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Updated: Oct 2, 2025

Establishment and Characterization of UTI and CAUTI in a Mouse Model
Published on: June 23, 2015
Virulence factors of uropathogens and their role in host pathogen interactions
Deenadayalan Karaiyagowder Govindarajan1, Kumaravel Kandaswamy1
1Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, Center for Excellence in Microscopy, Department of Biotechnology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore 641049, Tamil Nadu, India.
Abstract:
Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial pathogens are commonly found in Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), particularly infected in females like pregnant women, elder people, sexually active, or individuals prone to other risk factors for UTI. In this article, we review the expression of virulence surface proteins and their interaction with host cells for the most frequently isolated uropathogens: Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus. In addition to the host cell interaction, surface protein regulation was also discussed in this article. The surface protein regulation serves as a key tool in differentiating the pathogen isotypes. Furthermore, it might provide insights on novel diagnostic methods to detect uropathogen that are otherwise easily overlooked due to limited culture-based assays. In essence, this review shall provide an in-depth understanding on secretion of virulence factors of various uropathogens and their role in host-pathogen interaction, this knowledge might be useful in the development of therapeutics against uropathogens.
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