Inflammatory monocytes promote granuloma control of Yersinia infection.

Granulomas are organized immune cell aggregates formed in response to chronic infection or antigen persistence. The bacterial pathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (Yp) blocks innate inflammatory signalling and immune defence, inducing neutrophil-rich pyogranulomas (PGs) within lymphoid tissues. Here we uncover that Yp also triggers PG formation within the murine intestinal mucosa. Mice lacking circulating monocytes fail to form defined PGs, have defects in neutrophil activation and succumb to Yp infection. Yersinia lacking virulence factors that target actin polymerization to block phagocytosis and reactive oxygen burst do not induce PGs, indicating that intestinal PGs form in response to Yp disruption of cytoskeletal dynamics. Notably, mutation of the virulence factor YopH restores PG formation and control of Yp in mice lacking circulating monocytes, demonstrating that monocytes override YopH-dependent blockade of innate immune defence. This work reveals an unappreciated site of Yersinia intestinal invasion and defines host and pathogen drivers of intestinal granuloma formation.

Protocol for detecting Yersinia pseudotuberculosis nitric oxide exposure during in vitro growth.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (Yptb) is a bacterial pathogen that causes foodborne illness. Defense against the host antimicrobial gas, nitric oxide (NO), by the bacterial NO-detoxifying gene, hmp, promotes Yptb replication in mouse models of infection. Here, we detail the use of fluorescent signals as readouts for NO exposure within individual cells and subsequent detection of heterogeneity within a population, using single-cell imaging and analysis. This protocol quantifies NO exposure in culture, without capturing the full complexity of the host environment. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Patel et al. (2021).

Enteric pathogens induce tissue tolerance and prevent neuronal loss from subsequent infections.

The enteric nervous system (ENS) controls several intestinal functions including motility and nutrient handling, which can be disrupted by infection-induced neuropathies or neuronal cell death. We investigated possible tolerance mechanisms preventing neuronal loss and disruption in gut motility after pathogen exposure. We found that following enteric infections, muscularis macrophages (MMs) acquire a tissue-protective phenotype that prevents neuronal loss, dysmotility, and maintains energy balance during subsequent challenge with unrelated pathogens. Bacteria-induced neuroprotection relied on activation of gut-projecting sympathetic neurons and signaling via ß2-adrenergic receptors (ß2AR) on MMs. In contrast, helminth-mediated neuroprotection was dependent on T cells and systemic production of interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 by eosinophils, which induced arginase-expressing MMs that prevented neuronal loss from an unrelated infection located in a different intestinal region. Collectively, these data suggest that distinct enteric pathogens trigger a state of disease or tissue tolerance that preserves ENS number and functionality.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis YopH targets SKAP2-dependent and independent signaling pathways to block neutrophil antimicrobial mechanisms during infection.

Yersinia suppress neutrophil responses by using a type 3 secretion system (T3SS) to inject 6-7 Yersinia effector proteins (Yops) effectors into their cytoplasm. YopH is a tyrosine phosphatase that causes dephosphorylation of the adaptor protein SKAP2, among other targets in neutrophils. SKAP2 functions in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, phagocytosis, and integrin-mediated migration by neutrophils. Here we identify essential neutrophil functions targeted by YopH, and investigate how the interaction between YopH and SKAP2 influence Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (Yptb) survival in tissues. The growth defect of a ΔyopH mutant was restored in mice defective in the NADPH oxidase complex, demonstrating that YopH is critical for protecting Yptb from ROS during infection. The growth of a ΔyopH mutant was partially restored in Skap2-deficient (Skap2KO) mice compared to wild-type (WT) mice, while induction of neutropenia further enhanced the growth of the ΔyopH mutant in both WT and Skap2KO mice. YopH inhibited both ROS production and degranulation triggered via integrin receptor, G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), and Fcγ receptor (FcγR) stimulation. SKAP2 was required for integrin receptor and GPCR-mediated ROS production, but dispensable for degranulation under all conditions tested. YopH blocked SKAP2-independent FcγR-stimulated phosphorylation of the proximal signaling proteins Syk, SLP-76, and PLCγ2, and the more distal signaling protein ERK1/2, while only ERK1/2 phosphorylation was dependent on SKAP2 following integrin receptor activation. These findings reveal that YopH prevents activation of both SKAP2-dependent and -independent neutrophilic defenses, uncouple integrin- and GPCR-dependent ROS production from FcγR responses based on their SKAP2 dependency, and show that SKAP2 is not required for degranulation.

