Open AccessA bacterial cell to cell signal in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients
Author(s) -
Collier David N,
Anderson Lisa,
McKnight Susan L,
Noah Terry L,
Knowles Michael,
Boucher Richard,
Schwab Ute,
Gilligan Peter,
Pesci Everett C
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2002.tb11367.x
Subject(s) - pseudomonas aeruginosa , cystic fibrosis , virulence , microbiology and biotechnology , sputum , biology , bronchoalveolar lavage , cell , pathogen , intracellular , bacteria , immunology , pathology , lung , medicine , gene , genetics , tuberculosis
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that is a major cause of mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. This bacterium has numerous genes controlled by cell to cell signaling, which occurs through a complex circuitry of interconnected regulatory systems. One of the signals is the Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal (PQS), which was identified as 2‐heptyl‐3‐hydroxy‐4‐quinolone. This intercellular signal controls the expression of multiple virulence factors and is required for virulence in an insect model of P. aeruginosa infection. Previous studies have implied that the intercellular signals of P. aeruginosa are important for human disease, and our goal was to determine whether PQS was produced during human infections. In this report, three types of samples from CF patients infected with P. aeruginosa were analyzed for the presence of PQS. Sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and mucopurulent fluid from distal airways of end‐stage lungs removed at transplant, all contained PQS, indicating that this cell to cell signal is produced in vivo by P. aeruginosa infecting the lungs of CF patients.