concept

Mouse colon infected with Citrobacter rodentium

Enteropathogenic E. coli on human intestinal cells

Staphylococcal enterotoxin B

Exfoliative toxin A

Shigella infection

Streptococci gordonii biofilm grown on a dental restorative; imaged by scanning electron microscopy.

Molecular model of the staphylococcal enterotoxin C2 protein. This bacterial superantigen has extremely strong immunostimulatory properties, cross linking MHC class II molecules with T-cell receptors to bring about cytokine production in T-cells which leads onto various shock related symptoms.

Staphylococcal enterotoxin C2

This illustreation shows an artists impression of Chancroid, taken from an electron micrograph image. Chrancoid is a highly contagious sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacteria Haemophilus ducreyi. Women often remain asymtomatic, however, Chancroid does cause genital ulcers reported mostly by men and can often result in painful, swollen lymph glands in the groin. It is a curable disease and is treated with antibiotics

Chancroid

Molecular model of exfoliative toxin A from <I>Stapholococcus aureus</I>. From its structure, this protein is probably a serine protese. It is known to disrupt desmosomes in the skin breaking the connections between the skin cells causing the typical red blistering of the childhood disease, scalded skin syndrome.

This pair of images demonstrates how a disease-causing strain of E. coli bacteria brings about diarrhoea by breaking down the waterproof barriers between the cells. First of all the bacteria, seen as small red dots, attach to the surface of intestinal cells, making tiny pedestals out of one of the cell's own proteins (bright green). Once attached, the bacteria send signals into the cells, causing the tight junctions (blue) between the cells to break down. Water is then able to seep out between the cells into the intestine, leading to diarrhoea. The image on the top shows an early stage in the process where the tight junctions are still intact and show as continuous blue lines between the cells. The image on the bottom is taken later in the process, once the tight junctions have broken down. Their remnants appear as blue dots.

How E. coli causes diarrhoea

The small red dots are enteropathogenic <I>E. coli</I> bacteria attaching to the surface of human intestinal cells in culture. During this process they sequester the actin (greeen) in the host cell to form actin-rich pedestals. This tends to give the appearance of a green halo around the bacteria. Once attached, the bacteria cause the tight junctions (blue) between the cells to break down, leading to the leakage of water into the intestine and consequent diarrhoea.

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Bacterial infection

Images

Catalogue

Staphylococcal enterotoxin C2

Chancroid

Exfoliative toxin A

How E. coli causes diarrhoea

Enteropathogenic E. coli on human intestinal cells

Wellcome uses cookies.

Bacterial infection

Images

Catalogue

Staphylococcal enterotoxin C2

Chancroid

Exfoliative toxin A

How E. coli causes diarrhoea

Enteropathogenic E. coli on human intestinal cells

Wellcome Collection

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