1
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Sahu AK, Shah RA, Nashier D, Sharma P, Varada R, Lahry K, Singh S, Shetty S, Hussain T, Varshney U. Physiological significance of the two isoforms of initiator tRNAs in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol 2024; 206:e0025124. [PMID: 39171914 PMCID: PMC11411947 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00251-24] [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: 06/20/2024] [Accepted: 07/31/2024] [Indexed: 08/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Escherichia coli possesses four initiator tRNA (i-tRNA) genes, three of which are present together as metZWV and the fourth one as metY. In E. coli B, all four genes (metZWV and metY) encode i-tRNAfMet1, in which the G at position 46 is modified to m7G46 by TrmB (m7G methyltransferase). However, in E. coli K, because of a single-nucleotide polymorphism, metY encodes a variant, i-tRNAfMet2, having an A in place of m7G46. We generated E. coli strains to explore the importance of this polymorphism in i-tRNAs. The strains were sustained either on metYA46 (metY of E. coli K origin encoding i-tRNAfMet2) or its derivative metYG46 (encoding i-tRNAfMet1) in single (chromosomal) or plasmid-borne copies. We show that the strains sustained on i-tRNAfMet1 have a growth fitness advantage over those sustained on i-tRNAfMet2. The growth fitness advantages are more pronounced for the strains sustained on i-tRNAfMet1 in nutrient-rich media than in nutrient-poor media. The growth fitness of the strains correlates well with the relative stabilities of the i-tRNAs in vivo. Furthermore, the atomistic molecular dynamics simulations support the higher stability of i-tRNAfMet1 than that of i-tRNAfMet2. The stability of i-tRNAfMet1 remains unaffected upon the deletion of TrmB. These studies highlight how metYG46 and metYA46 alleles might influence the growth fitness of E. coli under certain nutrient-limiting conditions. IMPORTANCE Escherichia coli harbors four initiator tRNA (i-tRNA) genes: three of these at metZWV and the fourth one at metY loci. In E. coli B, all four genes encode i-tRNAfMet1. In E. coli K, because of a single-nucleotide polymorphism, metY encodes a variant, i-tRNAfMet2, having an A in place of G at position 46 of i-tRNA sequence in metY. We show that G46 confers stability to i-tRNAfMet1. The strains sustained on i-tRNAfMet1 have a growth fitness advantage over those sustained on i-tRNAfMet2. Strains harboring metYG46 (B mimic) or metYA46 (K mimic) show that while in the nutrient-rich media, the K mimic is outcompeted rapidly; in the nutrient-poor medium, the K mimic is outcompeted less rapidly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amit Kumar Sahu
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Riyaz Ahmad Shah
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Divya Nashier
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Prafful Sharma
- Department of Developmental Biology and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Rajagopal Varada
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Kuldeep Lahry
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Sudhir Singh
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Sunil Shetty
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Tanweer Hussain
- Department of Developmental Biology and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Umesh Varshney
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
- Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India
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2
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Weerakoon D, Marzinek JK, Pedebos C, Bond PJ, Khalid S. Polymyxin B1 in the Escherichia coli inner membrane: A complex story of protein and lipopolysaccharide-mediated insertion. J Biol Chem 2024; 300:107754. [PMID: 39260694 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2024] [Revised: 08/21/2024] [Accepted: 08/29/2024] [Indexed: 09/13/2024] Open
Abstract
The rise in multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections has led to an increased need for "last-resort" antibiotics such as polymyxins. However, the emergence of polymyxin-resistant strains threatens to bring about a post-antibiotic era. Thus, there is a need to develop new polymyxin-based antibiotics, but a lack of knowledge of the mechanism of action of polymyxins hinders such efforts. It has recently been suggested that polymyxins induce cell lysis of the Gram-negative bacterial inner membrane (IM) by targeting trace amounts of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) localized there. We use multiscale molecular dynamics (MD), including long-timescale coarse-grained (CG) and all-atom (AA) simulations, to investigate the interactions of polymyxin B1 (PMB1) with bacterial IM models containing phospholipids (PLs), small quantities of LPS, and IM proteins. LPS was observed to (transiently) phase separate from PLs at multiple LPS concentrations, and associate with proteins in the IM. PMB1 spontaneously inserted into the IM and localized at the LPS-PL interface, where it cross-linked lipid headgroups via hydrogen bonds, sampling a wide range of interfacial environments. In the presence of membrane proteins, a small number of PMB1 molecules formed interactions with them, in a manner that was modulated by local LPS molecules. Electroporation-driven translocation of PMB1 via water-filled pores was favored at the protein-PL interface, supporting the 'destabilizing' role proteins may have within the IM. Overall, this in-depth characterization of PMB1 modes of interaction reveals how small amounts of mislocalized LPS may play a role in pre-lytic targeting and provides insights that may facilitate rational improvement of polymyxin-based antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dhanushka Weerakoon
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK; Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A∗STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Jan K Marzinek
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A∗STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Conrado Pedebos
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Porto Alegre, UK; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biociências (PPGBio), Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saudé de Porto Alegre - UFCSPA, Brazil
| | - Peter J Bond
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A∗STAR), Singapore, Republic of Singapore; Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore.
