Membrane phospholipid composition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa grown in a cystic fibrosis mucus-mimicking medium

Modeling Cystic Fibrosis Chronic Infection Using Engineered Mucus-like Hydrogels

The airway mucus of patients with cystic fibrosis has altered properties, which create a microenvironment primed for chronic infections that are difficult to treat. These complex polymicrobial airway infections and corresponding mammalian-microbe interactions are challenging to model in vitro. Here, we report the development of mucus-like hydrogels with varied compositions and viscoelastic properties reflecting differences between healthy and cystic fibrosis airway mucus. Models of cystic fibrosis and healthy airway microenvironments were created by combining the hydrogels with relevant pathogens, human bronchial epithelial cells, and an antibiotic. Notably, pathogen antibiotic resistance was not solely dependent on the altered properties of the mucus-like hydrogels but was also influenced by culture conditions including microbe species, monomicrobial or polymicrobial culture, and the presence of epithelial cells. Additionally, the cystic fibrosis airway model showed the ability to mimic features characteristic of chronic cystic fibrosis airway infections including sustained polymicrobial growth and increased antibiotic tolerance.

A Critical Review of Short Antimicrobial Peptides from Scorpion Venoms, Their Physicochemical Attributes, and Potential for the Development of New Drugs

Scorpion venoms have proven to be excellent sources of antimicrobial agents. However, although many of them have been functionally characterized, they remain underutilized as pharmacological agents, despite their evident therapeutic potential. In this review, we discuss the physicochemical properties of short scorpion venom antimicrobial peptides (ssAMPs). Being generally short (13-25 aa) and amidated, their proven antimicrobial activity is generally explained by parameters such as their net charge, the hydrophobic moment, or the degree of helicity. However, for a complete understanding of their biological activities, also considering the properties of the target membranes is of great relevance. Here, with an extensive analysis of the physicochemical, structural, and thermodynamic parameters associated with these biomolecules, we propose a theoretical framework for the rational design of new antimicrobial drugs. Through a comparison of these physicochemical properties with the bioactivity of ssAMPs in pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus or Acinetobacter baumannii, it is evident that in addition to the net charge, the hydrophobic moment, electrostatic energy, or intrinsic flexibility are determining parameters to understand their performance. Although the correlation between these parameters is very complex, the consensus of our analysis suggests that there is a delicate balance between them and that modifying one affects the rest. Understanding the contribution of lipid composition to their bioactivities is also underestimated, which suggests that for each peptide, there is a physiological context to consider for the rational design of new drugs.

Metabolic specialization drives reduced pathogenicity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from cystic fibrosis patients

Metabolism provides the foundation for all cellular functions. During persistent infections, in adapted pathogenic bacteria metabolism functions radically differently compared with more naïve strains. Whether this is simply a necessary accommodation to the persistence phenotype or if metabolism plays a direct role in achieving persistence in the host is still unclear. Here, we characterize a convergent shift in metabolic function(s) linked with the persistence phenotype during Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization in the airways of people with cystic fibrosis. We show that clinically relevant mutations in the key metabolic enzyme, pyruvate dehydrogenase, lead to a host-specialized metabolism together with a lower virulence and immune response recruitment. These changes in infection phenotype are mediated by impaired type III secretion system activity and by secretion of the antioxidant metabolite, pyruvate, respectively. Our results show how metabolic adaptations directly impinge on persistence and pathogenicity in this organism.

