Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi exposure elicits deliberate physiological alterations and triggers the involvement of ubiquitin mediated proteolysis pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans

Exploring diabesity pathophysiology through proteomic analysis using Caenorhabditis elegans

Introduction

Diabesity, characterized by obesity-driven Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), arises from intricate genetic and environmental interplays that induce various metabolic disorders. The systemic lipid and glucose homeostasis is controlled by an intricate cross-talk of internal glucose/insulin and fatty acid molecules to maintain a steady state of internal environment.

Methods

In this study, Caenorhabditis elegans were maintained to achieve glucose concentrations resembling the hyperglycemic conditions in diabetic patients to delve into the mechanistic foundations of diabesity. Various assays were conducted to measure intracellular triglyceride levels, lifespan, pharyngeal pumping rate, oxidative stress indicators, locomotor behavior, and dopamine signaling. Proteomic analysis was also performed to identify differentially regulated proteins and dysregulated KEGG pathways, and microscopy and immunofluorescence staining were employed to assess collagen production and anatomical integrity.

Results

Worms raised on diets high in glucose and cholesterol exhibited notably increased intracellular triglyceride levels, a decrease in both mean and maximum lifespan, and reduced pharyngeal pumping. The diabesity condition induced oxidative stress, evident from heightened ROS levels and distinct FT-IR spectroscopy patterns revealing lipid and protein alterations. Furthermore, impaired dopamine signaling and diminished locomotors behavior in diabesity-afflicted worms correlated with reduced motility. Through proteomic analysis, differentially regulated proteins encompassing dysregulated KEGG pathways included insulin signaling, Alzheimer's disease, and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor signaling pathways were observed. Moreover, diabesity led to decreased collagen production, resulting in anatomical disruptions validated through microscopy and immunofluorescence staining.

Discussion

This underscores the impact of diabesity on cellular components and structural integrity in C. elegans, providing insights into diabesity-associated mechanisms.

Klebsiella aerogenes ingestion elicits behavioral changes and innate immunity in the host, Caenorhabditis elegans

Klebsiella aerogenes (previously known as Enterobacter aerogenes) is a common opportunistic pathogen that infect the respiratory tract and central nervous system. However, how it interferes the host regulatory mechanism has not been previously described. When C. elegans were exposed to K. aerogenes, they exhibited a shorter lifespan compared to those fed with E. coli OP50. The time required for 50 % of L4 hermaphrodite nematodes to die when exposed to K. aerogenes was approximately 9 days, whereas it was about 18 days when fed with E. coli OP50. The interaction with K. aerogenes also affected the physical activity of C. elegans. Parameters like pharyngeal pumping, head thrashing, body bending, and swimming showed a gradual decline during infection. The expression of serotonin-mediated axon regeneration K. aerogenes infection led to increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in C. elegans compared to E. coli OP50-fed worms. The nematodes activated antioxidant mechanisms, including the expression of SODs, to counteract elevated ROS levels. The interaction with K. aerogenes activated immune regulatory pathways in C. elegans, including the mTOR signaling pathway downstream player SGK-1. Lifespan regulatory pathways, such as pha-4 and pmk-1, were also affected, likely contributing to the nematode ability to survive in a pathogenic environment. K. aerogenes infection has a detrimental impact on the healthspan and lifespan of C. elegans, affecting physical activity, intestinal health, serotonin regulation, ROS levels, and immune responses. These findings provide insights into the complex interactions between K. aerogenes and host organisms.

Distinct global metabolomic profiles of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans during interactions with Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi

The interactive network of hosts with pathogenic microbes is still questionable. It has been hypothesized and reported that the host shows altered regulatory mechanisms for different pathogens. Several studies using transcriptomics and proteomics revealed the altered pathways and sequential regulations displayed by the host during bacterial interactions. Still, there is a gap in understanding the triggering molecule at transcriptomic and proteomic levels due to the lack of the knowledge of the interactive metabolites produced during their interactions. In this study, the global metabolomic approach was performed in the nematode model organism Caenorhabditis elegans upon exposure to a Gram-negative bacteria, Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi, and a Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, and the whole metabolome was categorized as endo-metabolome (internally produced) and exo-metabolome (externally releasing). The extracted metabolites were subjected to liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (ESI-LC/qToF-MS/MS). In total 5578, 4554 and 4046 endo-metabolites and 4451, 3625 and 1281 exo-metabolites were identified in C. elegans when exposed to E. coli OP50, S. Typhi and S. aureus, respectively. Both the multivariate and univariate analyses were performed. The variation in endo- and exo-metabolome during candidate bacterial interactions was observed. The results indicated that, during S. aureus interaction, the exclusively enriched metabolites were significantly involved in alpha-linoleic acid metabolism. Similarly, the exclusively enriched metabolites during the interaction of S. Typhi were significantly involved in the phosphatidylinositol signalling system. The whole metabolomic profile presented here will build the scope to understand the role of metabolites and the respective pathways in host response during the early period of bacterial infections.

p38-MAPK recruits the proteolytic pathways in Caenorhabditis elegans during bacterial infection

