Scanning electron microscopic study of hamster tracheal organ cultures infected with Bordetella pertussis

Hamster tracheal organculture was employed as a model for the study of the pathogenesis of infection due to bordetella pertusis. Scanning electron microscopy provided a three-dimensional view of the surface infection of the tracheal explants. Phase I B. pertussis attached only to the ciliated epithelial cells, and a sequence of events involving the injury, expulsion, and destruction of these differentiated cells occurred. This in vitro model provides insights into the mechanisms by which B. pertussis mediates host cell injury at the site of infection.