Staining of Bartonella henselae with carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester for tracking infection in erythrocytes and epithelial cells

Bartonella infection (Bartonella henselae in particular) is responsible for a widening spectrum of human diseases. The persistent colonization of erythrocytes is a feature of Bartonella infection. Endothelial and epithelial cells are also widely used to study the pathogenesis of bartonellosis in vitro. Exploring a convenient method for visualizing the bacillus without affecting infectivity would be very interesting. Carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) has been previously used for staining several bacterial species to study their adhesion to host cells. The present study demonstrated the efficiency and safety of using CFSE in staining B. henselae. The staining of bacillus-invaded erythrocytes and epithelial cells in vitro successfully allowed for flow cytometry and confocol microscopy analyses. Parallel tests using untreated bacteria confirmed that CFSE staining did not result in side effects on the infectivity of B. henselae. Labeling Bartonella with CFSE is a valuable method for studying the bacteria–host interaction.

► A dye, carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester, was used to label the Bartonella bacillus.
► Stained Bartonella bacillus invade into erythrocytes and epithelial cells efficiently.
► This method offered us a convenient way to track Bartonella infection in host cells without using antibody.