| | - Syma Khalid
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Porto Alegre, UK.
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3
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Mohamed A, Dayo M, Alahmadi S, Ali S. Anti-Inflammatory and Antimicrobial Activity of Silver Nanoparticles Green-Synthesized Using Extracts of Different Plants. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 14:1383. [PMID: 39269046 PMCID: PMC11397093 DOI: 10.3390/nano14171383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2024] [Revised: 08/22/2024] [Accepted: 08/23/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024]
Abstract
In this study, an easy, efficient, economical, and eco-friendly green bio-synthesis method was utilized to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the extracts of four plants: Ginkgo biloba, Cichorium Intybus, Adiantum Capillus-Veneris, and Rosmarinus Officinalis. The synthesis of AgNPs was confirmed by using a uv-vis spectrometer, which showed distinct surface plasmon resonance (SPR) bands. The surface of AgNPs was characterized using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The anti-inflammatory activity of Tenoxicam/Meloxicam-loaded AgNPs has been studied using the inhibition of albumin denaturation method. Tenoxicam-loaded AgNPs showed higher % Inhibition, but Meloxicam-loaded AgNPs showed lower % Inhibition. Furthermore, the AgNPs showed excellent antimicrobial activity on both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amr Mohamed
- Chemistry Department, College of Science, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 42353, Saudi Arabia
- The Higher Institute of Optics Technology (HIOT), Heliopolis, Cairo 17361, Egypt
| | - Marwa Dayo
- Chemistry Department, College of Science, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 42353, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sana Alahmadi
- Chemistry Department, College of Science, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 42353, Saudi Arabia
| | - Samah Ali
- Chemistry Department, College of Science, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 42353, Saudi Arabia
- The National Organization for Drug Control and Research, Giza 12622, Egypt
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4
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Fruet C, Martinez-Goikoetxea M, Merino F, Lupas AN. A computational model for lipid-anchored polysaccharide export by the outer membrane protein GfcD. Biophys J 2024:S0006-3495(24)00559-9. [PMID: 39164969 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2024.08.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 07/01/2024] [Accepted: 08/15/2024] [Indexed: 08/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Many bacteria are protected by different types of polysaccharide capsules, structures formed of long repetitive glycan chains that are sometimes free and sometimes anchored to the outer membrane via lipid tails. One type, called group 4 capsule, results from the expression of the gfcABCDE-etp-etk operon in Escherichia coli. Of the proteins encoded in this operon, GfcE is thought to provide the export pore for free polysaccharide chains, but none of the proteins has been implicated in the export of chains carrying a lipid anchor. For this function, GfcD has been a focus of attention as the only outer membrane β-barrel encoded in the operon. AlphaFold predicts two β-barrel domains in GfcD, a canonical N-terminal one of 12 strands and an unusual C-terminal one of 13 strands, which features a large lateral aperture between strands β1 and β13. This immediately suggests a lateral exit gate for hydrophobic molecules into the membrane, analogous to the one proposed for the lipopolysaccharide export pore LptD. Here, we report an unsteered molecular dynamics study of GfcD embedded in the bacterial outer membrane, with the common polysaccharide anchor, lipid A, inserted in the pore of the C-terminal barrel. Our results show that the lateral aperture does not collapse during simulations and membrane lipids nevertheless do not penetrate the barrel but the lipid chains of the lipid A molecule readily exit into the membrane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Fruet
- Department of Protein Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | | | - Felipe Merino
- Department of Protein Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Andrei N Lupas
- Department of Protein Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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5
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Rzycki M, Drabik D. Multifaceted Activity of Fabimycin: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Studies on Bacterial Membrane Models. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:4204-4217. [PMID: 38733348 PMCID: PMC11134499 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.4c00228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024]
Abstract