Recent Analytical Methodologies in Lipid Analysis

Lipids represent a large group of biomolecules that are responsible for various functions in organisms. Diseases such as diabetes, chronic inflammation, neurological disorders, or neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases can be caused by lipid imbalance. Due to the different stereochemical properties and composition of fatty acyl groups of molecules in most lipid classes, quantification of lipids and development of lipidomic analytical techniques are problematic. Identification of different lipid species from complex matrices is difficult, and therefore individual analytical steps, which include extraction, separation, and detection of lipids, must be chosen properly. This review critically documents recent strategies for lipid analysis from sample pretreatment to instrumental analysis and data interpretation published in the last five years (2019 to 2023). The advantages and disadvantages of various extraction methods are covered. The instrumental analysis step comprises methods for lipid identification and quantification. Mass spectrometry (MS) is the most used technique in lipid analysis, which can be performed by direct infusion MS approach or in combination with suitable separation techniques such as liquid chromatography or gas chromatography. Special attention is also given to the correct evaluation and interpretation of the data obtained from the lipid analyses. Only accurate, precise, robust and reliable analytical strategies are able to bring complex and useful lipidomic information, which may contribute to clarification of some diseases at the molecular level, and may be used as putative biomarkers and/or therapeutic targets.

Bacterial extracellular vesicles: towards realistic models for bacterial membranes in molecular interaction studies by surface plasmon resonance

One way to mitigate the ongoing antimicrobial resistance crisis is to discover and develop new classes of antibiotics. As all antibiotics at some point need to either cross or just interact with the bacterial membrane, there is a need for representative models of bacterial membranes and efficient methods to characterize the interactions with novel molecules -both to generate new knowledge and to screen compound libraries. Since the bacterial cell envelope is a complex assembly of lipids, lipopolysaccharides, membrane proteins and other components, constructing relevant synthetic liposome-based models of the membrane is both difficult and expensive. We here propose to let the bacteria do the hard work for us. Bacterial extracellular vesicles (bEVs) are naturally secreted by Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, playing a role in communication between bacteria, as virulence factors, molecular transport or being a part of the antimicrobial resistance mechanism. bEVs consist of the bacterial outer membrane and thus inherit many components and properties of the native outer cell envelope. In this work, we have isolated and characterized bEVs from one Escherichia coli mutant and three clinical strains of the ESKAPE pathogens Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The bEVs were shown to be representative models for the bacterial membrane in terms of lipid composition with speciesstrain specific variations. The bEVs were further used to probe the interactions between bEV and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as model compounds by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and provide proof-of-principle that bEVs can be used as an easily accessible and highly realistic model for the bacterial surface in interaction studies. This further enables direct monitoring of the effect induced by antibiotics, or the response to host-pathogen interactions.

Polyethylenimine as a Versatile Simultaneous Reducing and Stabilizing Agent Enabling One-Pot Synthesis of Transition-Metal Nanoparticles: Fundamental Aspects and Practical Implications

The large surface area of metallic nanoparticles provides them with particular optical, chemical, and biological properties, accordingly enabling their use in a wide array of applications. In this regard, facile and fast synthetic approaches are desirable for ready-to-use functional materials. Following early investigations focused on the direct synthesis of polymer-coated gold nanoparticles, we herein demonstrate that such a strategy can be used to manufacture different types of d-block transition-metal nanoparticles via a one-pot method in aqueous media and mild temperature conditions. Gold (Au3+), palladium (Pd2+), and silver (Ag+) ions could be reduced using only polyethylenimine (PEI) or PEI derivatives acting simultaneously as a reducing and stabilizing agent and without the aid of any other external agent. The process gave rise, for instance, to Pd urchin-like nanostructures with a large surface area which confers to them outstanding catalytic performance compared to AuNPs and AgNPs produced using the same strategy. The polymer-stabilized AgNPs were demonstrated to be biocide against a variety of microorganisms, although AuNPs and PdNPs do not hold such an attribute at least in the probed concentration range. These findings may provide significant advances toward the practical, facile, and ready-to-use manufacturing of transition-metal nanoparticles for a myriad of applications.

