RESEARCH ARTICLE Normal and Cystic Fibrosis Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells Infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa Exhibit Distinct Gene Activation Patterns

Background and Aims In cystic fibrosis (CF), Pseudomonas aeruginosa is not eradicated from the lower respiratory tract and is associated with epithelial inflammation that eventually causes tissue damage. To identify the molecular determinants of an effective response to P. aeruginosa infection, we performed a transcriptomic analysis of primary human bronchial epithelial cells from healthy donors (CTRL) 2, 4, and 6 h after induced P. aeruginosa infection. Compared to noninfected cells, infected cells showed changes in gene activity, which were most marked 6 h postinfection and usually consisted in upregulation. Results By comparing for each time point of infection, the transcriptomic response of epithelial cells from CF patients and healthy donors, we identified 851, 638, 667, and 980 differentially expressed genes 0, 2, 4, and 6 h postinfection, respectively. Gene selection followed by bio-informatic analysis showed that most of the differentially expressed genes, either up- or downregulated, were in the protein-binding and catalytic gene-ontology categories. Finally