Adhesion and Chemotaxis as Determinants of Bacterial Association with Mucosal Surfaces

Abstract

Earlier work from this laboratory had shown that local immunity in experimental cholera was mediated by an inhibition of bacterial adhesion to the mucosa in the presence of local antibody (1). During subsequent years, the analogous phenomenon has been observed by other workers with a variety of microorganisms and with a variety of immunoglobulin classes, including IgA (2). Since that time it has also become clear, however, that the seemingly simple phenomenon of “adhesion” to the wall of the small intestine is actually quite complex and can be differentiated into 3 distinct steps: a) the ability to approach and make contact with the surface of the mucus gel, b) penetration and trapping in the mucus gel or adhesion to components of this substance and c) adhesion to the brush-border surface of the epithelial cells. It is quite likely that each one of these steps may be inhibited by a distinct mechanism of local immunity. It is therefore important to study these steps in more detail.