In eukaryotic organisms, cell-signalling completely relies on Post Translational Modifications (PTMs) that can function as regulatory switches. Phosphorylation is a fundamental and frequently occurring PTM in almost all eukaryotes. Herein, we have studied the importance of protein phosphorylation using classical proteomic techniques in C. elegans upon bacterial infection. The differentially regulated proteins during bacterial infection were excised from SDS-PAGE (One-Dimensional) gel (TiO₂ column elutes) and subjected to MALDI-TOF-MS which ended up in identifying 220 proteins kinetically. KEGG pathway analysis of those proteins suggested that MAPK pathway was part of the innate immunity. Thus, we have characterized p38-MAPK (one of the crucial downstream MAPKs) using immunoblotting, subcellular fractionation, coimmunoprecipitation, LC-MS/MS, bioinformatics studies and qPCR. Meanwhile, KU25 strain (pmk-1 mutant) exhibited an earlier mortality during infection suggesting the crucial role of p38-MAPK during host-pathogen interaction. Interestingly, Reactome pathway analysis of p38 interactors (CoIP coupled to LC-MS/MS) revealed the involvement of various proteolytic pathway players (ubiquitination, SUMOylation and Neddylation) during bacterial infection. Further, the regulation of SUMOylation and Neddylation was identified and validated using immunoblotting and qPCR analyses, respectively. Concisely, our study indicated that bacterial infection triggers the MAPK cascade to elicit innate immunity which in turn recruits proteolytic pathways to counteract the invading pathogen.

Survival upon Staphylococcus aureus mediated wound infection in Caenorhabditis elegans and the mechanism entailed

Infection following injury is one of the major threats which causes huge economic burden in wound care management all over the world. Injury often results with poor healing when coupled by following infection. In contrast to this, we observed enhanced survival of wound infected worms compared to wounded worms in Caenorhabditis elegans wound model while infecting with Staphylococcus aureus. Hence, the study was intended to identify the mechanism for the enhanced survival of wound infected worms through LCMS/MS based high throughput proteomic analysis. Bioinformatics analyses of the identified protein players indicated differential enrichment of several pathways including MAPK signaling, oxidative phosphorylation and phosphatidylinositol signaling. Inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation and phosphatidylinositol signaling through chemical treatment showed complete reversal of the enhanced survival during wound infection nevertheless mutant of MAPK pathway did not reverse the same. Consequently, it was delineated that oxidative phosphorylation and phosphatidylinositol signaling are crucial for the survival. In this regard, elevated calcium signals and ROS including O^- and H₂O₂ were observed in wounded and wound infected worms. Consequently, it was insinuated that presence of pathogen stress could have incited survival in wound infected worms with the aid of elevated ROS and calcium signals.

Proteomic analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans wound model reveals novel molecular players involved in repair

Wound repair is a multistep process which involves coordination of multiple molecular players from different cell types and pathways. Though the cellular processes that are taking place in order to repair damage is already known, molecular players involved in crucial pathways are still scarce. In this regard, the present study intends to uncover crucial players that are involved in the central repair events through proteomics approach which included 2-D GE and LC-MS/MS using Caenorhabditis elegans wound model. Initial gel-based 2-D GE and following protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analyses revealed active role of calcium signaling, acetylcholine transport and serotonergic neurotransmitter pathways. Further, gel-free LC-MS/MS and following PPI network analyses revealed the incidence of actin nucleation at the initial hours immediately after injury. Further by visualizing the PPI network and the interacting players, pink-1, a mitochondrial Serine/threonine-protein kinase which is known to regulate mitochondrial dynamics, was found to be the central player in facilitating the mitochondrial fission and its role was further verified using qPCR analysis and pink-1 transgenic worms. Overall, the study delivers new insights from crucial regulatory pathways and central players involved in wound repair using high throughput proteomic approaches and the mass spectrometry Data (PXD024629/PXD024744) are available via ProteomeXchange. SIGNIFICANCE.

Proteomic analysis deciphers the multi-targeting antivirulence activity of tannic acid in modulating the expression of MrpA, FlhD, UreR, HpmA and Nrp system in Proteus mirabilis

In the present study, the multi-targeting antivirulence activity of tannic acid (TA) was explored against Proteus mirabilis through MS-based proteomic approach. The in vitro biofilm biomass quantification assay and microscopic analysis demonstrated the antibiofilm activity of TA against P. mirabilis in which, minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) of TA was found to be 200 μg/mL concentration. Moreover, the nanoscale liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (nano LC-MS/MS) analysis revealed that TA (at MBIC) differentially regulated the proteins involved in fimbrial adhesion, flagellar motility, iron acquisition, Fe-S cluster assembly, heat shock response, virulence enzymes, and toxin secretion. Further, the transcriptomic analysis validated the outcomes of proteomic analysis in which, the expression level of virulence genes responsible for MR/P fimbrial adhesion (mrpA), flagellar transcriptional activation (flhD), biosynthesis of urease (ureR), hemolysin (hpmA), non-ribosomal peptide siderophore system (Nrp), oxidative stress responsible enzymes and fitness factors proteins were down-regulated in TA exposed P. mirabilis. These observations were also in correspondence with the in vitro bioassays. Thus, this study reports the feasibility of TA to act as a promising therapeutic agent against multifactorial P. mirabilis infections.