Epithelial Cell Infection Analyses with Shigella

Summary

The present protocol describes infection assays to interrogate Shigella adherence, invasion, and intracellular replication using in vitro epithelial cell lines.

Abstract

The human-adapted enteric bacterial pathogen Shigella causes millions of infections each year, creates long-term growth effects among pediatric patients, and is a leading cause of diarrheal deaths worldwide. Infection induces watery or bloody diarrhea as a result of the pathogen transiting the gastrointestinal tract and infecting the epithelial cells lining the colon. With staggering increases in antibiotic resistance and the current lack of approved vaccines, standardized research protocols are critical to studying this formidable pathogen. Here, methodologies are presented to examine the molecular pathogenesis of Shigella using in vitro analyses of bacterial adherence, invasion, and intracellular replication in colonic epithelial cells. Prior to infection analyses, the virulence phenotype of Shigella colonies was verified by the uptake of the Congo red dye on agar plates. Supplemented laboratory media can also be considered during bacterial culturing to mimic in vivo conditions. Bacterial cells are then used in a standardized protocol to infect colonic epithelial cells in tissue culture plates at an established multiplicity of infection with adaptations to analyze each stage of infection. For adherence assays, Shigella cells are incubated with reduced media levels to promote bacterial contact with epithelial cells. For both invasion and intracellular replication assays, gentamicin is applied for various time intervals to eliminate extracellular bacteria and enable assessment of invasion and/or the quantification of intracellular replication rates. All infection protocols enumerate adherent, invaded, and/or intracellular bacteria by serially diluting infected epithelial cell lysates and plating bacterial colony forming units relative to infecting titers on Congo red agar plates. Together, these protocols enable independent characterization and comparisons for each stage of Shigella infection of epithelial cells to study this pathogen successfully.

Introduction

Diarrheal diseases caused by enteric bacterial pathogens are a significant global health burden. In 2016, diarrheal diseases were responsible for 1.3 million deaths worldwide and were the fourth leading cause of death in children younger than five years of age^1,2. The Gram-negative, enteric bacterial pathogen Shigella is the causative agent of shigellosis, a major cause of diarrheal deaths worldwide³. Shigellosis causes significant morbidity and mortality each year in children from lower- and middle-income countries^4,5,....

Protocol

1. Preparation of reagents and materials

NOTE: All volumes are consistent with an assay using two 6-well plates.

1. TSB medium: Add 0.5 L of deionized (DI) water to 15 g of Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB, see Table of Materials) medium and autoclave. Store at room temperature.
2. Bile salts medium (TSB + BS): To prepare TSB containing 0.4% (w/v) bile salts, resuspend 0.06 g of bile salts (BS, see Table of Materials) in 15 mL of autocla.......

Discussion

This protocol describes a set of three standardized assays to study Shigella adherence, invasion, and intracellular replication of intestinal epithelial cells. Although these methods are merely modified versions of classical gentamicin assays used to study the invasion and intracellular replication of various bacterial pathogens within host cells^49,50,51, special considerations must be applied when studying Shigella.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
0.22 μm PES filter	Millipore-Sigma	SCGP00525	Sterile, polyethersulfone filter for sterilizing up to 50 mL media
14 mL culture tubes	Corning	352059	17 mm x 100 mm polypropylene test tubes with cap
50 mL conical tubes	Corning	430829	50 mL clear polypropylene conical bottom centrifuge tubes with leak-proof cap
6-well tissue culture plates	Corning	3516	Plates are treated for optimal cell attachment
Bile salts	Sigma-Aldrich	B8756	1:1 ratio of cholate to deoxycholate
Congo red dye	Sigma-Aldrich	C6277	A benzidine-based anionic diazo dye, >85% purity
Countess cell counting chamber slide	Invitrogen	C10283	To be used with the Countess Automated Cell Counter
Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)	Sigma-Aldrich	D8418	A a highly polar organic reagent
Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM)	Gibco	10569-010	DMEM is supplemented with high glucose, sodium pyruvate, GlutaMAX, and Phenol Red
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)	Sigma-Aldrich	F4135	Heat-inactivated, sterile
Gentamicin	Sigma-Aldrich	G3632	Stock concentration is 50 mg/mL
HT-29 cell line	ATCC	HTB-38	Adenocarcinoma cell line; colorectal in origin
Paraffin film	Bemis	PM999	Laboratory sealing film
Petri dishes	Thermo Fisher Scientific	FB0875713	100 mm x 15 mm Petri dishes for solid media
Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)	Thermo Fisher Scientific	10010049	1x concentration; pH 7.4
Select agar	Invitrogen	30391023	A mixture of polysaccharides extracted from red seaweed cell walls to make bacterial plating media
T75 flasks	Corning	430641U	Tissue culture flasks
Triton X-100	Sigma-Aldrich	T8787	A common non-ionic surfactant and emulsifier
Trypan blue stain	Invitrogen	T10282	A dye to detect dead tissue culture cells; only live cells can exclude the dye
Trypsin-EDTA	Gibco	25200-056	Reagent for cell dissociation for cell line maintenance and passaging
Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB)	Sigma-Aldrich	T8907	Bacterial growth media