Selective depletion of uropathogenic E. coli from the gut by a FimH antagonist

Urinary tract infections (UTI) caused by uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) affect 150 million people annually(1,2). Despite effective antibiotic therapy, 30–50% of patients experience recurrent UTI (rUTI)(1). Additionally, the growing prevelance of UPEC resistant to last-line antibiotic treatments, and more recently carbapenems and colistin, make UTIs a prime example of the antibiotic-resistance crisis and emphasize the need for new approaches to treat and prevent bacterial infections(3–5). UPEC strains establish reservoirs in the gut from which they are shed in the feces, can colonize the peri-urethral area or vagina and subsequently ascend through the urethra to the urinary tract, where they cause UTI(6). UPEC isolates encode up to 16 distinct chaperone-usher pathway (CUP) pili and each pilus type likely enables colonization of a habitat in the host or environment(7). For example, the type 1 pilus adhesin, FimH, binds mannose on the bladder surface, mediating bladder colonization. However, little is known regarding the mechanisms underlying UPEC persistence in the gut(5). Using a mouse model, we found that F17-like and type 1 pili promote intestinal colonization and show distinct binding to epithelial cells distributed along colonic crypts. Phylogenomic and structural analyses reveal that F17-like pili are closely related to pilus types carried by intestinal pathogens, but are restricted to extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli. Moreover, we show that targeting FimH with a high-affinity inhibitor, mannoside M4284, reduces intestinal colonization of genetically diverse UPEC isolates, while simultaneously treating UTI, without significantly disrupting the the structural configuration of the gut microbiota. By selectively depleting the intestinal UPEC reservoir, mannosides could significantly reduce the rate of UTI and rUTI.