[Research on mechanisms of drug resistance and virulence expression in pathogenic Escherichia coli]

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common infections. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is the most common causative organism. Once UPEC enters the urinary tract, it infects the bladder and then ascends the urinary tract to the kidneys, where it causes pyelonephritis, a more severe form of the disease. While various virulence factors, including adhesions and cytotoxic factors to bladder epithelial cells, have been identified and their functions have been analyzed, the question remains, "How can UPEC, which is harmless in the intestinal tract, be induced to become pathogenic in the urinary tract?" and "How does UPEC ascend the urinary tract and infect the kidneys?" On the other hand, UPEC invades host cells and forms biofilm-like microcolonies that are resistant to various antimicrobial agents. We are working to solve this problem by identifying the factors responsible for the virulence of UPEC and the establishment of infection of the kidney, as well as the factors involved in microcolony formation and elucidating their functions. Here I outline the virulence expression of UPEC from bladder to kidney infection and the mechanism of UTI refractoriness, focusing on our studies.