A putative lipase affects Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm matrix production

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that is widely known for infecting patients with underlying conditions. This species often survives antibiotic therapy by forming biofilms, in which the cells produce a protective extracellular matrix. P. aeruginosa also produces virulence factors that enhance its ability to cause disease. One signaling pathway that influences virulence is the nitrogen-related phosphotransferase system (Nitro-PTS), which consists of an initial phosphotransferase, PtsP, a phosphocarrier, PtsO, and a terminal phosphate receptor, PtsN. The physiological role of the Nitro-PTS in P. aeruginosa is poorly understood. However, PtsN, when deprived of its upstream phosphotransfer proteins, has an antagonistic effect on biofilm formation. We thus conducted a transposon mutagenesis screen in an unphosphorylated-PtsN (i.e., ∆ptsP) background to identify downstream proteins with unacknowledged roles in PtsN-mediated biofilm suppression. We found an unstudied gene, PA14_04030, whose disruption restored biofilm production. This gene encodes a predicted phospholipase with signature alpha/beta hydrolase folds and a lipase signature motif with an active-site Ser residue. Hence, we renamed the gene bipL, for biofilm-impacting phospholipase. Deletion of bipL in a ∆ptsP background increased biofilm formation, supporting the idea that BipL is responsible for reducing biofilm formation in strains with unphosphorylated PtsN. Moreover, substituting the putative catalytic Ser for Ala phenocopied bipL deletion, indicating that this residue is important for the biofilm-suppressive activity of BipL in vivo. As our preliminary data suggest that BipL is a lipase, we performed lipidomics to detect changes in the lipid profile due to bipL deletion and found changes in some lipid species. IMPORTANCE Biofilm formation by bacteria occurs when cells secrete an extracellular matrix that holds them together and shields them from environmental insults. Biofilms of bacterial opportunistic human pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa pose a substantial challenge to clinical antimicrobial therapy. Hence, a more complete knowledge about the bacterial factors that influence and regulate production of the biofilm matrix is one key to formulate more effective therapeutic strategies. In this study, we screen for factors that are important for reducing biofilm matrix production in certain genetic backgrounds. We unexpectedly found a gene encoding a putative lipase enzyme and showed that its predicted catalytic site is important for its ability to reduce biofilm formation. Our findings suggest that lipase enzymes have previously uncharacterized functions in biofilm matrix regulation.

"Are we barking up the wrong tree? Too much emphasis on Cutibacterium acnes and ignoring other pathogens"- a study based on next-generation sequencing of normal and diseased discs

BACKGROUND

The majority of literature on bacterial flora in the disc stands disadvantaged in utilizing traditional culture methods and targeting a single bacterium, Cutibacterium acnes.

PURPOSE

Our objective was to document the diversity in the bacterial flora between normal and degenerated discs for shortlisting potential pathogens using next-generation genomic tools.

STUDY DESIGN

Experimental case-control study.

METHODS

Researchers employed 16S metagenome sequencing to profile bacterial diversity in magnetic resonance imaging normal healthy discs from brain-dead organ voluntary donors (n=20) and 40 degenerated disc samples harvested during surgery (Modic [MC]=20 and non-Modic [NMC]=20). The V3-V4 region was amplified using universal bacterial primers 341F and 806R, and the libraries were sequenced using Illumina NovoSeq 6000 platform. Statistical significance was set at bacteria with a minimum of 100 operational taxonomic unit (OTU) and present in at least 70% of the samples. The quality check-filtered reads were processed using the QIIME-2 pipeline. The OTU clustering and taxonomic classification were carried out for the merged reads using the Greengenes/SILVA reference database. Validation was done by identification of bacterial metabolites in samples using the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry approach.

