An adult zebrafish model for adherent-invasive Escherichia coli indicates protection from AIEC infection by probiotic E. coli Nissle

Dhrubajyoti Nag; Dustin Farr; Saumya Raychaudhuri; Jeffrey H Withey

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104572

An adult zebrafish model for adherent-invasive Escherichia coli indicates protection from AIEC infection by probiotic E. coli Nissle

iScience. 2022 Jun 9;25(7):104572. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104572. eCollection 2022 Jul 15.

Authors

Dhrubajyoti Nag¹, Dustin Farr¹, Saumya Raychaudhuri², Jeffrey H Withey¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
² CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Sector 39A, Chandigarh 160036, India.

Abstract

Adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) is an opportunistic pathogen associated with major inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn disease, and ulcerative colitis. Unfavorable conditions push commensal AIEC to induce gut inflammation, sometimes progressing to inflammation-induced colon cancer. Recently, zebrafish have emerged as a useful model to study human intestinal pathogens. Here, a zebrafish model to study AIEC infection was developed. Bath inoculation with AIEC resulted in colonization and tissue disruption in the zebrafish intestine. Gene expression of pro-inflammatory markers including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interferon-γ (IFNγ), and S100A-10b (akin to human calprotectin) in the zebrafish intestine was significantly induced by AIEC infection. The probiotic E. coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) was tested as a therapeutic and prophylactic against AIEC infection and reduced AIEC colonization, tissue damage, and pro-inflammatory responses in zebrafish. Furthermore, EcN diminished the propionic-acid-augmented hyperinfection of AIEC in zebrafish. Thus, this study shows the efficacy of EcN against AIEC in an AIEC-zebrafish model.

Keywords: Microbiology; Pathophysiology.