Cross-talk between bacterial two-component systems drives stepwise regulation of flagellar biosynthesis in swarming development

Unveiling the Coordinated Action of DesK/DesR and YvfT/YvfU to Control the Expression of an ABC Transporter in Bacillus subtilis

Two-component systems (TCSs) are vital signal transduction pathways ubiquitous among bacteria, facilitating their responses to diverse environmental stimuli. In Bacillus subtilis, the DesK histidine kinase thermosensor, together with the response regulator DesR, constitute a TCS dedicated to membrane lipid homeostasis maintenance. This TCS orchestrates the transcriptional regulation of the des gene, encoding the sole desaturase in these bacteria, Δ5-Des. Additionally, B. subtilis possesses a paralog TCS, YvfT/YvfU, with unknown target gene(s). In this work, we show that YvfT/YvfU controls the expression of the yvfRS operon that codes for an ABC transporter. Interestingly, we found that this regulation also involves the action of DesK/DesR. Notably, opposite to des, yvfRS transcription is induced at 37°C and not at 25°C. Our in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrate that both YvfU and DesR directly bind to the operon promoter region, with DesR exerting its control over yvfRS expression in its unphosphorylated state. Our study uncovers an intriguing case of cross-regulation where two homologous TCSs interact closely to finely tune gene expression in response to environmental cues. These findings shed light on the complexity of bacterial signal transduction systems and their critical role in bacterial adaptability.

Recent advances in the development of bacterial response regulators inhibitors as antibacterial and/or antibiotic adjuvant agent: A new approach to combat bacterial resistance

The number of new antibacterial agents currently being discovered is insufficient to combat bacterial resistance. It is extremely challenging to find new antibiotics and to introduce them to the pharmaceutical market. Therefore, special attention must be given to find new strategies to combat bacterial resistance and prevent bacteria from developing resistance. Two-component system is a transduction system and the most prevalent mechanism employed by bacteria to respond to environmental changes. This signaling system consists of a membrane sensor histidine kinase that perceives environmental stimuli and a response regulator which acts as a transcription factor. The approach consisting of developing response regulators inhibitors with antibacterial activity or antibiotic adjuvant activity is a novel approach that has never been previously reviewed. In this review we report for the first time, the importance of targeting response regulators and summarizing all existing studies carried out from 2008 until now on response regulators inhibitors as antibacterial agents or / and antibiotic adjuvants. Moreover, we describe the antibacterial activity and/or antibiotic adjuvants activity against the studied bacterial strains and the mechanism of different response regulator inhibitors when it's possible.

Crosstalk involving two-component systems in Staphylococcus aureus signaling networks

Staphylococcus aureus poses a serious global threat to human health due to its pathogenic nature, adaptation to environmental stress, high virulence, and the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance. The signaling network in S. aureus coordinates and integrates various internal and external inputs and stimuli to adapt and formulate a response to the environment. Two-component systems (TCSs) of S. aureus play a central role in this network where surface-expressed histidine kinases (HKs) receive and relay external signals to their cognate response regulators (RRs). Despite the purported high fidelity of signaling, crosstalk within TCSs, between HK and non-cognate RR, and between TCSs and other systems has been detected widely in bacteria. The examples of crosstalk in S. aureus are very limited, and there needs to be more understanding of its molecular recognition mechanisms, although some crosstalk can be inferred from similar bacterial systems that share structural similarities. Understanding the cellular processes mediated by this crosstalk and how it alters signaling, especially under stress conditions, may help decipher the emergence of antibiotic resistance. This review highlights examples of signaling crosstalk in bacteria in general and S. aureus in particular, as well as the effect of TCS mutations on signaling and crosstalk.

Evaluation of Expanded 2-Aminobenzothiazole Library for Inhibition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Virulence Phenotypes

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a rapidly increasing threat to human health. New strategies to combat resistant organisms are desperately needed. One potential avenue is targeting two-component systems, which are the main bacterial signal transduction pathways used to regulate development, metabolism, virulence, and antibiotic resistance. These systems consist of a homodimeric membrane-bound sensor histidine kinase, and a cognate effector, the response regulator. The high sequence conservation in the catalytic and adenosine triphosphate-binding (CA) domain of histidine kinases and their essential role in bacterial signal transduction could enable broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. Through this signal transduction, histidine kinases regulate multiple virulence mechanisms including toxin production, immune evasion, and antibiotic resistance. Targeting virulence, as opposed to development of bactericidal compounds, could reduce evolutionary pressure for acquired resistance. Additionally, compounds targeting the CA domain have the potential to impair multiple two-component systems that regulate virulence in one or more pathogens. We conducted structure-activity relationship studies of 2-aminobenzothiazole-based inhibitors designed to target the CA domain of histidine kinases. We found these compounds have anti-virulence activities in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, reducing motility phenotypes and toxin production associated with the pathogenic functions of this bacterium.

