ESCHERICHIA COLI | Enteropathogenic E. coli

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) are still an important cause of childhood diarrhea. Typical EPEC (tEPEC) are characterized by the presence of the intimin adhesin encoded by the eae gene from the LEE ( l ocus of e nterocyte e ffacement) pathogenicity island and the bundle-forming pilus encoded by the bfp gene from the EAF plasmid. EPEC elaborates many effector proteins that are translocated via a type-three secretion system into the enterocyte. The molecular analysis of EPEC infection has increased our knowledge about the cell biology of enterocytes and molecular mechanisms of diarrhea pathogenesis. The prevalence of typical tEPEC has decreased over the past decades, and tEPEC were replaced by atypical EPEC (aEPEC) that had lost the bfp . A high carriage rate of EPEC is found in healthy children who probably serve as infection reservoirs. Foodborne outbreaks yielded aEPEC that blurred the distinction between pathotypes of diarrheagenic E. coli .