ABSTRACTStreptococcus suisis an important zoonotic pathogen which can infect humans and pigs worldwide, posing a potential risk to global public health. Suilysin, a pore-forming cholesterol-dependent cytolysin, is considered to play an important role in the pathogenesis ofS. suisinfections. It is known that infection with influenza A viruses may favor susceptibility to secondary bacterial infection, resulting in more severe disease and increased mortality. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these coinfections are incompletely understood. Applying highly differentiated primary porcine respiratory epithelial cells grown under air-liquid interface (ALI) conditions, we analyzed the contribution of swine influenza viruses (SIV) to the virulence ofS. suis, with a special focus on its cytolytic toxin, suilysin. We found that during secondary bacterial infection, suilysin ofS. suiscontributed to the damage of well-differentiated respiratory epithelial cells in the early stage of infection, whereas the cytotoxic effects induced by SIV became prominent at later stages of infection. Prior infection by SIV enhanced the adherence to and colonization of porcine airway epithelial cells by a wild-type (wt)S. suisstrain and a suilysin-negativeS. suismutant in a sialic acid-dependent manner. A striking difference was observed with respect to bacterial invasion. After bacterial monoinfection, only the wtS. suisstrain showed an invasive phenotype, whereas the mutant remained adherent. When the epithelial cells were preinfected with SIV, the suilysin-negative mutant also showed an invasion capacity. Therefore, we propose that coinfection with SIV may compensate for the lack of suilysin in the adherence and invasion process of suilysin-negativeS. suis.
Efficient suilysin-mediated invasion and apoptosis in porcine respiratory epithelial cells after streptococcal infection under air-liquid interface conditions
