A VapBC toxin-antitoxin module is a posttranscriptional regulator of metabolic flux in mycobacteria

Structural and functional studies of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis VapBC30 toxin-antitoxin system: implications for the design of novel antimicrobial peptides

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems play important roles in bacterial physiology, such as multidrug tolerance, biofilm formation, and arrest of cellular growth under stress conditions. To develop novel antimicrobial agents against tuberculosis, we focused on VapBC systems, which encompass more than half of TA systems in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Here, we report that theMycobacterium tuberculosis VapC30 toxin regulates cellular growth through both magnesium and manganese ion-dependent ribonuclease activity and is inhibited by the cognate VapB30 antitoxin. We also determined the 2.7-Å resolution crystal structure of the M. tuberculosis VapBC30 complex, which revealed a novel process of inactivation of the VapC30 toxin via swapped blocking by the VapB30 antitoxin. Our study on M. tuberculosis VapBC30 leads us to design two kinds of VapB30 and VapC30-based novel peptides which successfully disrupt the toxin-antitoxin complex and thus activate the ribonuclease activity of the VapC30 toxin. Our discovery herein possibly paves the way to treat tuberculosis for next generation.

Identification and characterization of a HEPN-MNT family type II toxin-antitoxin in Shewanella oneidensis

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are prevalent in bacteria and archaea. However, related studies in the ecologically and bioelectrochemically important strain Shewanella oneidensis are limited. Here, we show that SO_3166, a member of the higher eukaryotes and prokaryotes nucleotide-binding (HEPN) superfamily, strongly inhibited cell growth in S. oneidensis and Escherichia coli. SO_3165, a putative minimal nucleotidyltransferase (MNT), neutralized the toxicity of SO_3166. Gene SO_3165 lies upstream of SO_3166, and they are co-transcribed. Moreover, the SO_3165 and SO_3166 proteins interact with each other directly in vivo, and antitoxin SO_3165 bound to the promoter of the TA operon and repressed its activity. Finally, the conserved Rx4-6H domain in HEPN family was identified in SO_3166. Mutating either the R or H abolished SO_3166 toxicity, confirming that Rx4-6H domain is critical for SO_3166 activity. Taken together, these results demonstrate that SO_3166 and SO_3165 in S. oneidensis form a typical type II TA pair. This TA pair plays a critical role in regulating bacterial functions because its disruption led to impaired cell motility in S. oneidensis. Thus, we demonstrated for the first time that HEPN-MNT can function as a TA system, thereby providing important insights into the understanding of the function and regulation of HEPNs and MNTs in prokaryotes.

The mycobacterial PhoH2 proteins are type II toxin antitoxins coupled to RNA helicase domains

PhoH2 proteins are found in a diverse range of organisms that span the bacterial tree and little is known about this large protein family. PhoH2 proteins have two domains: An N-terminal PIN domain fused to a C-terminal PhoH domain. The genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes 48 PIN domains and 47 of these constitute the VapC components of the 47 VapBC toxin-antitoxins. The 48th member of the M. tuberculosis PIN domain array is found in the single PhoH2 protein encoded in the genome. All characterized PIN domain proteins are RNases and the PhoH domains are predicted ATPases. This fusion of a PIN domain with an ATPase reflects a much wider association between PIN domains and PhoH domains across many prokaryote genomes. Here, we examine PhoH2 proteins from M. tuberculosis, Mycobacterium smegmatis and a thermophilic homologue from Thermobispora bispora and we show that PhoH2 is a sequence-specific RNA helicase and RNAse. In addition, phoH2 from M. tuberculosis and M. smegmatis is part of a longer mRNA transcript which includes a small, unannotated open reading frame (ORF) upstream of the phoH2 gene. This small gene overlaps with the beginning of the phoH2 gene in a manner similar to the PIN domain toxin-antitoxin operons. We have annotated the upstream gene as phoAT and its putative promoter elements satisfy previously characterized consensus sequences at the -10 site. Conditional growth experiments carried out in M. smegmatis revealed a negative effect on growth by the expression of M. tuberculosis PhoH2 that was alleviated by co-expression of the PhoAT peptide. Thus in M. tuberculosis, PhoH2 represents a new variation on a type II PIN domain toxin-antitoxin systems such that the toxin-antitoxin is now coupled to an RNA helicase whose predicted biological function is to unwind and cleave RNA in a sequence specific manner.