Membranes─cells' essential scaffolds─are valid molecular targets for substances with an antimicrobial effect. While certain substances, such as octenidine, have been developed to target membranes for antimicrobial purposes, the recently reported molecule, fabimycin (F2B)─a novel agent targeting drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria─has not received adequate attention regarding its activity on membranes in the literature. The following study aims to investigate the effects of F2B on different bacterial membrane models, including simple planar bilayers and more complex bilayer systems that mimic the Escherichia coli shell equipped with double inner and outer bilayers. Our results show that F2B exhibited more pronounced interactions with bacterial membrane systems compared to the control PC system. Furthermore, we observed significant changes in local membrane property homeostasis in both the inner and outer membrane models, specifically in the case of lateral diffusion, membrane thickness, and membrane resilience (compressibility, tilt). Finally, our results showed that the effect of F2B differed in a complex system and a single membrane system. Our study provides new insights into the multifaceted activity of F2B, demonstrating its potential to disrupt bacterial membrane homeostasis, indicating that its activity extends the currently known mechanism of FabI enzyme inhibition. This disruption, coupled with the ability of F2B to penetrate the outer membrane layers, sheds new light on the behavior of this antimicrobial molecule. This highlights the importance of the interaction with the membrane, crucial in combating bacterial infections, particularly those caused by drug-resistant strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mateusz Rzycki
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw 50-370, Poland
| | - Dominik Drabik
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw 50-370, Poland
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6
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Seo J, Kim JH, Ko N, Kim J, Moon K, Kim IS, Lee W. Development of novel indole-quinoline hybrid molecules targeting bacterial proton motive force. J Appl Microbiol 2024; 135:lxae104. [PMID: 38678002 DOI: 10.1093/jambio/lxae104] [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: 03/04/2024] [Revised: 04/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/29/2024]
Abstract
AIMS This study aimed to develop an editable structural scaffold for improving drug development, including pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antibiotics by using synthetic compounds derived from a (hetero)aryl-quinoline hybrid scaffold. METHODS AND RESULTS In this study, 18 CF3-substituted (hetero)aryl-quinoline hybrid molecules were examined for their potential antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus by determining minimal inhibitory concentrations. These 18 synthetic compounds represent modifications to key regions of the quinoline N-oxide scaffold, enabling us to conduct a structure-activity relationship analysis for antibacterial potency. Among the compounds, 3 m exhibited potency against with both methicillin resistant S. aureus strains, as well as other Gram-positive bacteria, including Enterococcus faecalis and Bacillus subtilis. We demonstrated that 3 m disrupted the bacterial proton motive force (PMF) through monitoring the PMF and conducting the molecular dynamics simulations. Furthermore, we show that this mechanism of action, disrupting PMF, is challenging for S. aureus to overcome. We also validated this PMF inhibition mechanism of 3 m in an Acinetobacter baumannii strain with weaken lipopolysaccharides. Additionally, in Gram-negative bacteria, we demonstrated that 3 m exhibited a synergistic effect with colistin that disrupts the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. CONCLUSIONS Our approach to developing editable synthetic novel antibacterials underscores the utility of CF3-substituted (hetero)aryl-quinoline scaffold for designing compounds targeting the bacterial proton motive force, and for further drug development, including pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinbeom Seo
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Ji-Hoon Kim
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Nayoung Ko
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Jihyeon Kim
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyeongwon Moon
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - In Su Kim
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Wonsik Lee
- School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
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7
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Sharma P, Vaiwala R, Gopinath AK, Chockalingam R, Ayappa KG. Structure of the Bacterial Cell Envelope and Interactions with Antimicrobials: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulations. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2024; 40:7791-7811. [PMID: 38451026 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c03474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Bacteria have evolved over 3 billion years, shaping our intrinsic and symbiotic coexistence with these single-celled organisms. With rising populations of drug-resistant strains, the search for novel antimicrobials is an ongoing area of research. Advances in high-performance computing platforms have led to a variety of molecular dynamics simulation strategies to study the interactions of antimicrobial molecules with different compartments of the bacterial cell envelope of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative species. In this review, we begin with a detailed description of the structural aspects of the bacterial cell envelope. Simulations concerned with the transport and associated free energy of small molecules and ions through