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Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae inhibits autolysis and fratricide of Streptococcus pneumoniae in vitro. Microbes Infect 2014 Mar;16(3):203-13

Date

11/26/2013

Pubmed ID

24269704

Pubmed Central ID

PMC4080417

DOI

10.1016/j.micinf.2013.11.006

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84896405938 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   14 Citations

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) are common commensals of the human airway and major bacterial pathogens of otitis media (OM) and other upper airway infections. The interaction between them may play an important role in the pathogenesis of polymicrobial infections. Although previous studies suggested NTHi could promote pneumococcal survival and biofilm formation, how NTHi affects pneumococcal activities has not been defined. Our data in the present studies indicated that the outcome of the interaction between SP and NTHi was in a cell-density-dependent manner and the enhancement of pneumococcal survival happened at the later stages of culturing. Using quantitative PCR, we found that the expression of pneumococcal genes regulating autolysis and fratricide, lytA and cbpD, were significantly down-regulated in co-culture with NTHi. We further observed that influence of NTHi was not on direct cell-to-cell contact, but that this contact may contribute to the interaction between these two microorganisms. These results suggest that pneumococcal survival and biofilm formation can be enhanced by down-regulating pneumococcal cell wall hydrolase production thereby inhibiting pneumococcal autolysis and fratricide in the presence of NTHi.

Author List

Hong W, Khampang P, Erbe C, Kumar S, Taylor SR, Kerschner JE

Authors

Wenzhou Hong DVM, PhD Assistant Professor in the Otolaryngology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Joseph E. Kerschner MD Provost, Executive Vice President, Dean, Professor in the School of Medicine Administration department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Suresh Kumar PhD Associate Professor in the Pathology department at Medical College of Wisconsin




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Bacteriolysis
Biofilms
Coculture Techniques
Haemophilus influenzae
Microbial Interactions
Microbial Viability
Streptococcus pneumoniae