One cannot rule them all: Are bacterial toxins-antitoxins druggable?

Type II (proteic) toxin–antitoxin (TA) operons are widely spread in bacteria and archaea. They are organized as operons in which, usually, the antitoxin gene precedes the cognate toxin gene. The antitoxin generally acts as a transcriptional self-repressor, whereas the toxin acts as a co-repressor, both proteins constituting a harmless complex. When bacteria encounter a stressful environment, TAs are triggered. The antitoxin protein is unstable and will be degraded by host proteases, releasing the free toxin to halt essential processes. The result is a cessation of cell growth or even death. Because of their ubiquity and the essential processes targeted, TAs have been proposed as good candidates for development of novel antimicrobials. We discuss here the possible druggability of TAs as antivirals and antibacterials, with focus on the potentials and the challenges that their use may find in the ‘real’ world. We present strategies to develop TAs as antibacterials in view of novel technologies, such as the use of very small molecules (fragments) as inhibitors of protein–protein interactions. Appropriate fragments could disrupt the T:A interfaces leading to the release of the targeted TA pair. Possible ways of delivery and formulation of Tas are also discussed.

We consider various approaches to develop the toxins of the type II family as possible candidates to drug discovery; druggability of toxins-antitoxins could be possible as antivirals. As antibacterials, they might be considered as druggable but delivery and formulation may not be simple so far.

Bactericidal mode of action of bedaquiline

OBJECTIVES

It is not fully understood why inhibiting ATP synthesis in Mycobacterium species leads to death in non-replicating cells. We investigated the bactericidal mode of action of the anti-tubercular F1Fo-ATP synthase inhibitor bedaquiline (Sirturo™) in order to further understand the lethality of ATP synthase inhibition.

METHODS

Mycobacterium smegmatis strains were used for all the experiments. Growth and survival during a bedaquiline challenge were performed in multiple media types. A time-course microarray was performed during initial bedaquiline challenge in minimal medium. Oxygen consumption and proton-motive force measurements were performed on whole cells and inverted membrane vesicles, respectively.

RESULTS

A killing of 3 log10 cfu/mL was achieved 4-fold more quickly in minimal medium (a glycerol carbon source) versus rich medium (LB with Tween 80) during bedaquiline challenge. Assessing the accelerated killing condition, we identified a transcriptional remodelling of metabolism that was consistent with respiratory dysfunction but inconsistent with ATP depletion. In glycerol-energized cell suspensions, bedaquiline caused an immediate 2.3-fold increase in oxygen consumption. Bedaquiline collapsed the transmembrane pH gradient, but not the membrane potential, in a dose-dependent manner. Both these effects were dependent on binding to the F1Fo-ATP synthase.

CONCLUSIONS

Challenge with bedaquiline results in an electroneutral uncoupling of respiration-driven ATP synthesis. This may be a determinant of the bactericidal effects of bedaquiline, while ATP depletion may be a determinant of its delayed onset of killing. We propose that bedaquiline binds to and perturbs the a-c subunit interface of the Fo, leading to futile proton cycling, which is known to be lethal to mycobacteria.

MazF ribonucleases promote Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug tolerance and virulence in guinea pigs

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are highly conserved in members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) complex and have been proposed to play an important role in physiology and virulence. Nine of these TA systems belong to the mazEF family, encoding the intracellular MazF toxin and its antitoxin, MazE. By overexpressing each of the nine putative MazF homologues in Mycobacterium bovis BCG, here we show that Rv1102c (MazF3), Rv1991c (MazF6) and Rv2801c (MazF9) induce bacteriostasis. The construction of various single-, double- and triple-mutant Mtb strains reveals that these MazF ribonucleases contribute synergistically to the ability of Mtb to adapt to conditions such as oxidative stress, nutrient depletion and drug exposure. Moreover, guinea pigs infected with the triple-mutant strain exhibits significantly reduced bacterial loads and pathological damage in infected tissues in comparison with parental strain-infected guinea pigs. The present study highlights the importance of MazF ribonucleases in Mtb stress adaptation, drug tolerance and virulence.