Loss of CNFY toxin-induced inflammation drives Yersinia pseudotuberculosis into persistency.

Gastrointestinal infections caused by enteric yersiniae can become persistent and complicated by relapsing enteritis and severe autoimmune disorders. To establish a persistent infection, the bacteria have to cope with hostile surroundings when they transmigrate through the intestinal epithelium and colonize underlying gut-associated lymphatic tissues. How the bacteria gain a foothold in the face of host immune responses is poorly understood. Here, we show that the CNFY toxin, which enhances translocation of the antiphagocytic Yop effectors, induces inflammatory responses. This results in extensive tissue destruction, alteration of the intestinal microbiota and bacterial clearance. Suppression of CNFY function, however, increases interferon-γ-mediated responses, comprising non-inflammatory antimicrobial activities and tolerogenesis. This process is accompanied by a preterm reprogramming of the pathogen's transcriptional response towards persistence, which gives the bacteria a fitness edge against host responses and facilitates establishment of a commensal-type life style.

Effects of host cell sterol composition upon internalization of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and clustered ß1 integrin.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a foodborne pathogenic bacterium that causes acute gastrointestinal illness, but its mechanisms of infection are incompletely described. We examined how host cell sterol composition affected Y. pseudotuberculosis uptake. To do this, we depleted or substituted cholesterol in human MDA-MB-231 epithelial cells with various alternative sterols. Decreasing host cell cholesterol significantly reduced pathogen internalization. When host cell cholesterol was substituted with various sterols, only desmosterol and 7-dehydrocholesterol supported internalization. This specificity was not due to sterol dependence of bacterial attachment to host cells, which was similar with all sterols studied. Because a key step in Y. pseudotuberculosis internalization is interaction of the bacterial adhesins invasin and YadA with host cell ß1 integrin, we compared the sterol dependence of wildtype Y. pseudotuberculosis internalization with that of Δinv, ΔyadA, and ΔinvΔyadA mutant strains. YadA deletion decreased bacterial adherence to host cells, whereas invasin deletion had no effect. Nevertheless, host cell sterol substitution had a similar effect on internalization of these bacterial deletion strains as on the wildtype bacteria. The ΔinvΔyadA double mutant adhered least to cells and so was not significantly internalized. The sterol structure dependence of Y. pseudotuberculosis internalization differed from that of endocytosis, as monitored using antibody-clustered ß1 integrin and previous studies on other proteins, which had a more permissive sterol dependence. This study suggests that agents could be designed to interfere with internalization of Yersinia without disturbing endocytosis.

CCR2+ Inflammatory Monocytes Are Recruited to Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Pyogranulomas and Dictate Adaptive Responses at the Expense of Innate Immunity during Oral Infection.

Murine Ly6Chi inflammatory monocytes (IMs) require CCR2 to leave the bone marrow and enter mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) and other organs in response to Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infection. We are investigating how IMs, which can differentiate into CD11c+ dendritic cells (DCs), contribute to innate and adaptive immunity to Y. pseudotuberculosis Previously, we obtained evidence that IMs are important for a dominant CD8+ T cell response to the epitope YopE69-77 and host survival using intravenous infections with attenuated Y. pseudotuberculosis Here we challenged CCR2+/+ or CCR2-/- mice orally with wild-type Y. pseudotuberculosis to investigate how IMs contribute to immune responses during intestinal infection. Unexpectedly, CCR2-/- mice did not have reduced survival but retained body weight better and their MLNs cleared Y. pseudotuberculosis faster and with reduced lymphadenopathy compared to controls. Enhanced bacterial clearance in CCR2-/- mice correlated with reduced numbers of IMs in spleens and increased numbers of neutrophils in livers. In situ imaging of MLNs and spleens from CCR2-GFP mice showed that green fluorescent protein-positive (GFP+) IMs accumulated at the periphery of neutrophil-rich Yersinia-containing pyogranulomas. GFP+ IMs colocalized with CD11c+ cells and YopE69-77-specific CD8+ T cells in MLNs, suggesting that IM-derived DCs prime adaptive responses in Yersinia pyogranulomas. Consistently, CCR2-/- mice had reduced numbers of splenic DCs, YopE69-77-specific CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, and B cells in organs and lower levels of serum antibodies to Y. pseudotuberculosis antigens. Our data suggest that IMs differentiate into DCs in MLN pyogranulomas and direct adaptive responses in T cells at the expense of innate immunity during oral Y. pseudotuberculosis infection.

