Estrogen receptors in human bladder cells regulate innate cytokine responses to differentially modulate uropathogenic E. coli colonization

Abstract The bladder epithelial cells elicit robust innate immune responses against urinary tract infections (UTIs) for preventing the bacterial colonization. Physiological fluctuations in circulating estrogen levels in women increase the susceptibility to UTI pathogenesis, often resulting in adverse health outcomes. Dr adhesin bearing Escherichia coli (Dr E. coli ) cause recurrent UTIs in menopausal women and acute pyelonephritis in pregnant women. Dr E. coli bind to epithelial cells via host innate immune receptor CD55, under hormonal influence. The role of estrogens or estrogen receptors (ERs) in regulating the innate immune responses in the bladder are poorly understood. In the current study, we investigated the role of ERα, ERβ and GPR30 in modulating the innate immune responses against Dr E. coli induced UTI using human bladder epithelial carcinoma 5637 cells (HBEC). Both ERα and ERβ agonist treatment in bladder cells induced a protection against Dr E. coli invasion via upregulation of TNFα and downregulation of CD55 and IL10, and these effects were reversed by action of ERα and ERβ antagoinsts. In contrast, the agonist-mediated activation of GPR30 led to an increased bacterial colonization due to suppression of innate immune factors in the bladder cells, and these effects were reversed by the antagonist-mediated suppression of GPR30. Further, siRNA-mediated ERα knockdown in the bladder cells reversed the protection against bacterial invasion observed in the ERα positive bladder cells, by modulating the gene expression of TNFα, CD55 and IL10, thus confirming the protective role of ERα. We demonstrate for the first time a protective role of nuclear ERs, ERα and ERβ but not of membrane ER, GPR30 against Dr E. coli invasion in HBEC 5637 cells. These findings have many clinical implications and suggest that ERs may serve as potential drug targets towards developing novel therapeutics for regulating local innate immunity and treating UTIs. Highlights Estrogen receptor (ER) subtypes regulate the gene expression of innate immune molecules, CD55, TNFα and IL10 in human bladder epithelial cells impacting the bacterial colonization by Dr E. coli . Activation of nuclear ER subtypes, ERα and ERβ, upregulate the gene expression of proinflammatory cytokine, TNFα, but downregulate the gene expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL10, and Dr E. coli colonization receptor, CD55, thus leading to efficient bacterial clearance in human bladder cells. In contrast, activation of the membrane ER subtype, GPR30, shows opposite effects to ERα and ERβ that were mediated on TNFα, IL10 and CD55 gene expression, thus leading to impaired bacterial clearance of Dr E. coli in human bladder cells. ER subtypes can serve as potential drug candidates for designing new therapies to boost or modulate the local immunity in the human bladder preventing the establishment of E. coli infections.