the outer membrane, peptidoglycan, inner membrane and outer membrane porins are discussed. Since surfactants are widely used as antimicrobials, a section is devoted to the interactions of surfactants with the cell wall and inner membranes. The review ends with a discussion on antimicrobial peptides and the insights gained from the molecular simulations on the free energy of translocation. Challenges involved in developing accurate molecular models and coarse-grained strategies that provide a trade-off between atomic details with a gain in sampling time are highlighted. The need for efficient sampling strategies to obtain accurate free energies of translocation is also discussed. Molecular dynamics simulations have evolved as a powerful tool that can potentially be used to design and develop novel antimicrobials and strategies to effectively treat bacterial infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pradyumn Sharma
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, 560012
| | - Rakesh Vaiwala
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, 560012
| | - Amar Krishna Gopinath
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, 560012
| | - Rajalakshmi Chockalingam
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, 560012
| | - K Ganapathy Ayappa
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, 560012
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8
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Kasparyan G, Hub JS. Molecular Simulations Reveal the Free Energy Landscape and Transition State of Membrane Electroporation. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2024; 132:148401. [PMID: 38640376 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.132.148401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024]
Abstract
The formation of pores over lipid membranes by the application of electric fields, termed membrane electroporation, is widely used in biotechnology and medicine to deliver drugs, vaccines, or genes into living cells. Continuum models for describing the free energy landscape of membrane electroporation were proposed decades ago, but they have never been tested against spatially detailed atomistic models. Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with a recently proposed reaction coordinate, we computed potentials of mean force of pore nucleation and pore expansion in lipid membranes at various transmembrane potentials. Whereas the free energies of pore expansion are compatible with previous continuum models, the experimentally important free energy barrier of pore nucleation is at variance with established models. The discrepancy originates from different geometries of the transition state; previous continuum models assumed the presence of a membrane-spanning defect throughout the process, whereas, according to the MD simulations, the transition state of pore nucleation is typically passed before a transmembrane defect has formed. A modified continuum model is presented that qualitatively agrees with the MD simulations. Using kinetics of pore opening together with transition state theory, our free energies of pore nucleation are in excellent agreement with previous experimental data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gari Kasparyan
- Theoretical Physics and Center for Biophysics, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Jochen S Hub
- Theoretical Physics and Center for Biophysics, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
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9
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Li J, Zhou Z, Wang P, Wang C, Xiang T, Yao S, Zhang D. Collaborative Optimization Design of Self-Powered Sterilizer with Highly Efficient Synergistic Antibacterial Effect. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2024; 16:16232-16242. [PMID: 38507798 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c19411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
The development of self-powered sterilizers has garnered significant attention in the scientific and engineering fields. However, there remains an urgent need to improve their sterilization efficiency. In this study, we present a self-powered sterilizer with superior antibacterial capability by maximizing the utilization of breakdown discharge generated by a soft-contact freestanding rotary triboelectric nanogenerator (FR-TENG). To achieve this, a collaborative optimization strategy is proposed, encompassing the structural design of the FR-TENG, the implementation of double voltage rectification, and manipulation of the gaseous phase. Through a comprehensive analysis of antibacterial rates and microscopic images, the effectiveness of the self-powered sterilizer against various types of bacteria, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative species, as well as mixed bacteria in natural seawater, is demonstrated. Further investigations into bacterial morphologies and solution compositions reveal that the synergistic effect between electroporation and the generation of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species contributes to efficient sterilization. Additionally, controlled trials and molecular dynamics simulations are conducted to quantitatively elucidate the synergistic antibacterial effect between electroporation and reactive oxygen/nitrogen species. This study highlights the effectiveness of the collaborative optimization strategy in enhancing the sterilization efficiency of self-powered sterilizers while providing valuable insights into the synergistic antibacterial mechanisms of physical and chemical sterilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiawei Li
