Overexpression of MexCD-OprJ Reduces Pseudomonas aeruginosa Virulence by Increasing Its Susceptibility to Complement-Mediated Killing

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe evaluated the resistance to complement-mediated killing of a collection of isogenicPseudomonas aeruginosastrains expressing different antimicrobial resistance phenotypes. Only thenfxBmutant demonstrated increased susceptibility to complement compared with that for the wild-type strain. This increment was due to the overexpression of MexCD-OprJ, which led to increased C3 opsonization and a reduced ability to infect the lungs of mice. Our results show that the acquisition of antibiotic resistance may alter the interplay ofP. aeruginosawith the host immune system.