Modulation of the E-cadherin in human cells infectedin vitrowithCoxiella burnetii

Abstract

AbstractHigh concentration of soluble E-cadherin (E-cad) was previously found in sera from Q fever patients. Here, BeWo cells which express a high concentration of E-cad were used as anin vitromodel to investigate the expression and function of E-cad in response to infection byCoxiella burnetii, the etiological agent of Q fever. Infection of BeWo cells withC. burnetiileads to a decrease in the number of BeWo cells expressing E-cad at their membrane. A shedding of soluble E-cad was associated with the post-infection decrease of membrane-bound E-cad. The modulation of E-cad expression requires bacterial viability and was not found with heat-inactivatedC. burnetii. Moreover, the intracytoplasmic cell concentration of β-catenin (β-cat), a ligand of E-cad, was reduced after bacterial infection, suggesting that the bacterium induces modulation of the E-cad/β-cat signaling pathway andCDH1andCTNNB1genes transcription. Finally, several genes operating the canonical Wnt-Frizzled/β-cat pathway were overexpressed in cells infected withC. burnetii. This was particularly evident with the highly virulent strain ofC. burnetii, Guiana. Our data demonstrate that infection of BeWo cells by liveC. burnetiimodulates the E-cad/β-cat signaling pathway.