Comparison of adherence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to respiratory epithelial cells from cystic fibrosis patients and healthy subjects.

The adherence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 to primary cultures of cystic fibrosis nasal polyp (CFNP), normal human nasal polyp (NHNP), and immortalized CF and normal cell lines was studied. PAO1 bound significantly more to primary CFNP cells than to NHNP cells as the mean adherence +/- standard deviation of 5 x 10(7) CFU of 35S-labeled bacteria per ml per well was 15.09 x 10(6) +/- 4.25 x 10(6) CFU/ml per well and 7.62 x 10(6) +/- 2.11 x 10(6) CFU/ml per well, respectively (Mann-Whitney U test, P less than 0.0001). There was no significant difference in PAO1 adherence to the immortalized CF and normal cell lines. The primary CFNP cells had more receptors (115 per cell) than did NHNP cells (34 per cell). P. aeruginosa binding to CFNP was blocked by GlcNAc, NeuAc, L-Fuc, and D-Gal, while binding to NHNP was blocked only by GlcNAc, suggesting that receptors on the two cell types were qualitatively different. Pseudomonas supernatants containing protease, phospholipase C, and neuraminidase activity increased adherence to CFNP and NHNP cells. The Pseudomonas exoproducts modified epithelial cell glycoconjugates, as characterized by binding of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled lectins and the release of sialic acid. There was minimal release of fibronectin by the bacterial supernatants. The affinity of P. aeruginosa for CF epithelial cells appeared to be due to an increased number of receptors and modification of the epithelial cell surface by P. aeruginosa exoproducts that exposed asialoganglioside binding sites.