QseB/QseC: a two-component system globally regulating bacterial behaviors

QseB/QseC is a two-component system that is involved in the regulation of multiple bacterial behaviors by regulating quorum sensing, bacterial pathogenicity, and antibiotic resistance. Thus, QseB/QseC could provide a target for new antibiotic development. Recently, QseB/QseC has been found to confer survival advantages to environmental bacteria under stress conditions. The molecular mechanistic understanding of QseB/QseC has become an active area of research and revealed some emerging themes, including a deeper understanding of QseB/QseC regulation in different pathogens and environmental bacteria, the functional difference of QseB/QseC among species, and the possibility of analyzing QseB/QseC evolution. Here, we discuss the progression of QseB/QseC studies and describe several unresolved issues and future directions. Resolving these issues is among the challenges of future QseB/QseC studies.

Xylitol Inhibits Growth and Blocks Virulence in Serratia marcescens

Serratia marcescens is an opportunistic nosocomial pathogen and causes wound and burn infections. It shows high resistance to antibiotics and its pathogenicity is mediated by an arsenal of virulence factors. Another therapeutic option to such infections is targeting quorum sensing (QS), which controls the expression of different S. marcescens virulence factors. Prevention of QS can deprive S. marcescens from its bacterial virulence without applying stress on the bacterial growth and facilitates the eradication of the bacteria by immunity. The objective of the current study is to explore the antimicrobial and antivirulence activities of xylitol against S. marcescens. Xylitol could inhibit the growth of S. marcescens. Sub-inhibitory concentrations of xylitol could inhibit biofilm formation, reduce prodigiosin production, and completely block protease activity. Moreover, xylitol decreased swimming motility, swarming motility and increased the sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide. The expression of rsmA, pigP, flhC, flhD fimA, fimC, shlA bsmB, and rssB genes that regulate virulence factor production was significantly downregulated by xylitol. In silico study showed that xylitol could bind with the SmaR receptor by hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding, and interfere with the binding of the natural ligand with SmaR receptor. An in vivo mice survival test confirmed the ability of xylitol to protect mice against the virulence of S. marcescens. In conclusion, xylitol is a growth and virulence inhibitor in S. marcescens and can be employed for the treatment of S. marcescens wound and burn infections.

Repurposing of antidiabetics as Serratia marcescens virulence inhibitors

BACKGROUND

Serratia marcescens becomes an apparent nosocomial pathogen and causes a variety of infections. S. marcescens possess various virulence factors that are regulated by intercellular communication system quorum sensing (QS). Targeting bacterial virulence is a proposed strategy to overcome bacterial resistance. Sitagliptin anti-QS activity has been demonstrated previously and we aimed in this study to investigate the effects of antidiabetic drugs vildagliptin and metformin compared to sitagliptin on S. marcescens pathogenesis.

METHODS

We assessed the effects of tested drugs in subinhibitory concentrations phenotypically on the virulence factors and genotypically on the virulence encoding genes' expressions. The protection of tested drugs on S. marcescens pathogenesis was performed in vivo. Molecular docking study has been conducted to evaluate the interference capabilities of tested drugs to the SmaR QS receptor.

RESULTS

Vildagliptin reduced the expression of virulence encoding genes but did not show in vitro or in vivo anti-virulence activities. Metformin reduced the expression of virulence encoding genes and inhibited bacterial virulence in vitro but did not show in vivo protection. Sitagliptin significantly inhibited virulence factors in vitro, reduced the expression of virulence factors and protected mice from S. marcescens. Docking study revealed that sitagliptin is more active than metformin and fully binds to SmaR receptor, whereas vildagliptin had single interaction to SmaR.

CONCLUSION

The downregulation of virulence genes was not enough to show anti-virulence activities. Hindering of QS receptors may play a crucial role in diminishing bacterial virulence.

Repurposing anti-diabetic drug "Sitagliptin" as a novel virulence attenuating agent in Serratia marcescens

Background

Serratia marcescens is an emerging pathogen that causes a variety of health care associated infections. S. marcescens is equipped with an arsenal of virulence factors such as biofilm formation, swimming and swarming motilities, prodigiosin, protease and others which enable it to initiate and cause the infection. These virulence factors are orchestrated under the umbrella of an intercellular communication system named Quorum sensing (QS). QS allows bacterial population to synchronize the expression of virulence genes upon detection of a chemical signaling molecule. Targeting bacterial virulence is a promising approach to attenuate bacteria and enhances the ability of immune system to eradicate the bacterial infection. Drug repurposing is an advantageous strategy that confers new applications for drugs outside the scope of their original medical use. This promising strategy offers the use of safe approved compounds, which potentially lowers the costs and shortens the time than that needed for development of new drugs. Sitagliptin is dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, is used to treat diabetes mellitus type II as it increases the production of insulin and decreasing the production of glucagon by the pancreas. We aimed in this study to repurpose sitagliptin, investigating the anti-virulence activities of sitagliptin on S. marcescens.

