Impact of anaerobic propionate exposure on early intracellular infections by Listeria monocytogenes

Impact of anaerobic propionate exposure on early intracellular infections by Listeria monocytogenes

Presenter(s)

Sydney Krystine Herzog

Comments

Presentation: 10:45-12:00, Kennedy Union Ballroom

Description

Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular pathogen that can cause enteric infections with high mortality rates. During intestinal transit, L. monocytogenes is exposed to anaerobic conditions enriched with fermentation acids such as propionate. Through previous research in the lab, we have seen that anaerobic exposure of propionate enhances Listeriolysin O (LLO) production in wildtype L. monocytogenes but not the delta codY mutant. How L. monocytogenes responds to anaerobic propionate exposure is not yet fully understood. Since we see this enhancement of LLO production due to anaerobic propionate exposure, we wanted to determine if anaerobic propionate exposure could enhance intracellular infections, particularly phagosomal escape. We performed 2-hour cell culture infections with RAW 264.7 macrophage cells as well as wildtype and delta hly mutant L. monocytogenes strains to determine the initial entry and survival. We found that propionate pretreatment enhanced initial entry and survival of wildtype L. monocytogenes but not the delta hly mutant. This led us to our next approach where we performed 4-hour cell culture infections with wildtype and delta codY mutant L. monocytogenes strains to determine its ability to perform actin co-localization. We found that propionate rescued the delta codY mutant defect in actin-colocalization. These results indicate that anaerobic propionate exposure has effects on L. monocytogenes pathogenesis, but more research is needed to determine how this occurs.

Publication Date

4-17-2024

Project Designation

Graduate Research

Primary Advisor

Yvonne Y. Sun

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Impact of anaerobic propionate exposure on early intracellular infections by Listeria monocytogenes

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