Metabolic aspects of bacterial persisters

Persister cells form a multi-drug tolerant subpopulation within an isogenic culture of bacteria that are genetically susceptible to antibiotics. Studies with different Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria have identified a large number of genes associated with the persister state. In contrast, the revelation of persister metabolism has only been addressed recently. We here summarize metabolic aspects of persisters, which includes an overview about the bifunctional role of selected carbohydrates as both triggers for the exit from the drug tolerant state and metabolites which persisters feed on. Also alarmones as indicators for starvation have been shown to influence persister levels via different signaling cascades involving the activation of toxin-antitoxin systems and other regulatory factors. Finally, recent data obtained by (13)C-isotopolog profiling demonstrated an active amino acid anabolism in Staphylococcus aureus cultures challenged with high drug concentrations. Understanding the metabolism of persister cells poses challenges but also paves the way for the development of anti-persister compounds.

A high-resolution network model for global gene regulation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The resilience of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is largely due to its ability to effectively counteract and even take advantage of the hostile environments of a host. In order to accelerate the discovery and characterization of these adaptive mechanisms, we have mined a compendium of 2325 publicly available transcriptome profiles of MTB to decipher a predictive, systems-scale gene regulatory network model. The resulting modular organization of 98% of all MTB genes within this regulatory network was rigorously tested using two independently generated datasets: a genome-wide map of 7248 DNA-binding locations for 143 transcription factors (TFs) and global transcriptional consequences of overexpressing 206 TFs. This analysis has discovered specific TFs that mediate conditional co-regulation of genes within 240 modules across 14 distinct environmental contexts. In addition to recapitulating previously characterized regulons, we discovered 454 novel mechanisms for gene regulation during stress, cholesterol utilization and dormancy. Significantly, 183 of these mechanisms act uniquely under conditions experienced during the infection cycle to regulate diverse functions including 23 genes that are essential to host-pathogen interactions. These and other insights underscore the power of a rational, model-driven approach to unearth novel MTB biology that operates under some but not all phases of infection.

VapC from the leptospiral VapBC toxin-antitoxin module displays ribonuclease activity on the initiator tRNA

The prokaryotic ubiquitous Toxin-Antitoxin (TA) operons encode a stable toxin and an unstable antitoxin. The most accepted hypothesis of the physiological function of the TA system is the reversible cessation of cellular growth under stress conditions. The major TA family, VapBC is present in the spirochaete Leptospira interrogans. VapBC modules are classified based on the presence of a predicted ribonucleasic PIN domain in the VapC toxin. The expression of the leptospiral VapC in E. coli promotes a strong bacterial growth arrestment, making it difficult to express the recombinant protein. Nevertheless, we showed that long term induction of expression in E. coli enabled the recovery of VapC in inclusion bodies. The recombinant protein was successfully refolded by high hydrostatic pressure, providing a new method to obtain the toxin in a soluble and active form. The structural integrity of the recombinant VapB and VapC proteins was assessed by circular dichroism spectroscopy. Physical interaction between the VapC toxin and the VapB antitoxin was demonstrated in vivo and in vitro by pull down and ligand affinity blotting assays, respectively, thereby indicating the ultimate mechanism by which the activity of the toxin is regulated in bacteria. The predicted model of the leptospiral VapC structure closely matches the Shigella's VapC X-ray structure. In agreement, the ribonuclease activity of the leptospiral VapC was similar to the activity described for Shigella's VapC, as demonstrated by the cleavage of tRNAfMet and by the absence of unspecific activity towards E. coli rRNA. This finding suggests that the cleavage of the initiator transfer RNA may represent a common mechanism to a larger group of bacteria and potentially configures a mechanism of post-transcriptional regulation leading to the inhibition of global translation.

