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Updated: Jul 16, 2025
Long Term Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa Airway Infection in Mice
Published on: March 17, 2014
Delayed host mortality and immune response upon infection with P. aeruginosa persister cells
Cody J Hastings1,2, Maya V Keledjian1,2, Laura Palanker Musselman1
1Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University , Binghamton, New York, USA.
Abstract:
Chronic infections are a heavy burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Persister cells are thought to be largely responsible for chronic infection due to their tolerance to antimicrobials and recalcitrance to innate immunity factors. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common and clinically relevant pathogen that contains stereotypical persister cells. Despite their importance in chronic infection, there have been limited efforts to study persister cell infections in vivo. Drosophila melanogaster has a well-described innate immune response similar to that of vertebrates and is a good candidate for the development of an in vivo model of infection for persister cells. Similar to what is observed in other bacterial strains, in this work we found that infection with P. aeruginosa persister cells resulted in a delayed mortality phenotype in Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, and D. melanogaster compared to infection with regular cells. An in-depth characterization of infected D. melanogaster found that bacterial loads differed between persister and regular cells' infections during the early stages. Furthermore, hemocyte activation and antimicrobial peptide expression were delayed/reduced in persister infections over the same time course, indicating an initial suppression of, or inability to elicit, the fly immune response. Overall, our findings support the use of D. melanogaster as a model in which to study persister cells in vivo, where this bacterial subpopulation exhibits delayed virulence and an attenuated immune response.
Insights
Persister cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cause delayed mortality and suppress the immune response in model organisms. Drosophila melanogaster serves as a valuable in vivo model for studying these chronic infection-causing bacterial cells.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Immunology
Background:
- Chronic infections pose a significant global health challenge.
- Persister cells, a dormant bacterial subpopulation, are implicated in chronic infections due to their antimicrobial tolerance and immune evasion.
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a key pathogen associated with chronic infections, possessing persister cells.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the in vivo behavior of Pseudomonas aeruginosa persister cells.
- To evaluate Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism for studying persister cell infections.
- To characterize the host immune response to persister cell infections.
Main Methods:
- Infection of Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Drosophila melanogaster with P. aeruginosa persister and regular cells.
- Monitoring mortality phenotypes and bacterial loads in infected hosts.
- Assessing host immune responses, including hemocyte activation and antimicrobial peptide expression in D. melanogaster.
Main Results:
- P. aeruginosa persister cell infections exhibited delayed mortality compared to regular cell infections across all model organisms.
- In D. melanogaster, persister cell infections showed altered bacterial loads and delayed/reduced immune responses (hemocyte activation, antimicrobial peptides).
- These findings suggest persister cells initially suppress or evade the host innate immune system.
Conclusions:
- Drosophila melanogaster is a suitable in vivo model for studying bacterial persister cells.
- Persister cells demonstrate attenuated virulence and elicit a delayed immune response in vivo.
- Understanding persister cell dynamics is crucial for developing strategies against chronic infections.
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