ADHESION OF AEROMONAS SP TO CELL-LINES USED AS MODELS FOR INTESTINAL ADHESION

Adhesion to HEp-2 cells has been shown to correlate with enteropathoge nicity for Aeromonas species. Such adhesion is thought to reflect the ability of strains to adhere to human intestinal enterocytes, although HEp-2 cells are not of intestinal origin. In this study strains of Ae romonas veronii biotype sobria isolated from various sources were inve stigated in parallel assays for their ability to adhere to HEp-2 cells and to an intestinal cell line (Caco-2). Quantitative assays showed i dentical adhesion values mere obtained with both cell lines. Adhesion was best when bacteria were grown at 22 degrees C compared with 37 deg rees C and 7 degrees C. Some environmental isolates showed greater adh esion when grown at 7 degrees C than when grown at 37 degrees C. Filam entous structures on these strains are also optimally expressed under the above conditions (reported elsewhere). Mechanical shearing or tryp sin treatment to remove surface structures from several adhesive strai ns grown at 22 degrees C decreased adhesion to cell lines by 50-80% pr oviding further indirect evidence that filamentous adhesins may play a role in cell adhesion for this Aeromonas species.