Bacterial Colonization: Bacteria Pili and Adhesins Binding to Host Cell Receptors

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Pili enable some organisms to adhere to receptors on target host cells. The pilus has a shaft composed of a protein called pilin. At the end of the shaft is the adhesive tip structure having a shape corresponding to that of specific glycoprotein or glycolipid receptors on a host cell. Because both the bacteria and the host cells have a negative charge, pili may enable the bacteria to bind to host cells without initially having to get close enough to be pushed away by electrostatic repulsion. Once attached to the host cell, the pili can depolymerize and this enables bacterial cell wall adhesins to bind to adhesin receptors on the host cell. This allows the bacterial cell wall to make more intimate contact with the host cell and enables the bacterium to colonize the host cell and resist flushing.


Flash animation illustrating Bacterial Colonization: Bacteria Pili and Adhesins Binding to Host Cell Receptors.swf by Gary E. Kaiser, Ph.D.
Professor of Microbiology, The Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville Campus
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://faculty.ccbcmd.edu/~gkaiser/index.html.

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Last updated: August, 2018
Please send comments and inquiries to Dr. Gary Kaiser