Differential engulfment of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by monocyte-derived macrophages is associated with altered phagocyte biochemistry and morphology

Authors

  • Mohamed El Mohtadi Department of Biology, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 4QP, UK
  • Lisa Pilkington School of Chemical Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
  • Christopher M. Liauw Microbiology at Interfaces, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GD, UK
  • Jason J. Ashworth Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GD, UK
  • Nina Dempsey-Hibbert Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GD, UK
  • Amina Belboul Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GD, UK
  • Kathryn A. Whitehead Microbiology at Interfaces, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GD, UK. Tel: +44(0) 161 247 1157; E-mail: K.A.Whitehead@mmu.ac.uk https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6001-6686

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2020-2766

Keywords:

macrophages, bacteria, phagocytosis, FTIR, cell membrane, morphology

Abstract

Knowledge of changes in macrophages following bacterial engulfment is limited. U937-derived macrophages were incubated with Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Morphological and biochemical changes in macrophages following host-pathogen interactions were visualized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) respectively. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to assess the variability in the FTIR spectra. Following host-pathogen interactions, survival of S. aureus was significantly lower than P. aeruginosa (P<0.05) and cellular morphology of macrophages was different after incubation with S. aureus compared to P. aeruginosa. Following incubation with S. aureus macrophages were more globular and amorphous in shape whereas long linear pseudopodia were observed following incubation with P. aeruginosa. Distinct FTIR spectra were identified in macrophages post interaction with the different bacteria and PCA analysis demonstrated distinct biochemical differences in the phagocytes following engulfment of the bacteria, with > 99 % of variability in the FTIR spectra explained by the first two principal components. These findings demonstrated that there were clear morphological and biochemical changes in macrophages following engulfment of two different bacterial types suggesting that the biochemical components of the bacterial cell wall influenced the biochemical characteristics and hence the morphology of macrophages in distinct ways.

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Published

2020-09-30

How to Cite

El Mohtadi, M., Pilkington, L., Liauw, C. M., Ashworth, J. J., Dempsey-Hibbert, N., Belboul, A., & Whitehead, K. A. (2020). Differential engulfment of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by monocyte-derived macrophages is associated with altered phagocyte biochemistry and morphology. EXCLI Journal, 19, 1372–1384. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2020-2766

Issue

Vol. 19 (2020)

Section

Original articles

License

Copyright (c) 2020 Mohamed El Mohtadi, Lisa Pilkington, Christopher M. Liauw, Jason J. Ashworth, Nina Dempsey-Hibbert, Amina Belboul, Kathryn A. Whitehead

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