White Adipose Tissue Is a Reservoir for Memory T Cells and Promotes Protective Memory Responses to Infection.

White adipose tissue bridges body organs and plays a fundamental role in host metabolism. To what extent adipose tissue also contributes to immune surveillance and long-term protective defense remains largely unknown. Here, we have shown that at steady state, white adipose tissue contained abundant memory lymphocyte populations. After infection, white adipose tissue accumulated large numbers of pathogen-specific memory T cells, including tissue-resident cells. Memory T cells in white adipose tissue expressed a distinct metabolic profile, and white adipose tissue from previously infected mice was sufficient to protect uninfected mice from lethal pathogen challenge. Induction of recall responses within white adipose tissue was associated with the collapse of lipid metabolism in favor of antimicrobial responses. Our results suggest that white adipose tissue represents a memory T cell reservoir that provides potent and rapid effector memory responses, positioning this compartment as a potential major contributor to immunological memory.

RIPK1-dependent apoptosis bypasses pathogen blockade of innate signaling to promote immune defense.

Many pathogens deliver virulence factors or effectors into host cells in order to evade host defenses and establish infection. Although such effector proteins disrupt critical cellular signaling pathways, they also trigger specific antipathogen responses, a process termed "effector-triggered immunity." The Gram-negative bacterial pathogen Yersinia inactivates critical proteins of the NF-κB and MAPK signaling cascade, thereby blocking inflammatory cytokine production but also inducing apoptosis. Yersinia-induced apoptosis requires the kinase activity of receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1), a key regulator of cell death, NF-κB, and MAPK signaling. Through the targeted disruption of RIPK1 kinase activity, which selectively disrupts RIPK1-dependent cell death, we now reveal that Yersinia-induced apoptosis is critical for host survival, containment of bacteria in granulomas, and control of bacterial burdens in vivo. We demonstrate that this apoptotic response provides a cell-extrinsic signal that promotes optimal innate immune cytokine production and antibacterial defense, demonstrating a novel role for RIPK1 kinase-induced apoptosis in mediating effector-triggered immunity to circumvent pathogen inhibition of immune signaling.

Impact of CCR7 on T-Cell Response and Susceptibility to Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Infection.

Background: To successfully limit pathogen dissemination, an immunological link between the entry tissue of the pathogen and the underlying secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs) needs to be established to prime adaptive immune responses. Here, the prerequisite of CCR7 to mount host immune responses within SLOs during gastrointestinal Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infection to limit pathogen spread was investigated. Methods: Survival, bacterial dissemination, and intestinal and systemic pathology of wild-type and CCR7-/- mice were assessed and correlated to the presence of immune cell subsets and cytokine responses throughout the course of infection. Results: The CCR7-/- mice show a significantly higher morbidity and are more prone to pathogen dissemination and intestinal and systemic inflammation during the oral route of infection. Significant impact of CCR7 deficiency over the course of infection on several immunological parameters were observed (ie, elevated neutrophil-dominated innate immune response in Peyer's patches, limited dendritic cell migration to mesenteric lymph nodes [mLNs] causing reduced T cell-mediated adaptive immune responses (in particular Th17-like responses) in mLNs). Conclusions: Our work indicates that CCR7 is required to mount a robust immune response against enteropathogenic Y. pseudotuberculosis by promoting Th17-like responses in mLNs.

Tissue dual RNA-seq allows fast discovery of infection-specific functions and riboregulators shaping host-pathogen transcriptomes.

