Association of Cell-adhesion Activities with Virulence in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O103:H2

The characteristics of 11 strains of Stx1-producing and Stx2-non-producing STEC O103:H2 were analyzed to investigate the differences in virulence in a single serotype of Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). Differences in the cell-adhesion activity to Caco-2 cells were observed among the strains. The activity of the one strain, isolated from a patient with hemolytic uremic syndrome was 4-20-fold higher than those of the other strains. Although the strains with high cell-adhesion activity showed high expressions of eae, espB, espD, and tir in the locus of enterocyte effacement related with cell-adhesion, those were not specific for this strain. In addition, the Stx1 production level of the strain was not particularly high. It was indicated that the high adhesion activity might be a potential factor to associate serious symptom.