Uropathogenic Escherichia coli triggers oxygen-dependent apoptosis in human neutrophils through the cooperative effect of type 1 fimbriae and lipopolysaccharide.

Type 1 fimbriae are the most commonly expressed virulence factor on uropathogenic Escherichia coli. In addition to promoting avid bacterial adherence to the uroepithelium and enabling colonization, type 1 fimbriae recruit neutrophils to the urinary tract as an early inflammatory response. Using clinical isolates of type 1 fimbriated E. coli and an isogenic type 1 fimbria-negative mutant (CN1016) lacking the FimH adhesin, we investigated if these strains could modulate apoptosis in human neutrophils. We found that E. coli expressing type 1 fimbriae interacted with neutrophils in a mannose- and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-dependent manner, leading to apoptosis which was triggered by the intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species. This induced neutrophil apoptosis was abolished by blocking FimH-mediated attachment, by inhibiting NADPH oxidase activation, or by neutralizing LPS. In contrast, CN1016, which did not adhere to or activate the respiratory burst of neutrophils, delayed the spontaneous apoptosis in an LPS-dependent manner. This delayed apoptosis could be mimicked by adding purified LPS and was also observed by using fimbriated bacteria in the presence of d-mannose. These results suggest that LPS is required for E. coli to exert both pro- and antiapoptotic effects on neutrophils and that the difference in LPS presentation (i.e., with or without fimbriae) determines the outcome. The present study showed that there is a fine-tuned balance between type 1 fimbria-induced and LPS-mediated delay of apoptosis in human neutrophils, in which altered fimbrial expression on uropathogenic E. coli determines the neutrophil survival and the subsequent inflammation during urinary tract infections.