Pathogenic bacteria need to rapidly adjust their virulence and fitness program to prevent eradication by the host. So far, underlying adaptation processes that drive pathogenesis have mostly been studied in vitro, neglecting the true complexity of host-induced stimuli acting on the invading pathogen. In this study, we developed an unbiased experimental approach that allows simultaneous monitoring of genome-wide infection-linked transcriptional alterations of the host and colonizing extracellular pathogens. Using this tool for Yersinia pseudotuberculosis-infected lymphatic tissues, we revealed numerous alterations of host transcripts associated with inflammatory and acute-phase responses, coagulative activities, and transition metal ion sequestration, highlighting that the immune response is dominated by infiltrating neutrophils and elicits a mixed TH17/TH1 response. In consequence, the pathogen's response is mainly directed to prevent phagocytic attacks. Yersinia up-regulates the gene and expression dose of the antiphagocytic type III secretion system (T3SS) and induces functions counteracting neutrophil-induced ion deprivation, radical stress, and nutritional restraints. Several conserved bacterial riboregulators were identified that impacted this response. The strongest influence on virulence was found for the loss of the carbon storage regulator (Csr) system, which is shown to be essential for the up-regulation of the T3SS on host cell contact. In summary, our established approach provides a powerful tool for the discovery of infection-specific stimuli, induced host and pathogen responses, and underlying regulatory processes.

Hereditary Hemochromatosis Predisposes Mice to Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Infection Even in the Absence of the Type III Secretion System.

The iron overload disorder hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) predisposes humans to serious disseminated infection with pathogenic Yersinia as well as several other pathogens. Recently, we showed that the iron-sulfur cluster coordinating transcription factor IscR is required for type III secretion in Y. pseudotuberculosis by direct control of the T3SS master regulator LcrF. In E. coli and Yersinia, IscR levels are predicted to be regulated by iron bioavailability, oxygen tension, and oxidative stress, such that iron depletion should lead to increased IscR levels. To investigate how host iron overload influences Y. pseudotuberculosis virulence and the requirement for the Ysc type III secretion system (T3SS), we utilized two distinct murine models of HH: hemojuvelin knockout mice that mimic severe, early-onset HH as well as mice with the Hfe (C282Y∕C282Y) mutation carried by 10% of people of Northern European descent, associated with adult-onset HH. Hjv (-∕-) and Hfe (C282Y∕C282Y) transgenic mice displayed enhanced colonization of deep tissues by Y. pseudotuberculosis following oral inoculation, recapitulating enhanced susceptibility of humans with HH to disseminated infection with enteropathogenic Yersinia. Importantly, HH mice orally infected with Y. pseudotuberculosis lacking the T3SS-encoding virulence plasmid, pYV, displayed increased deep tissue colonization relative to wildtype mice. Consistent with previous reports using monocytes from HH vs. healthy donors, macrophages isolated from Hfe (C282Y∕C282Y) mice were defective in Yersinia uptake compared to wildtype macrophages, indicating that the anti-phagocytic property of the Yersinia T3SS plays a less important role in HH animals. These data suggest that Yersinia may rely on distinct virulence factors to cause disease in healthy vs. HH hosts.

Lipopolysaccharide Biosynthesis Genes of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Promote Resistance to Antimicrobial Chemokines.

Antimicrobial chemokines (AMCs) are a recently described family of host defense peptides that play an important role in protecting a wide variety of organisms from bacterial infection. Very little is known about the bacterial targets of AMCs or factors that influence bacterial susceptibility to AMCs. In an effort to understand how bacterial pathogens resist killing by AMCs, we screened Yersinia pseudotuberculosis transposon mutants for those with increased binding to the AMCs CCL28 and CCL25. Mutants exhibiting increased binding to AMCs were subjected to AMC killing assays, which revealed their increased sensitivity to chemokine-mediated cell death. The majority of the mutants exhibiting increased binding to AMCs contained transposon insertions in genes related to lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. A particularly strong effect on susceptibility to AMC mediated killing was observed by disruption of the hldD/waaF/waaC operon, necessary for ADP-L-glycero-D-manno-heptose synthesis and a complete lipopolysaccharide core oligosaccharide. Periodate oxidation of surface carbohydrates also enhanced AMC binding, whereas enzymatic removal of surface proteins significantly reduced binding. These results suggest that the structure of Y. pseudotuberculosis LPS greatly affects the antimicrobial activity of AMCs by shielding a protein ligand on the bacterial cell surface.

A role for Toll-like receptor 4 in the host response to the lung infection of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in mice.

