258. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Wheat bran (WB) from Triticum aestivum has many beneficial effects on human health. To the best of our knowledge, very little has been published about its ability to prevent pathogenic bacterial adhesion in the intestine. Here, a WB extract was fractionated using different strategies, and the obtained fractions were tested in different in vitro methodologies to evaluate their interference in the attachment of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) K88 to intestinal porcine epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) with the aim of identifying the putative anti-adhesive molecules. It was found that a proteinaceous compound in the >300-kDa fraction mediates the recognition of ETEC K88 to IPEC-J2. Further fractionation of the >300-kDa sample by size-exclusion chromatography showed several proteins below 90 kDa, suggesting that the target protein belongs to a high-molecular-weight (MW) multi-component protein complex. The identification of some relevant excised bands was performed by mass spectrometry (MS) and mostly revealed the presence of various protease inhibitors (PIs) of low MW: Serpin-Z2B, Class II chitinase, endogenous alpha-amylase/subtilisin inhibitor and alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitor CM3. Furthermore, an incubation of the WB extract with ETEC K88 allowed for the identification of a 7S storage protein globulin of wheat, Globulin 3 of 66 kDa, which may be one of the most firmly attached WB proteins to ETEC K88 cells. Further studies should be performed to gain an understanding of the molecular recognition of the blocking process that takes place. All gathered information can eventually pave the way for the development of novel anti-adhesion therapeutic agents to prevent bacterial pathogenesis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacterial Adhesion / drug effects*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Chemical Fractionation
  • Dietary Fiber / pharmacology*
  • Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli / physiology*
  • Epithelial Cells / microbiology*
  • Plant Proteins / chemistry
  • Plant Proteins / isolation & purification
  • Plant Proteins / pharmacology*
  • Swine
  • Triticum / chemistry

Substances

  • Dietary Fiber
  • Plant Proteins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a public research project of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (Project AGL 2009-07328). Gemma González-Ortiz was supported by a mobility scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, which she enjoyed in Utrecht Universiteit. The funders had no role in study study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.