Listeria monocytogenes-infected human umbilical vein endothelial cells: internalin-independent invasion, intracellular growth, movement, and host cell responses.

The interaction of Listeria monocytogenes with human umbilical vein endothelial cells was studied. We show that L. monocytogenes invades human umbilical vein endothelial cells independently of internalin A, internalin B, internalin C, and ActA. L. monocytogenes replicates efficiently inside the cells and moves intracellularly by the induction of actin polymerization. We further show that L. monocytogenes-infection of human umbilical vein endothelial cells induces interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 expression during the first 6 h of infection. The expression of MCP-1 and the adhesion molecules VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 was not altered under the experimental conditions used here.