RESULTS

Abundant bacteria differing widely in diversity, as evidenced by Alfa and Beta diversity analysis, were present in all control and degenerative samples. The number of bacterial genera was 27 (14-gram-positive: 13-gram-negative) in the control group, 23 (10-gram-positive: 11-gram-negative) in the Modic group, and 16 (11-gram-positive: 5-gram-negative) in the non-Modic group. In the Modic group, gram-negative bacteria OTUs were found to be predominant (more than 50% of the total bacteria identified), whereas in control and non-Modic groups the OTUs of gram-positive bacteria were predominant. Species-level analysis revealed an abundance of opportunistic gram-negative pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Sphingomonos paucibacillus, and Ochrobactrum quorumnocens in the discs with Modic changes, more than in non-Modic discs. The presence of bacterial metabolites and quorum-sensing molecules like N-decanoyl-L-homoserine lactone, 6-hydroxynicotinic acid, 2-aminoacetophenone, 4-hydroxy-3-polyprenylbenzoate, PE (16:1(9Z)/18:0) and phthalic acid validated the colonization and cell-cell communication of bacteria in disc ruling out contamination theory. Cutibacterium acnes was not the predominant bacteria in any of the three groups of discs and in fact was in the 16th position in the order of abundance in the control discs (0.72%), seventh position in the Modic discs (1.41%), and 12th position (0.53%) in the non-Modic discs.

CONCLUSION

This study identified a predominance of gram-negative bacteria in degenerated discs and highlights that Cutibacterium acnes may not be the only degeneration-causing bacteria. This may be attributed to the environment, diet, and lifestyle habits of the sample population. Though the study does not reveal the exact pathogen, it may pave the way for future studies on the subject.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

These findings invite further investigation into causal relationships of bacterial profile with disc degeneration phenotypes as well as phenotype-driven clinical treatment protocols.

Comparison of Small Biomolecule Ionization and Fragmentation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Using Common MALDI Matrices

Different bacterial cell surface associated biomolecules can be analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry and coupled with collision induced dissociation (CID) for identification. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic, Gram-negative bacterium that causes acute or chronic biofilm infections. Cells of P. aeruginosa communicate through a system of signaling biomolecules known as quorum sensing (QS). The QS system can result in the production of biosurfactant rhamnolipids known to associate and alter the cellular membrane. MALDI-TOF utilizes a variety of matrices that can interact differently with biomolecules for selective ionization. We examined six common matrices to determine the optimal matrix specific to different molecule classes in P. aeruginosa associated with cell surfaces. Three major molecule classes (quinolones, rhamnolipids, and phospholipids) were observed to ionize selectively with the different matrices tested. Sodiated and protonated adducts differed between matrices utilized in our study. Isobaric ions were identified as different molecule classes depending on the matrix used. We highlight the role of matrix selection in MALDI-TOF identification of molecules within a complex biological mixture.

Innovative Strategies to Overcome Antimicrobial Resistance and Tolerance

Antimicrobial resistance and tolerance are natural phenomena that arose due to evolutionary adaptation of microorganisms against various xenobiotic agents. These adaptation mechanisms make the current treatment options challenging as it is increasingly difficult to treat a broad range of infections, associated biofilm formation, intracellular and host adapted microbes, as well as persister cells and microbes in protected niches. Therefore, novel strategies are needed to identify the most promising drug targets to overcome the existing hurdles in the treatment of infectious diseases. Furthermore, discovery of novel drug candidates is also much needed, as few novel antimicrobial drugs have been introduced in the last two decades. In this review, we focus on the strategies that may help in the development of innovative small molecules which can interfere with microbial resistance mechanisms. We also highlight the recent advances in optimization of growth media which mimic host conditions and genome scale molecular analyses of microbial response against antimicrobial agents. Furthermore, we discuss the identification of antibiofilm molecules and their mechanisms of action in the light of the distinct physiology and metabolism of biofilm cells. This review thus provides the most recent advances in host mimicking growth media for effective drug discovery and development of antimicrobial and antibiofilm agents.

Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Activity in Host-Mimicking Media and In Vivo Toxicity of Antimicrobial Polymers as Functional Mimics of AMPs

