Ricerc@Sapienza

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC strains) are the major causative agents of human urinary tract infections. UPEC employ several strategies to adhere, colonize and persist within the bladder niche. Understanding at a molecular level these strategies is surely a very important task in order to control these relevant pathogens, to limit bacterial transmission and to improve antibacterial strategies.
Here, by using an in vitro model of cultured bladder epithelial cells persistently infected with the E. coli strain EC73, a clinical isolate recently isolated from a patient presenting recurrent urogenital tract infections, we will analyze the mechanisms through which intracellular bacteria can trigger pathogen-specific bacterial persistence and damages of host cells. Our aim is to elucidate the mechanism(s) through which the interplay between bacterial and host factors led to specific pathogen alterations of epithelial cells.