Although a Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (Yptb) lung infection model has been developed to study Y. pestis pathogenesis, it is still necessary to establish a new animal model to mimic the pathophysiological features induced by Y. pestis infection. Here, we provide a new lung infection model using the Yptb strain, IP2777, which displayed rapid spread of bacteria to the liver, spleen, and blood. In addition, we examined whether TLR4 is involved in Yptb-induced pathogenesis in the lung infection model of mice we generated. Following lung infection of WT and TLR4-deficient mice with the Yptb strain IP2777, the survival rate, bacterial colonization, histopathology, and level of cytokines and chemokines in the lung, spleen, liver, and blood were analyzed. TLR4-deficient mice had a lower survival rate than WT mice in response to Yptb lung infection. Although the bacterial colonization and pathology of the lung were comparable between WT and TLR4-deficient mice, those of the spleen and liver were more severe in TLR4-deficient mice. In addition, the levels of TNF-α and CXCL2 in the liver and IL-6 and CXCL2 in the blood were higher in TLR4-deficient mice than in WT mice. Our results demonstrate that TLR4 is necessary for optimal host protection against Yptb lung infection and TLR4-deficient mice may serve as a better genetic model of Yptb infection for mimicking Y. pestis infection.

[PLASMID-ASSOCIATED VIRULENCE OF YERSINIA PSEUDOTUBERCULOSIS AND INFECTIOUS PROCESS].

Literature data regarding genetically-determined pathogenicity factors of Y pseudotuberculo- sis and associated manifestations of this infection caused by various plasmid types of the causative agent are generalized. Principal attention is given to features of cell-tissue alterations mediated by virulence plasmid pYV, as well as effects of pathogenicity of an understudied pVM82 plasmid present only in Y pseudotuberculosis sttains causing clinical-epidemic manifestation of the infec- tions as Far East scarlet-like fever (FESLF). The data obtained on the ability of far-eastern strains to produceYPMa super-antigenj Ypseudotuberculosis-derivative mitogenA, probablygive evidence on its key role in FESLF pathogenesis. Variability of damage of innate immunity cells and target- organs caused by various plasmid types of Y pseudotuberculosis by virulence could determine polymorphism of clinical-morphological manifestations of this infection. In-depth understanding of dependency of immune pathogenesis mechanisms of the disease on molecular characteristics of the causative agent opens up-perspectives of enhancement of diagnostics and prognosis of the severity of the course of pseudotuberculosis and yersiniosis in human in general.

Proinflammatory microenvironments within the intestine regulate the differentiation of tissue-resident CD8⁺ T cells responding to infection.

We report that oral infection with Yersinia pseudotuberculosis results in the development of two distinct populations of pathogen-specific CD8(+) tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM cells) in the lamina propria. CD103(-) T cells did not require transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) signaling but were true resident memory cells. Unlike CD103(+)CD8(+) T cells, which were TGF-ß dependent and were scattered in the tissue, CD103(-)CD8(+) T cells clustered with CD4(+) T cells and CX3CR1(+) macrophages and/or dendritic cells around areas of bacterial infection. CXCR3-dependent recruitment of cells to inflamed areas was critical for development of the CD103(-) population and pathogen clearance. Our studies have identified the 'preferential' development of CD103(-) TRM cells in inflammatory microenvironments within the lamina propria and suggest that this subset has a critical role in controlling infection.

Reprogramming of Yersinia from virulent to persistent mode revealed by complex in vivo RNA-seq analysis.

We recently found that Yersinia pseudotuberculosis can be used as a model of persistent bacterial infections. We performed in vivo RNA-seq of bacteria in small cecal tissue biopsies at early and persistent stages of infection to determine strategies associated with persistence. Comprehensive analysis of mixed RNA populations from infected tissues revealed that Y. pseudotuberculosis undergoes transcriptional reprogramming with drastic down-regulation of T3SS virulence genes during persistence when the pathogen resides within the cecum. At the persistent stage, the expression pattern in many respects resembles the pattern seen in vitro at 26oC, with for example, up-regulation of flagellar genes and invA. These findings are expected to have impact on future rationales to identify suitable bacterial targets for new antibiotics. Other genes that are up-regulated during persistence are genes involved in anaerobiosis, chemotaxis, and protection against oxidative and acidic stress, which indicates the influence of different environmental cues. We found that the Crp/CsrA/RovA regulatory cascades influence the pattern of bacterial gene expression during persistence. Furthermore, arcA, fnr, frdA, and wrbA play critical roles in persistence. Our findings suggest a model for the life cycle of this enteropathogen with reprogramming from a virulent to an adapted phenotype capable of persisting and spreading by fecal shedding.

