Vibrio parahaemolyticus elevates interferon alpha production in intestinal-like epithelial Caco-2 cells

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the leading cause of gastroenteritis from seafood consumption. We tried to determine how the gene expression levels of intestinal-like epithelial cells (Caco-2 cells) and mouse intestinal loop mucosal cells change upon infection with this bacterium. Since we found the robust production of interferon alpha (IFN-α) by the V. parahaemolyticus infection, we also assessed the upregulation of a number of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). The expressions of IFN protein were determined by Western blotting, and the gene expressions of Caco-2 cells after V. parahaemolyticus infection were determined by quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Three ISGs (i.e., IFN-α-inducible protein 15, IFN-α-inducible protein 6-16, and IFN-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 1) were upregulated by V. parahaemolyticus infection. Infection induced the production of IFN-α, but not IFN-β or IFN-γ. The upregulation of the 3 ISGs was suppressed by treatment with a neutralizing IFN-α antibody. Moreover, the production of infection-induced IFN-α was found in the mouse intestinal loop mucosal cells. V. parahaemolyticus infection of Caco-2 cells results in IFN-α production and the expression of IFN-regulated genes.