Time-resolved dual transcriptomics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation in cystic fibrosis

Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms cause severeinfections in the airways of patients suffering from cysticfibrosis (CF) that are difficult to eradicate, even withintensive antibiotic therapy. The main goal of this studywas to define the dual transcriptional responseassociated with the formation of P. aeruginosa biofilmsin a polarized lung epithelium monolayer. We analyzedthe dual response of healthy and CF epithelium afterinfection with P. aeruginosa isolates from sporadic andchronic infections. Our results show that chronicstrains of P. aeruginosa specifically use type I and typeIII secretion systems to hijack the host response.Conversely, sporadic strains use ABC transporters tocounteract the antimicrobial response. In return, thereis a distinctive expression pattern in CF epithelium,including a high degree of cytokine secretion andkeratinization, largely observed in sporadic infections.Our results show that both host and pathogen genomicbackgrounds contribute to the outcome of infection andspecific transcriptional signatures could be used in thediagnosis, more relevantly in CF patients.