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Zamba-Campero M, Soliman D, Yu H, Lasseter AG, Chang YY, Liu J, Aravind L, Jewett MW, Storz G, Adams PP. Broadly conserved FlgV controls flagellar assembly and Borrelia burgdorferi dissemination in mice. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.09.574855. [PMID: 38260563 PMCID: PMC10802407 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.09.574855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Flagella propel pathogens through their environments yet are expensive to synthesize and are immunogenic. Thus, complex hierarchical regulatory networks control flagellar gene expression. Spirochetes are highly motile bacteria, but peculiarly in the Lyme spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, the archetypal flagellar regulator σ28 is absent. We rediscovered gene bb0268 in B. burgdorferi as flgV, a broadly-conserved gene in the flagellar superoperon alongside σ28 in many Spirochaetes, Firmicutes and other phyla, with distant homologs in Epsilonproteobacteria. We found that B. burgdorferi FlgV is localized within flagellar motors. B. burgdorferi lacking flgV construct fewer and shorter flagellar filaments and are defective in cell division and motility. During the enzootic cycle, B. burgdorferi lacking flgV survive and replicate in Ixodes ticks but are attenuated for dissemination and infection in mice. Our work defines infection timepoints when spirochete motility is most crucial and implicates FlgV as a broadly distributed structural flagellar component that modulates flagellar assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxime Zamba-Campero
- Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Daniel Soliman
- Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Huaxin Yu
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06536, USA
- Microbial Sciences Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Amanda G. Lasseter
- Division of Immunity and Pathogenesis, Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, FL, 32827, USA
| | - Yuen-Yan Chang
- Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Jun Liu
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06536, USA
- Microbial Sciences Institute, Yale University, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - L. Aravind
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA
| | - Mollie W. Jewett
- Division of Immunity and Pathogenesis, Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, FL, 32827, USA
| | - Gisela Storz
- Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Philip P. Adams
- Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
- Division of Immunity and Pathogenesis, Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, FL, 32827, USA
- Postdoctoral Research Associate Program, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
- Independent Research Scholar Program, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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Van Gundy TJ, Ullmann AJ, Brandt KS, Gilmore RD. A transwell assay method to evaluate Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto migratory chemoattraction toward tick saliva proteins. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2021; 12:101782. [PMID: 34274573 PMCID: PMC10895706 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2021] [Revised: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
We developed a transwell assay to quantify migration of the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.), toward Ixodes scapularis salivary gland proteins. The assay was designed to assess B. burgdorferi s.s. migration upward against gravity through a transwell polycarbonate membrane overlaid with 6% gelatin. Borreliae that channeled into the upper transwell chamber in response to test proteins were enumerated by flow cytometry. The transwell assay measured chemoattractant activity for B. burgdorferi s.s. from salivary gland extract (SGE) harvested from nymphal ticks during bloodmeal engorgement on mice 42 h post-attachment and saliva collected from adult ticks. Additionally, SGE protein fractions separated by size exclusion chromatography demonstrated various levels of chemoattractant activity in the transwell assay. Sialostatin L, and Salp-like proteins 9 and 11 were identified by mass spectrometry in SGE fractions that exhibited elevated activity. Recombinant forms of these proteins were tested in the transwell assay and showed positive chemoattractant properties compared to controls and another tick protein, S15A. These results were reproducible providing evidence that the transwell assay is a useful method for continuing investigations to find tick saliva components instrumental in driving B. burgdorferi s.s. chemotaxis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taylor J Van Gundy
- Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Amy J Ullmann
- Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Kevin S Brandt
- Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Robert D Gilmore
- Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO, United States.
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Nanomechanical mechanisms of Lyme disease spirochete motility enhancement in extracellular matrix. Commun Biol 2021; 4:268. [PMID: 33649506 PMCID: PMC7921401 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-01783-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
As opposed to pathogens passively circulating in the body fluids of their host, pathogenic species within the Spirochetes phylum are able to actively coordinate their movement in the host to cause systemic infections. Based on the unique morphology and high motility of spirochetes, we hypothesized that their surface adhesive molecules might be suitably adapted to aid in their dissemination strategies. Designing a system that mimics natural environmental signals, which many spirochetes face during their infectious cycle, we observed that a subset of their surface proteins, particularly Decorin binding protein (Dbp) A/B, can strongly enhance the motility of spirochetes in the extracellular matrix of the host. Using single-molecule force spectroscopy, we disentangled the mechanistic details of DbpA/B and decorin/laminin interactions. Our results show that spirochetes are able to leverage a wide variety of adhesion strategies through force-tuning transient molecular binding to extracellular matrix components, which concertedly enhance spirochetal dissemination through the host.
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