Multiple toxin-antitoxin systems in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The hallmark of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is its ability to persist for a long-term in host granulomas, in a non-replicating and drug-tolerant state, and later awaken to cause disease. To date, the cellular factors and the molecular mechanisms that mediate entry into the persistence phase are poorly understood. Remarkably, M. tuberculosis possesses a very high number of toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems in its chromosome, 79 in total, regrouping both well-known (68) and novel (11) families, with some of them being strongly induced in drug-tolerant persisters. In agreement with the capacity of stress-responsive TA systems to generate persisters in other bacteria, it has been proposed that activation of TA systems in M. tuberculosis could contribute to its pathogenesis. Herein, we review the current knowledge on the multiple TA families present in this bacterium, their mechanism, and their potential role in physiology and virulence.

Post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in bacterial pathogens by toxin-antitoxin systems

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are small genetic elements ubiquitous in prokaryotic genomes that encode toxic proteins targeting various vital cellular functions. Typically, toxin activity is controlled by adjacently encoded protein or RNA antitoxins and unleashed as a consequence of genetic fluctuations or stressful conditions. Whereas some TA systems interfere with replication or cell wall synthesis, most of them influence transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene regulation. Antitoxin proteins often act as DNA binding transcriptional regulators and many TA toxins exhibit endoribonuclease activity to selectively degrade different RNA species and thus alter gene expression patterns. Some TA RNases cleave tRNA, tmRNAs or rRNAs, whereas most commonly mRNAs either in association with the ribosome or as free transcripts, are targeted. Examples are provided on how TA toxins differentially shape gene expression in bacterial pathogens by creating specialized ribosomes or by altering the transcriptome and how this may be tied in the control of pathogenicity factors.

Initiation of mRNA decay in bacteria

The instability of messenger RNA is fundamental to the control of gene expression. In bacteria, mRNA degradation generally follows an "all-or-none" pattern. This implies that if control is to be efficient, it must occur at the initiating (and presumably rate-limiting) step of the degradation process. Studies of E. coli and B. subtilis, species separated by 3 billion years of evolution, have revealed the principal and very disparate enzymes involved in this process in the two organisms. The early view that mRNA decay in these two model organisms is radically different has given way to new models that can be resumed by "different enzymes-similar strategies". The recent characterization of key ribonucleases sheds light on an impressive case of convergent evolution that illustrates that the surprisingly similar functions of these totally unrelated enzymes are of general importance to RNA metabolism in bacteria. We now know that the major mRNA decay pathways initiate with an endonucleolytic cleavage in E. coli and B. subtilis and probably in many of the currently known bacteria for which these organisms are considered representative. We will discuss here the different pathways of eubacterial mRNA decay, describe the major players and summarize the events that can precede and/or favor nucleolytic inactivation of a mRNA, notably the role of the 5' end and translation initiation. Finally, we will discuss the role of subcellular compartmentalization of transcription, translation, and the RNA degradation machinery.

Induced ectopic expression of HigB toxin in Mycobacterium tuberculosis results in growth inhibition, reduced abundance of a subset of mRNAs and cleavage of tmRNA

In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the genes Rv1954A-Rv1957 form an operon that includes Rv1955 and Rv1956 which encode the HigB toxin and the HigA antitoxin respectively. We are interested in the role and regulation of this operon, since toxin-antitoxin systems have been suggested to play a part in the formation of persister cells in mycobacteria. To investigate the function of the higBA locus, effects of toxin expression on mycobacterial growth and transcript levels were assessed in M. tuberculosis H37Rv wild type and in an operon deletion background. We show that expression of HigB toxin in the absence of HigA antitoxin arrests growth and causes cell death in M. tuberculosis. We demonstrate HigB expression to reduce the abundance of IdeR and Zur regulated mRNAs and to cleave tmRNA in M. tuberculosis, Escherichia coli and Mycobacterium smegmatis. This study provides the first identification of possible target transcripts of HigB in M. tuberculosis.

