{
  "abstract": "Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibits substantial strain-dependent phenotypic heterogeneity, but whether differences in its extracellular milieu translate into distinct host regulatory responses remains poorly understood. This study investigated miRNA-associated responses in A549 lung epithelial cells exposed to conditioned media (CM) from P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and two clinical isolates, Pr and Pc. Phenazine-related gene expression was characterized, sub-cytotoxic CM concentrations were selected by XTT assay, cellular morphology, miRNA and mRNA expression, IL-8 secretion, and apoptosis were evaluated. Pc showed significantly higher expression of both phzM and phzS, consistent with its pyocyanin-producing phenotype. Pc-CM induced pronounced morphological remodelling and early hsa-miR-34a-5p upregulation, followed by BCL2 downregulation, marked CASP7 induction, and increased early apoptosis. Conversely, Pr-CM significantly reduced hsa-miR-146a-5p expression, followed by selective CXCL8 induction and enhanced IL-8 secretion. ATCC-CM induced transcriptional changes, including BCL2 downregulation, without reproducing either clinical isolate-associated response profile. These findings reveal divergent epithelial responses to strain-specific extracellular environments, with Pc-CM predominantly associated with apoptosis-related changes and Pr-CM with inflammatory signalling. These findings suggest that miRNA modulation may represent a molecular interface linking strain-dependent extracellular heterogeneity to distinct host–cell responses.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy",
    "Institute of Translational Pharmacology (IFT), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Via La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Domenico Franco",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2104-5465"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Salvatore Papasergi",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6433-1293"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Caterina Cascio",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5814-2157"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Maria Ferraro",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2533-7446"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Laura M. De Plano",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1152-948X"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6k9332ksa3w09.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/biom16111624",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "6k9332ksa3w09",
  "issns": [
    "2218-273X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16/11/1624",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-07",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6k9332ksa3w09.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-10T00:21:28Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/biom16111624",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16/11/1624"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "issn:2218-273X",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Strain-Specific Pseudomonas aeruginosa Conditioned Media Induce Distinct miRNA-Associated Regulatory Responses in Lung Epithelial Cells",
  "title_text": "Strain-Specific Pseudomonas aeruginosa Conditioned Media Induce Distinct miRNA-Associated Regulatory Responses in Lung Epithelial Cells",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-10T00:21:28Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6k9332ksa3w09",
  "venue": "Biomolecules",
  "versions": []
}