PSEUDOMONAS' EFFECTS ON THE GUT BARRIER FROM SURGERY

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The mere presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the intestine of critically ill surgical patients is associated with a 70% mortality rate--a 3 fold increase above matched patients who culture negative for this pathogen. We propose that within the intestinal tract of a surgically stressed host, physical and chemical environmental signals cause critical shifts in the virulence phenotype of P. aeruginosa. These effects result in a change in the behavior of intestinal P. aeruginosa, causing this bacteria, upon proper cue, to shift from an indolent colonizer to a life-threatening pathogen. In this proposal we provide strong evidence that a virulence determinant in P. aeruginosa, the PA-I lectin/adhesin, plays a key role in lethal gut- derived sepsis in a surgically stressed host. The hypotheses to be tested in this project are: 1) the PA-I lectin of P. aeruginosa is expressed in vivo in response to environmental cues in the intestinal tract including pH, redox state, and norepinephrine following surgical stress (hepatectomy) 2) the PA-I lectin of P.aeruginosa induces an epithelial permeability defect at the level of the intercellular tight junction resulting in paracellular transport of its lethal cytotoxins, and 3) the PA-I lectin of P. aeruginosa alters epithelial tight junctional permeability by activation of regulatory molecules involved in the expression of occludin, the rate limiting seal of the paracellular pathway. We will test these hypotheses using a novel mouse model of endogenous P. aeruginosa sepsis and cultured intestinal epithelial cells that we have extensively studied. Our specific aims to test these hypotheses are: 1) Determine the expression, location, and function of PA-I in P. aeruginosa harvested from different tissue sites in mice following surgical stress (hepatectomy) and cecal injection of live P. aeruginosa and following in vitro manipulation of the its physical microenvironment (pH, redox, osmolality, norepinephrine). 2) Determine the route of transport of the P. aeruginosa cytotoxins, exotoxin A and elastase, across cultured intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2) in response to purified PA-I and selected mutants of live P. aeurginosa. 3) Explore potential cellular mechanisms of PA-I-induced decreases in intestinal epithelial barrier function. We propose that we should rethink our understanding of the gut theory of sepsis to include mechanisms by which pathogenic bacteria alter their virulence strategies in response to stressful changes in their local environment. Understanding the virulence determinants and cellular mechanisms that pathogens use to adhere to and modify the intestinal epithelial barrier may lead to therapies which can avoid nosocomial infection at a more proximate point in the care of the critically ill.