Characterization of the molecular interplay between Moraxella catarrhalis and human respiratory tract epithelial cells: Expression response of human phanryngeal epithelial Detroit 562 cells to adherent Moraxella catarrhalis strain BBH18

During the course of infection, respiratory pathogens like Moraxella catarrhalis needs to adhere to epithelial cells of different host niches such as the nasopharynx and lungs. Consequently, efficient adhesion to epithelial cells is considered an important virulence trait of M. catarrhalis. We examined the interaction between human pharyngeal epithelial Detroit 562 cells and M. catarrhalis BBH18 during adherence using a combination of Tn-seq, a genome-wide negative selection screenings technology, and expression profiling of both host and pathogen. The results described in this study are further discussed in Stefan P.W. de Vries, Marc J. Eleveld, Peter W.M. Hermans, Hester J. Bootsma: Characterization of the molecular interplay between Moraxella catarrhalis and human respiratory tract epithelial cells, submitted. RNA was isolated from Detroit cells exposed to culture medium alone (n=6; control), and Detroits cells exposed to adherent M. catarrhalis BBH18 (n=6) using RNeasy columns. Total RNA was labeled according to standard Nimblegen gene expression array protocols and hybridized to a 12x135 Nimblegen human expression array for read-out.