TY - JOUR

T1 - “Omics” Technologies - What Have They Told Us About Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Fitness and Virulence During Urinary Tract Infection?

AU - Torres-Puig, Sergi

AU - García, Vanesa

AU - Stærk, Kristian

AU - Andersen, Thomas E.

AU - Møller-Jensen, Jakob

AU - Olsen, John E.

AU - Herrero-Fresno, Ana

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Torres-Puig, García, Stærk, Andersen, Møller-Jensen, Olsen and Herrero-Fresno.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is the main etiological agent of urinary tract infection (UTI), a widespread infectious disease of great impact on human health. This is further emphasized by the rapidly increase in antimicrobial resistance in UPEC, which compromises UTI treatment. UPEC biology is highly complex since uropathogens must adopt extracellular and intracellular lifestyles and adapt to different niches in the host. In this context, the implementation of forefront ‘omics’ technologies has provided substantial insight into the understanding of UPEC pathogenesis, which has opened the doors for new therapeutics and prophylactics discovery programs. Thus, ‘omics’ technologies applied to studies of UPEC during UTI, or in models of UTI, have revealed extensive lists of factors that are important for the ability of UPEC to cause disease. The multitude of large ‘omics’ datasets that have been generated calls for scrutinized analysis of specific factors that may be of interest for further development of novel treatment strategies. In this review, we describe main UPEC determinants involved in UTI as estimated by ‘omics’ studies, and we compare prediction of factors across the different ‘omics’ technologies, with a focus on those that have been confirmed to be relevant under UTI-related conditions. We also discuss current challenges and future perspectives regarding analysis of data to provide an overview and better understanding of UPEC mechanisms involved in pathogenesis which should assist in the selection of target sites for future prophylaxis and treatment.

AB - Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is the main etiological agent of urinary tract infection (UTI), a widespread infectious disease of great impact on human health. This is further emphasized by the rapidly increase in antimicrobial resistance in UPEC, which compromises UTI treatment. UPEC biology is highly complex since uropathogens must adopt extracellular and intracellular lifestyles and adapt to different niches in the host. In this context, the implementation of forefront ‘omics’ technologies has provided substantial insight into the understanding of UPEC pathogenesis, which has opened the doors for new therapeutics and prophylactics discovery programs. Thus, ‘omics’ technologies applied to studies of UPEC during UTI, or in models of UTI, have revealed extensive lists of factors that are important for the ability of UPEC to cause disease. The multitude of large ‘omics’ datasets that have been generated calls for scrutinized analysis of specific factors that may be of interest for further development of novel treatment strategies. In this review, we describe main UPEC determinants involved in UTI as estimated by ‘omics’ studies, and we compare prediction of factors across the different ‘omics’ technologies, with a focus on those that have been confirmed to be relevant under UTI-related conditions. We also discuss current challenges and future perspectives regarding analysis of data to provide an overview and better understanding of UPEC mechanisms involved in pathogenesis which should assist in the selection of target sites for future prophylaxis and treatment.

KW - -omics

KW - fitness

KW - pathogenesis

KW - UPEC

KW - UTIs

KW - virulence

U2 - 10.3389/fcimb.2022.824039

DO - 10.3389/fcimb.2022.824039

M3 - Review

C2 - 35237532

AN - SCOPUS:85125393358

VL - 12

JO - Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

JF - Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

SN - 2235-2988

M1 - 824039

ER -