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Evidence that Epithelial Tight Junctions are Altered during Edwardsiella Infections
Author(s) -
Aggarwal Priyanka,
Leung Ka Yin,
Guttman Julian Andrew
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.1034.8
Subject(s) - biology , tight junction , microbiology and biotechnology , fish <actinopterygii> , phenotype , edwardsiella tarda , bacteria , genetics , gene , fishery
Bacteria from the Edwardsiella genus can kill entire fish farms within days. These infections cause an array of phenotypic alterations to fish including petechial hemorrhage in the fins and skin, rectal hernia, abscesses deep within fish musculature and most strikingly, holes within (or the liquefaction of) the fish themselves. Intercellular junctions are crucial for maintaining tissue integrity, but are also common targets of bacterial pathogens. Because Edwardsiella causes alterations to various epithelia during their infectious processes, we hypothesized that tight junctions (TJs) might be targeted by these microbes. To test this hypothesis, we localized the claudin‐3 transmembrane tight junction protein in Caco‐2 cells during Edwardsiella infections and found that it was extensively re‐arranged. This work provides the first evidence of junctional alteration during Edwardsiella infections, and suggests a possible molecular modification that could lead to the observed phenotypes in diseased fish. Support or Funding Information Funded by NSERC Discovery Grant