EXPERIMENTAL-INFECTION OF NATIVE HUMAN URETERAL TISSUE WITH NEISSERIA-GONORRHOEAE - ADHESION, INVASION, INTRACELLULAR FATE, EXOCYTOSIS, ANDPASSAGE THROUGH A STRATIFIED EPITHELIUM

The exact mechanisms by which Neisseria gonorrhoeae invades the mucosa l lining to cause local and disseminated infections are still not full y understood, The ability of gonococci to infect the human ureter and the mechanism of gonococcal infection in a stratified epithelium were investigated by using distal ureters excised from healthy adult kidney donors, In morphological terms, this tissue closely resembles parts o f the urethral proximal epithelium, a site of natural gonococcal infec tion, Using piliated and nonpiliated variants of N. gonorrhoeae MS11, we demonstrated the importance of pill in the attachment of gonococci to native epithelial cells as well as their association with epithelia l damage, By electron microscopy we elucidated the different mechanism s of colonization and invasion of a stratified epithelium, including a dherence to surface cells, invasion and eventual release from infected cells, disintegration of intercellular connections followed by parace llular tissue infiltration, invasion of deeper cells, and initiation o f cellular destruction and exfoliation resulting in thinning of the mu cosa.