Methods

The effect of sub-inhibitory concentrations of sitagliptin on virulence factors; protease, prodigiosin, biofilm formation, swimming and swarming motilities was estimated phenotypically. The qRT-PCR was used to show the effect of sitagliptin on the expression of QS-regulated virulence genes. The in-vivo protective activity of sitagliptin on S. marcescens pathogenesis was evaluated on mice.

Results

Sitagliptin (1 mg/ml) significantly reduced the biofilm formation, swimming and swarming motilities, prodigiosin and protease. The qRT-PCR confirmed the effect on virulence as shown by down regulating the expression of fimA, fimC, flhC, flhD, bsmB, rssB, rsmA, pigP, and shlA genes. Moreover, the in-vivo findings showed the efficient ability of sitagliptin to weaken S. marcescens pathogenesis.

Conclusion

Sitagliptin is a promising anti-virulence agent against S. marcescens that may be beneficial in the control of healthcare associated infections caused by S. marcescens.

Transcriptomic analysis of PhoR reveals its role in regulation of swarming motility and T3SS expression in Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a common foodborne pathogen in seafood and represents a major threat to human health worldwide. In this study, we identified that PhoR, a histidine kinase, is involved in the regulation of swarming and flagella assembly. RNA sequencing analysis showed that 1122 genes were differentially expressed in PhoR mutant, including 394 upregulated and 728 downregulated genes. KEGG enrichment and heatmap analysis demonstrated that the bacterial secretion system, flagella assembly and chemotaxis pathways were significantly downregulated in PhoR mutant, while the microbial metabolism in diverse environments and carbon metabolism pathways were upregulated in PhoR mutant. qRT-PCR further confirmed that genes responsible for the type III secretion system (T3SS), swarming and the thermostable direct hemolysin were positively regulated by PhoR. Phosphorylation assays suggested that PhoR was highly activated in BHI medium compared to LB medium. Taken together, these data suggested that activated PhoR contributes to the expression of swarming motility and secretion system genes in Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Blowing epithelial cell bubbles with GumB: ShlA-family pore-forming toxins induce blebbing and rapid cellular death in corneal epithelial cells

Medical devices, such as contact lenses, bring bacteria in direct contact with human cells. Consequences of these host-pathogen interactions include the alteration of mammalian cell surface architecture and induction of cellular death that renders tissues more susceptible to infection. Gram-negative bacteria known to induce cellular blebbing by mammalian cells, Pseudomonas and Vibrio species, do so through a type III secretion system-dependent mechanism. This study demonstrates that a subset of bacteria from the Enterobacteriaceae bacterial family induce cellular death and membrane blebs in a variety of cell types via a type V secretion-system dependent mechanism. Here, we report that ShlA-family cytolysins from Proteus mirabilis and Serratia marcescens were required to induce membrane blebbling and cell death. Blebbing and cellular death were blocked by an antioxidant and RIP-1 and MLKL inhibitors, implicating necroptosis in the observed phenotypes. Additional genetic studies determined that an IgaA family stress-response protein, GumB, was necessary to induce blebs. Data supported a model where GumB and shlBA are in a regulatory circuit through the Rcs stress response phosphorelay system required for bleb formation and pathogenesis in an invertebrate model of infection and proliferation in a phagocytic cell line. This study introduces GumB as a regulator of S. marcescens host-pathogen interactions and demonstrates a common type V secretion system-dependent mechanism by which bacteria elicit surface morphological changes on mammalian cells. This type V secretion-system mechanism likely contributes bacterial damage to the corneal epithelial layer, and enables access to deeper parts of the tissue that are more susceptible to infection.

Evidence of Cross-Regulation in Two Closely Related Pyruvate-Sensing Systems in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli

Two-component systems (TCSs) dictate many bacterial responses to environmental change via the activation of a membrane-embedded sensor kinase, which has molecular specificity for a cognate response regulator protein. However, although the majority of TCSs operate through seemingly strict cognate protein-protein interactions, there have been several reports of TCSs that violate this classical model of signal transduction. Our group has recently demonstrated that some of these cross-interacting TCSs function in a manner that imparts a fitness advantage to bacterial pathogens. In this study, we describe interconnectivity between the metabolite-sensing TCSs YpdA/YpdB and BtsS/BtsR in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). The YpdA/YpdB and BtsS/BtsR TCSs have been previously reported to interact in K12 E. coli, where they alter the expression of putative transporter genes yhjX and yjiY, respectively. These target genes are both upregulated in UPEC during acute and chronic murine models of urinary tract infection, as well as in response to pyruvate and serine added to growth media in vitro. Here, we show that proper regulation of yhjX in UPEC requires the presence of all components from both of these TCSs. By utilizing plasmid-encoded luciferase reporters tracking the activity of the yhjX and yjiY promoters, we demonstrate that deletions in one TCS substantially alter transcriptional activity of the opposing system's target gene. However, unlike in K12 E. coli, single gene deletions in the YpdA/YpdB system do not alter yjiY gene expression in UPEC, suggesting that niche and lifestyle-specific pressures may be selecting for differential cross-regulation of TCSs in pathogenic and non-pathogenic E. coli.