Activity tests for synthetic antimicrobial compounds are often limited to the minimal inhibitory concentration assay using standard media and bacterial strains. In this study, a family of acrylamide copolymers that act as synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides were synthesized and shown to have a disruptive effect on bacterial membranes and structural integrity through microscopy techniques and membrane polarization experiments. The polymers were tested for their antimicrobial properties using media that mimic clinically relevant conditions. Additionally, their activity was compared in two different strains of the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus and the Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We showed that the medium composition can have an important influence on the polymer activity as there was a considerable reduction in minimal inhibitory concentrations against S. aureus grown in synthetic wound fluid (SWF), and against P. aeruginosa grown in synthetic cystic fibrosis sputum media (SCFM), compared to the concentrations in standard testing media. In contrast, we observed a complete loss of activity against P. aeruginosa in the serum-containing SWF. Finally, we made use of an emerging invertebrate in vivo model, using Galleria mellonella larvae, to assess toxicity of the polymeric antimicrobials, showing a good correlation with cell line toxicity measurements and demonstrating its potential in the evaluation of novel antimicrobial materials.

The phospholipid membrane compositions of bacterial cells, cancer cell lines and biological samples from cancer patients

While cancer now impacts the health and well-being of more of the human population than ever before, the exponential rise in antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacterial infections means AMR is predicted to become one of the greatest future threats to human health. It is therefore vital that novel therapeutic strategies are developed that can be used in the treatment of both cancer and AMR infections. Whether the target of a therapeutic agent be inside the cell or in the cell membrane, it must either interact with or cross this phospholipid barrier to elicit the desired cellular effect. Here we summarise findings from published research into the phospholipid membrane composition of bacterial and cancer cell lines and biological samples from cancer patients. These data not only highlight key differences in the membrane composition of these biological samples, but also the methods used to elucidate and report the results of this analogous research between the microbial and cancer fields.

High-throughput dilution-based growth method enables time-resolved exo-metabolomics of Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Understanding metabolism is fundamental to access and harness bacterial physiology. In most bacteria, nutrient utilization is hierarchically optimized according to their energetic potential and their availability in the environment to maximise growth rates. Low-throughput methods have been largely used to characterize bacterial metabolic profiles. However, in-depth analysis of large collections of strains across several conditions is challenging since high-throughput approaches are still limited - especially for non-traditional hosts. Here, we developed a high-throughput dilution-resolved cultivation method for metabolic footprinting of Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This method was benchmarked against a conventional low-throughput time-resolved cultivation approach using either a synthetic culture medium (where a single carbon source is present) for P. putida or a complex nutrient mixture for P. aeruginosa. Dynamic metabolic footprinting, either by sugar quantification or by targeted exo-metabolomic analyses, revealed overlaps between the bacterial metabolic profiles irrespective of the cultivation strategy, suggesting a certain level of robustness and flexibility of the high-throughput dilution-resolved method. Cultivation of P. putida in microtiter plates imposed a metabolic constraint, dependent on oxygen availability, which altered the pattern of secreted metabolites at the level of sugar oxidation. Deep-well plates, however, constituted an optimal cultivation set-up yielding consistent and comparable metabolic profiles across conditions and strains. Altogether, the results illustrate the usefulness of this technological advance for high-throughput analyses of bacterial metabolism for both biotechnological applications and automation purposes.

Analysis of the Phospholipid Profile of the Collection Strain PAO1 and Clinical Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Relation to Their Attachment Capacity

Bacteria form multicellular and resistant structures named biofilms. Biofilm formation starts with the attachment phase, and the molecular actors involved in this phase, except adhesins, are poorly characterized. There is growing evidence that phospholipids are more than simple structural bricks. They are involved in bacterial adaptive physiology, but little is known about their role in biofilm formation. Here, we report a mass spectrometry analysis of the phospholipid (PL) profile of several strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from cystic fibrosis patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate a possible link between the PL profile of a strain and its attachment phenotype. Our results showed that PL profile is strongly strain-dependent. The PL profile of P. aeruginosa PAO1, a collection strain, was different from those of 10 clinical isolates characterized either by a very low or a very high attachment capacity. We observed also that the clinical strain’s PL profiles varied even more importantly between isolates. By comparing groups of strains having similar attachment capacities, we identified one PL, PE 18:1-18:1, as a potential molecular actor involved in attachment, the first step in biofilm formation. This PL represents a possible target in the fight against biofilms.