Unravelling E. coli pathogenesis in the human gut by employing advanced intestinal cell and tissue-based model systems

Pathogenic E. coli are a major cause of intestinal disease worldwide including acute and chronic diarrhoea, inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Research has shown that bacterial pathogenesis is governed by environmental cues which tightly regulate virulence gene expression. In the gut, these signals comprise oxygen levels, fluid shear, pH, digestive enzymes and metabolites produced by the intestinal epithelium and resident microbiota. In addition, pathogens are highly adapted to their host and use specific binding receptors and nutrient resources to establish their niche. Therefore, it is important to take these factors into account when investigating how pathogenic bacteria cause disease. In this talk, I will give an overview of human in vitro and ex vivo intestinal model systems applied in our lab to better understand E. coli pathogenesis and contribute to the development of targeted treatment strategies.