Ribonucleases in bacterial toxin-antitoxin systems

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are widespread in bacteria and archaea and play important roles in a diverse range of cellular activities. TA systems have been broadly classified into 5 types and the targets of the toxins are diverse, but the most frequently used cellular target is mRNA. Toxins that target mRNA to inhibit translation can be classified as ribosome-dependent or ribosome-independent RNA interferases. These RNA interferases are sequence-specific endoribonucleases that cleave RNA at specific sequences. Despite limited sequence similarity, ribosome-independent RNA interferases belong to a limited number of structural classes. The MazF structural family includes MazF, Kid, ParE and CcdB toxins. MazF members cleave mRNA at 3-, 5- or 7-base recognition sequences in different bacteria and have been implicated in controlling cell death (programmed) and cell growth, and cellular responses to nutrient starvation, antibiotics, heat and oxidative stress. VapC endoribonucleases belong to the PIN-domain family and inhibit translation by either cleaving tRNA(fMet) in the anticodon stem loop, cleaving mRNA at -AUA(U/A)-hairpin-G- sequences or by sequence-specific RNA binding. VapC has been implicated in controlling bacterial growth in the intracellular environment and in microbial adaptation to nutrient limitation (nitrogen, carbon) and heat shock. ToxN shows structural homology to MazF and is also a sequence-specific endoribonuclease. ToxN confers phage resistance by causing cell death upon phage infection by cleaving cellular and phage RNAs, thereby interfering with bacterial and phage growth. Notwithstanding our recent progress in understanding ribonuclease action and function in TA systems, the environmental triggers that cause release of the toxin from its cognate antitoxin and the precise cellular function of these systems in many bacteria remain to be discovered. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: RNA Decay mechanisms.

Selectivity and self-assembly in the control of a bacterial toxin by an antitoxic noncoding RNA pseudoknot

Bacterial small RNAs perform numerous regulatory roles, including acting as antitoxic components in toxin-antitoxin systems. In type III toxin-antitoxin systems, small processed RNAs directly antagonize their toxin protein partners, and in the systems characterized the toxin and antitoxin components together form a trimeric assembly. In the present study, we sought to define how the RNA antitoxin, ToxI, inhibits its potentially lethal protein partner, ToxN. We show through cross-inhibition experiments with the ToxIN systems from Pectobacterium atrosepticum (ToxIN(Pa)) and Bacillus thuringiensis (ToxIN(Bt)) that ToxI RNAs are highly selective enzyme inhibitors. Both systems have an "addictive" plasmid maintenance phenotype. We demonstrate that ToxI(Pa) can inhibit ToxN(Pa) in vitro both in its processed form and as a repetitive precursor RNA, and this inhibition is linked to the self-assembly of the trimeric complex. Inhibition and self-assembly are both mediated entirely by the ToxI(Pa) RNA, with no requirement for cellular factors or exogenous energy. Finally, we explain the origins of ToxI antitoxin selectivity through our crystal structure of the ToxIN(Bt) complex. Our results show how a processed RNA pseudoknot can inhibit a deleterious protein with exquisite molecular specificity and how these self-contained and addictive RNA-protein pairs can confer different adaptive benefits in their bacterial hosts.

Toxin-antitoxin systems are important for niche-specific colonization and stress resistance of uropathogenic Escherichia coli

