Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2001 Mar;69(3):1515-20.
doi: 10.1128/IAI.69.3.1515-1520.2001.

Mycobacterium avium invades the intestinal mucosa primarily by interacting with enterocytes

F J Sangari  1 , J Goodman, M Petrofsky, P Kolonoski, L E Bermudez
Affiliations

Mycobacterium avium invades the intestinal mucosa primarily by interacting with enterocytes

F J Sangari et al. Infect Immun. 2001 Mar.

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that Mycobacterium avium can invade intestinal epithelial cells both in vitro and in vivo. When given to mice orally, M. avium preferentially interacts with the intestinal mucosa at the terminal ileum. We evaluated the mechanism(s) of M. avium binding and invasion of the intestinal mucosa using three different systems: (i) electron microscopy following administration of M. avium into an intestinal loop in mice, (ii) quantitative comparison of the bacterial load in Peyer's patch areas of the terminal ileum versus areas that do not contain Peyer's patches, and (iii) investigation of the ability of M. avium to cause disseminated infection following oral administration using B-cell-deficient mice, lacking Peyer's patches, in comparison with C57BL/6 black mice. By all approaches, M. avium was found to invade the intestinal mucosa by interacting primarily with enterocytes and not with M cells.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Binding and invasion of the mouse intestinal mucosa by M. avium. (A) Interaction with an enterocyte 1 h after administration (arrowhead); (B and C) effacement of the mucosa (arrowhead) and alteration of actin-based microvilli (C); (D) M. avium seen inside vacuoles (arrowhead) once within the cell 2 h following administration; (E) M. avium entering the mucosa in an intestinal crypt. Bacteria were observed intracellularly 2 h after administration (arrowheads).
FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Binding and invasion of the mouse intestinal mucosa by M. avium. (A) Interaction with an enterocyte 1 h after administration (arrowhead); (B and C) effacement of the mucosa (arrowhead) and alteration of actin-based microvilli (C); (D) M. avium seen inside vacuoles (arrowhead) once within the cell 2 h following administration; (E) M. avium entering the mucosa in an intestinal crypt. Bacteria were observed intracellularly 2 h after administration (arrowheads).
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
Interaction between M. avium and enterocytes in a C57BL/6 B-cell-deficient mouse. The bacterium (arrowhead) is observed interacting with an enterocyte in the villi 2 h after administration.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bermudez L E, Petrofsky M, Goodman J. Exposure to low oxygen tension and increased osmolarity enhance the ability of Mycobacterium avium to enter intestinal epithelial (HT-29) cells. Infect Immun. 1997;65:3768–3773. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bermudez L E, Petrofsky M, Kolonoski P, Young L S. An animal model of Mycobacterium avium complex disseminated infection after colonization of the intestinal tract. J Infect Dis. 1992;165:75–79. - PubMed
    1. Bermudez L E, Young L S. Factors affecting invasion of HT-29 and HEp-2 epithelial cells by organisms of the Mycobacterium avium complex. Infect Immun. 1994;62:2021–2026. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Celli J, Deng W, Finlay B B. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) attachment to epithelial cells: exploiting the host cell skeleton from the outside. Cell Microbiol. 2000;2:1–9. - PubMed
    1. Clark A M, Jepson M A, Simmons N L, Hirst B H. Preferential interaction of Salmonella typhimurium with mouse Peyer's patch M cells. Res Microbiol. 1994;145:543–552. - PubMed

Publication types