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Letarov AV. Bacterial Virus Forcing of Bacterial O-Antigen Shields: Lessons from Coliphages. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:17390. [PMID: 38139217 PMCID: PMC10743462 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242417390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
In most Gram-negative bacteria, outer membrane (OM) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) molecules carry long polysaccharide chains known as the O antigens or O polysaccharides (OPS). The OPS structure varies highly from strain to strain, with more than 188 O serotypes described in E. coli. Although many bacteriophages recognize OPS as their primary receptors, these molecules can also screen OM proteins and other OM surface receptors from direct interaction with phage receptor-binding proteins (RBP). In this review, I analyze the body of evidence indicating that most of the E. coli OPS types robustly shield cells completely, preventing phage access to the OM surface. This shield not only blocks virulent phages but also restricts the acquisition of prophages. The available data suggest that OPS-mediated OM shielding is not merely one of many mechanisms of bacterial resistance to phages. Rather, it is an omnipresent factor significantly affecting the ecology, phage-host co-evolution and other related processes in E. coli and probably in many other species of Gram-negative bacteria. The phages, in turn, evolved multiple mechanisms to break through the OPS layer. These mechanisms rely on the phage RBPs recognizing the OPS or on using alternative receptors exposed above the OPS layer. The data allow one to forward the interpretation that, regardless of the type of receptors used, primary receptor recognition is always followed by the generation of a mechanical force driving the phage tail through the OPS layer. This force may be created by molecular motors of enzymatically active tail spikes or by virion structural re-arrangements at the moment of infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrey V Letarov
- Winogradsky Institute of Micrbiology, Research Center Fundamentals of Biotechnology RAS, pr. 60-letiya Oktyabrya 7 bld. 2, Moscow 117312, Russia
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Efimov AD, Golomidova AK, Kulikov EE, Belalov IS, Ivanov PA, Letarov AV. RB49-like Bacteriophages Recognize O Antigens as One of the Alternative Primary Receptors. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms231911329. [PMID: 36232640 PMCID: PMC9569957 DOI: 10.3390/ijms231911329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Revised: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The power of most of the enterobacterial O antigen types to provide robust protection against direct recognition of the cell surface by bacteriophage receptor-recognition proteins (RBP) has been recently recognized. The bacteriophages infecting O antigen producing strains of E. coli employ various strategies to tackle this nonspecific protection. T-even related phages, including RB49-like viruses, often have wide host ranges, being considered good candidates for use in phage therapy. However, the mechanisms by which these phages overcome the O antigen barrier remain unknown. We demonstrate here that RB49 and related phages Cognac49 and Whisky49 directly use certain types of O antigen as their primary receptors recognized by the virus long tail fibers (LTF) RBP gp38, so the O antigen becomes an attractant instead of an obstacle. Simultaneously to recognize multiple O antigen types, LTFs of each of these phages can bind to additional receptors, such as OmpA protein, enabling them to infect some rough strains of E. coli. We speculate that the mechanical force of the deployment of the short tail fibers (STF) triggered by the LTF binding to the O antigen or underneath of it, allows the receptor binding domains of STF to break through the O polysaccharide layer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandr D Efimov
- Laboratory of Microbial Viruses, Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology RC Biotechnology RAS, 117312 Moscow, Russia
| | - Alla K Golomidova
- Laboratory of Microbial Viruses, Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology RC Biotechnology RAS, 117312 Moscow, Russia
| | - Eugene E Kulikov
- Laboratory of Microbial Viruses, Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology RC Biotechnology RAS, 117312 Moscow, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Ilya S Belalov
- Laboratory of Microbial Viruses, Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology RC Biotechnology RAS, 117312 Moscow, Russia
| | - Pavel A Ivanov
- Laboratory of Microbial Viruses, Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology RC Biotechnology RAS, 117312 Moscow, Russia
| | - Andrey V Letarov
- Laboratory of Microbial Viruses, Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology RC Biotechnology RAS, 117312 Moscow, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia
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Di Lorenzo F, Duda KA, Lanzetta R, Silipo A, De Castro C, Molinaro A. A Journey from Structure to Function of Bacterial Lipopolysaccharides. Chem Rev 2021; 122:15767-15821. [PMID: 34286971 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c01321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a crucial constituent of the outer membrane of most Gram-negative bacteria, playing a fundamental role in the protection of bacteria from environmental stress factors, in drug resistance, in pathogenesis, and in symbiosis. During the last decades, LPS has been thoroughly dissected, and massive information on this fascinating biomolecule is now available. In this Review, we will give the reader a third millennium update of the current knowledge of LPS with key information on the inherent peculiar carbohydrate chemistry due to often puzzling sugar residues that are uniquely found on it. Then, we will drive the reader through the complex and multifarious immunological outcomes that any given LPS can raise, which is strictly dependent on its chemical structure. Further, we will argue about issues that still remain unresolved and that would represent the immediate future of LPS research. It is critical to address these points to complete our notions on LPS chemistry, functions, and roles, in turn leading to innovative ways to manipulate the processes involving such a still controversial and intriguing biomolecule.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flaviana Di Lorenzo
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy.,Task Force on Microbiome Studies, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Katarzyna A Duda
- Research Center Borstel Leibniz Lung Center, Parkallee 4a, 23845 Borstel, Germany
| | - Rosa Lanzetta
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Alba Silipo
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy.,Task Force on Microbiome Studies, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Cristina De Castro
- Task Force on Microbiome Studies, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy.,Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Università 96, 80055 Portici, Naples, Italy
| | - Antonio Molinaro
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy.,Task Force on Microbiome Studies, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy.,Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Osaka University Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan
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Golomidova AK, Efimov AD, Kulikov EE, Kuznetsov AS, Belalov IS, Letarov AV. O antigen restricts lysogenization of non-O157 Escherichia coli strains by Stx-converting bacteriophage phi24B. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3035. [PMID: 33542282 PMCID: PMC7862636 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82422-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Acquisition of new prophages that are able to increase the bacterial fitness by the lysogenic conversion is believed to be an important strategy of bacterial adaptation to the changing environment. However, in contrast to the factors determining the range of bacteriophage lytic activity, little is known about the factors that define the lysogenization host range. Bacteriophage phi24B is the paradigmal model of Stx-converting phages, encoding the toxins of the Shiga-toxigenic E. coli (STEC). This virus has been shown to lysogenize a wide range of E. coli strains that is much broader than the range of the strains supporting its lytic growth. Therefore, phages produced by the STEC population colonizing the small or large intestine are potentially able to lysogenize symbiotic E. coli in the hindgut, and these secondary lysogens may contribute to the overall patient toxic load and to lead to the emergence of new pathogenic STEC strains. We demonstrate, however, that O antigen effectively limit the lysogenization of the wild E. coli strains by phi24B phage. The lysogens are formed from the spontaneous rough mutants and therefore have increased sensitivity to other bacteriophages and to the bactericidal activity of the serum if compared to their respective parental strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- A K Golomidova
- Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, RC Biotechnology RAS, Prospekt 60-letiya Oktyabrya 7 bld. 2, Moscow, Russia, 117312
| | - A D Efimov
- Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, RC Biotechnology RAS, Prospekt 60-letiya Oktyabrya 7 bld. 2, Moscow, Russia, 117312
| | - E E Kulikov
- Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, RC Biotechnology RAS, Prospekt 60-letiya Oktyabrya 7 bld. 2, Moscow, Russia, 117312.,Phystech School of Biological and Medical Physics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia
| | - A S Kuznetsov
- Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, RC Biotechnology RAS, Prospekt 60-letiya Oktyabrya 7 bld. 2, Moscow, Russia, 117312.,Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - I Sh Belalov
- Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, RC Biotechnology RAS, Prospekt 60-letiya Oktyabrya 7 bld. 2, Moscow, Russia, 117312
| | - A V Letarov
- Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, RC Biotechnology RAS, Prospekt 60-letiya Oktyabrya 7 bld. 2, Moscow, Russia, 117312. .,Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.
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