Targeting pili-mediated attachment for health benefits

Bacterial attachment to host surfaces is the first and critical step in colonization, biofilm formation, and infection. Bacterial ability to attach to biotic and abiotic surfaces is also the primary concern for many medical and food industries. Bacteria often assemble hair-like decorative proteinaceous appendages called pili or fimbriae on their surface to facilitate initial interaction with the surrounding environment. The pili are non-flagellar thread-like structures, few microns in length and composed of building blocks called pilins. A typical pilus structure consists of three types of pilins (tip, backbone, and basal).  Adhesive tip pilin mediates attachment to host surface receptors. Multiple backbone pilins form the pilus backbone. Basal pilin anchors the assembled pilus to the bacterial cell surface. The pili have been classified into different categories (e.g., Chaperone-usher pili, Curli pili, Type IV pili, Conjugative (Type IV secretion) pili, Type V pili, and Sortase mediated pili) based on their secretion system, biogenesis, architecture, and function. Since many bacteria use their surface pili to mediate the initial contact with host cells or tissues, targeting pili-mediated attachment is considered a potentially effective strategy in combating infection and promoting health. This review article describes several structurally distinct bacterial pilus types and discusses different ways of targeting the pili-mediated interactions, including the use of probiotics.

For more details, Sharma V, von Ossowski I, Krishnan V. (2021) Exploiting pilus-mediated bacteria-host interactions for health benefits. Molecular Aspects of Medicine, 100998.