Specificity of attachment of certain enterobacteriaceae to mammalian cells.

The specificity of adherence of various Enterobacteriaceae to different mammalian cells was studied in vitro. 3H-Labelled organisms of the same species isolated from various clinical sources differed significantly in their abilities to adhere to the same mammalian cells. Bacteria frequently adhered better to cells derived from sites other than those analogous to their original source. Bacteria did not display consistently 'high' or 'low' attachment to a variety of human and tissue-cultured cells and little selective adherence was demonstrable.