Inflammatory Response of Primary Cultured Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells to Staphylococcus aureus Extracellular Vesicles
Abstract
In dairy cows, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is among the most prevalent microorganisms worldwide, causing mastitis, an inflammation of the mammary gland. Production of extracellular vesicles (EVs) is a common feature of S. aureus strains, which contributes to its pathogenesis by delivering bacterial effector molecules to host cells. In the current study, we evaluated the differences between five S. aureus mastitis isolates regarding their EV production. We found that different mastitis-related S. aureus strains differ in their behaviour of shedding EVs, with M5512VL producing the largest amount of EVs containing alpha-haemolysin, a strong cytotoxic agent. We stimulated primary cultured bovine mammary epithelial cells (pbMECs) with EVs from the S. aureus strain M5512VL. After 24 h of incubation, we observed a moderate increase in gene expression of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) but, surprisingly, a lack of an associated pronounced pro-inflammatory response. Our results contribute to understanding the damaging nature of S. aureus in its capacity to effectively affect mammary epithelial cells. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000539466Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
BiologyVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
MDPISubject
Staphylococcus aureus; extracellular vesicles; bovine mammary epithelial cells; gene expressionOrganisational unit
03999 - Ulbrich, Susanne / Ulbrich, Susanne
03651 - Loessner, Martin / Loessner, Martin
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