Using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and electrochemically driven melting to discriminate Yersinia pestis from Y. pseudotuberculosis based on single nucleotide polymorphisms within unpurified polymerase chain reaction amplicons.

The development of sensors for the detection of pathogen-specific DNA, including relevant species/strain level discrimination, is critical in molecular diagnostics with major impacts in areas such as bioterrorism and food safety. Herein, we use electrochemically driven denaturation assays monitored by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to target single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that distinguish DNA amplicons generated from Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, from the closely related species Y. pseudotuberculosis. Two assays targeting SNPs within the groEL and metH genes of these two species have been successfully designed. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to produce Texas Red labeled single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) amplicons of 262 and 251 bases for the groEL and metH targets, respectively. These amplicons were used in an unpurified form to hybridize to immobilized probes then subjected to electrochemically driven melting. In all cases electrochemically driven melting was able to discriminate between fully homologous DNA and that containing SNPs. The metH assay was particularly challenging due to the presence of only a single base mismatch in the middle of the 251 base long PCR amplicon. However, manipulation of assay conditions (conducting the electrochemical experiments at 10 °C) resulted in greater discrimination between the complementary and mismatched DNA. Replicate data were collected and analyzed for each duplex on different days, using different batches of PCR product and different sphere segment void (SSV) substrates. Despite the variability introduced by these differences, the assays are shown to be reliable and robust providing a new platform for strain discrimination using unpurified PCR samples.

The cytotoxic necrotizing factor of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (CNFY) enhances inflammation and Yop delivery during infection by activation of Rho GTPases.

Some isolates of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis produce the cytotoxic necrotizing factor (CNFY), but the functional consequences of this toxin for host-pathogen interactions during the infection are unknown. In the present study we show that CNFY has a strong influence on virulence. We demonstrate that the CNFY toxin is thermo-regulated and highly expressed in all colonized lymphatic tissues and organs of orally infected mice. Most strikingly, we found that a cnfY knock-out variant of a naturally toxin-expressing Y. pseudotuberculosis isolate is strongly impaired in its ability to disseminate into the mesenteric lymph nodes, liver and spleen, and has fully lost its lethality. The CNFY toxin contributes significantly to the induction of acute inflammatory responses and to the formation of necrotic areas in infected tissues. The analysis of the host immune response demonstrated that presence of CNFY leads to a strong reduction of professional phagocytes and natural killer cells in particular in the spleen, whereas loss of the toxin allows efficient tissue infiltration of these immune cells and rapid killing of the pathogen. Addition of purified CNFY triggers formation of actin-rich membrane ruffles and filopodia, which correlates with the activation of the Rho GTPases, RhoA, Rac1 and Cdc42. The analysis of type III effector delivery into epithelial and immune cells in vitro and during the course of the infection further demonstrated that CNFY enhances the Yop translocation process and supports a role for the toxin in the suppression of the antibacterial host response. In summary, we highlight the importance of CNFY for pathogenicity by showing that this toxin modulates inflammatory responses, protects the bacteria from attacks of innate immune effectors and enhances the severity of a Yersinia infection.

Adhesins and host serum factors drive Yop translocation by yersinia into professional phagocytes during animal infection.

Yersinia delivers Yops into numerous types of cultured cells, but predominantly into professional phagocytes and B cells during animal infection. The basis for this cellular tropism during animal infection is not understood. This work demonstrates that efficient and specific Yop translocation into phagocytes by Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (Yptb) is a multi-factorial process requiring several adhesins and host complement. When WT Yptb or a multiple adhesin mutant strain, ΔailΔinvΔyadA, colonized tissues to comparable levels, ΔailΔinvΔyadA translocated Yops into significantly fewer cells, demonstrating that these adhesins are critical for translocation into high numbers of cells. However, phagocytes were still selectively targeted for translocation, indicating that other bacterial and/or host factors contribute to this function. Complement depletion showed that complement-restricted infection by ΔailΔinvΔyadA but not WT, indicating that adhesins disarm complement in mice either by prevention of opsonophagocytosis or by suppressing production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, in the absence of the three adhesins and complement, the spectrum of cells targeted for translocation was significantly altered, indicating that Yersinia adhesins and complement direct Yop translocation into neutrophils during animal infection. In summary, these findings demonstrate that in infected tissues, Yersinia uses adhesins both to disarm complement-dependent killing and to efficiently translocate Yops into phagocytes.