Effects of multiplicity of infection, bacterial protein synthesis, and growth phase on adhesion to and invasion of human cell lines by Salmonella typhimurium.

Monolayers of intestine 407 (Int-407) cells were infected with the virulent Salmonella typhimurium strain C52, and the adhesion to and invasion of these cells were studied. The effects of the multiplicity of infection and growth phase of the bacteria (logarithmic versus stationary) on the interaction with eukaryotic cells were investigated. In contrast to other reports, we found no differences in the adhesive and invasive capacities of bacteria derived from logarithmic- or stationary-phase cultures. Invasion by S. typhimurium required bacterial protein synthesis and live Int-407 cells. Bacteria adhered equally well to dead or live Int-407 cells, which indicates that adhesion does not require metabolically active cells. Adhesion of S. typhimurium followed saturation kinetics, with a maximum of 10 adhesive bacteria per cell. This indicates that there is a limited number of bacterial adhesion sites (receptors) available on the surface of the host cell. Killed and live bacteria adhered equally well and competed with each other for cellular adhesion sites. This and adhesion experiments performed in the presence of chloramphenicol showed that bacterial protein synthesis is not required for adhesion. The general validity of the results obtained with S. typhimurium C52 was confirmed by comparing the invasion and adhesion data with those of the frequently used SL1344 and SR11 strains. In addition, we assayed the adhesion and invasion of S. typhimurium C52, SL1344, and SR11 and 27 S. typhimurium field isolates with Int-407, HeLa, and HEp-2 cells.