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are prevalent in many bacterial genomes and have been implicated in biofilm and persister cell formation, but the contribution of individual chromosomally encoded TA systems during bacterial pathogenesis is not well understood. Of the known TA systems encoded by Escherichia coli, only a subset is associated with strains of extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC). These pathogens colonize diverse niches and are a major cause of sepsis, meningitis, and urinary tract infections. Using a murine infection model, we show that two TA systems (YefM-YoeB and YbaJ-Hha) independently promote colonization of the bladder by the reference uropathogenic ExPEC isolate CFT073, while a third TA system comprised of the toxin PasT and the antitoxin PasI is critical to ExPEC survival within the kidneys. The PasTI TA system also enhances ExPEC persister cell formation in the presence of antibiotics and markedly increases pathogen resistance to nutrient limitation as well as oxidative and nitrosative stresses. On its own, low-level expression of PasT protects ExPEC from these stresses, whereas overexpression of PasT is toxic and causes bacterial stasis. PasT-induced stasis can be rescued by overexpression of PasI, indicating that PasTI is a bona fide TA system. By mutagenesis, we find that the stress resistance and toxic effects of PasT can be uncoupled and mapped to distinct domains. Toxicity was specifically linked to sequences within the N-terminus of PasT, a region that also promotes the development of persister cells. These results indicate discrete, multipurpose functions for a TA-associated toxin and demonstrate that individual TA systems can provide bacteria with pronounced fitness advantages dependent on toxin expression levels and the specific environmental niche occupied.

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are widespread among prokaryotes, including many important human pathogens. It has long been hypothesized that TA systems contribute to bacterial pathogenesis, but clear-cut phenotypes associated with any individual TA system have not been described. Using bioinformatics, we demonstrate that distinct subsets of TA systems are linked with a major group of bacterial pathogens known as Extraintestinal Pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC). These bacteria are responsible for the majority of urinary tract infections worldwide, and are major causes of sepsis and meningitis. Using murine infection models with a reference uropathogenic ExPEC isolate, we found that three of the ExPEC-associated TA systems act independently to promote bacterial survival and persistence within the host urinary tract. Furthermore, we show that the toxin protein associated with one of these TA systems increases ExPEC stress resistance and persistence in the face of antibiotics. This work demonstrates the functional importance of specific TA systems to ExPEC pathogenesis, highlighting their potential as therapeutic targets.

Determination of ribonuclease sequence-specificity using Pentaprobes and mass spectrometry

The VapBC toxin-antitoxin (TA) family is the largest of nine identified TA families. The toxin, VapC, is a metal-dependent ribonuclease that is inhibited by its cognate antitoxin, VapB. Although the VapBCs are the largest TA family, little is known about their biological roles. Here we describe a new general method for the overexpression and purification of toxic VapC proteins and subsequent determination of their RNase sequence-specificity. Functional VapC was isolated by expression of the nontoxic VapBC complex, followed by removal of the labile antitoxin (VapB) using limited trypsin digestion. We have then developed a sensitive and robust method for determining VapC ribonuclease sequence-specificity. This technique employs the use of Pentaprobes as substrates for VapC. These are RNA sequences encoding every combination of five bases. We combine the RNase reaction with MALDI-TOF MS to detect and analyze the cleavage products and thus determine the RNA cut sites. Successful MALDI-TOF MS analysis of RNA fragments is acutely dependent on sample preparation methods. The sequence-specificity of four VapC proteins from two different organisms (VapC(PAE0151) and VapC(PAE2754) from Pyrobaculum aerophilum, and VapC(Rv0065) and VapC(Rv0617) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis) was successfully determined using the described strategy. This rapid and sensitive method can be applied to determine the sequence-specificity of VapC ribonucleases along with other RNA interferases (such as MazF) from a range of organisms.

Molecular biology of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) has become a curable disease, thanks to the discovery of antibiotics. However, it has remained one of the most difficult infections to treat. Most current TB regimens consist of 6-9 months of daily doses of four drugs that are highly toxic to patients. The purpose of these lengthy treatments is to completely eradicate Mycobacterium tuberculosis, notorious for its ability to resist most antibacterial agents, thereby preventing the formation of drug resistant mutants. On the contrary, the prolonged therapies have led to poor patient adherence. This, together with a severe limit of drug choices, has resulted in the emergence of strains that are increasingly resistant to the few available antibiotics. Here, we review our current understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying the profound drug resistance of M. tuberculosis. This knowledge is essential for the development of more effective antibiotics, which are not only potent against drug resistant M. tuberculosis strains but also help shorten the current treatment courses required for drug susceptible TB.