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Corrosion and Bio-fouling, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
| | - Zhou Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Corrosion and Bio-fouling, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
| | - Peng Wang
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Corrosion and Bio-fouling, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Congyu Wang
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Corrosion and Bio-fouling, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Tengfei Xiang
- School of Architectural and Civil Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Ma'anshan 243002, China
| | - Shengxun Yao
- Institute of Marine Corrosion Protection, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Guangxi Academy of Marine Sciences, Guangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanning 530007, China
| | - Dun Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Corrosion and Bio-fouling, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China
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10
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Princiotto S, Casciaro B, G Temprano A, Musso L, Sacchi F, Loffredo MR, Cappiello F, Sacco F, Raponi G, Fernandez VP, Iucci T, Mangoni ML, Mori M, Dallavalle S, Pisano C. The antimicrobial potential of adarotene derivatives against Staphylococcus aureus strains. Bioorg Chem 2024; 145:107227. [PMID: 38387400 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2024.107227] [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: 12/22/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
Multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens are severely impacting our ability to successfully treat common infections. Here we report the synthesis of a panel of adarotene-related retinoids showing potent antimicrobial activity on Staphylococcus aureus strains (including multidrug-resistant ones). Fluorescence and molecular dynamic studies confirmed that the adarotene analogues were able to induce conformational changes and disfunctions to the cell membrane, perturbing the permeability of the phospholipid bilayer. Since the major obstacle for developing retinoids is their potential cytotoxicity, a selected candidate was further investigated to evaluate its activity on a panel of human cell lines. The compound was found to be well tolerated, with IC50 5-15-fold higher than the MIC on S. aureus strains. Furthermore, the adarotene analogue had a good pharmacokinetic profile, reaching a plasma concentration of about 6 μM after 0.5 h after administration (150 mg/kg), at least twice the MIC observed against various bacterial strains. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the compound potentiated the growth-inhibitory effect of the poorly bioavailable rifaximin, when used in combination. Overall, the collected data pave the way for the development of synthetic retinoids as potential therapeutics for hard-to-treat infectious diseases caused by antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salvatore Princiotto
- Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Bruno Casciaro
- Laboratory affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Department of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Alvaro G Temprano
- Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy; Experimental Hepatology and Drug Targeting (HEVEPHARM) Group, Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
| | - Loana Musso
- Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Francesca Sacchi
- Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano, Italy
| | - Maria Rosa Loffredo
- Laboratory affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Department of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Floriana Cappiello
- Laboratory affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Department of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Federica Sacco
- Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Giammarco Raponi
- Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - Maria Luisa Mangoni
- Laboratory affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Department of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Mattia Mori
- Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy
| | - Sabrina Dallavalle
- Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano, Italy.
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11
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Smith IP, Pedebos C, Khalid S. Molecular Crowding Alters the Interactions of Polymyxin Lipopeptides within the Periplasm of E. coli: Insights from Molecular Dynamics. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:2717-2733. [PMID: 38457439 PMCID: PMC10961723 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c07985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 02/24/2024] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
The cell envelope of Gram-negative bacteria is a crowded tripartite architecture that separates the cell interior from the external environment. Two membranes encapsulate the aqueous periplasm, which contains the cell wall. Little is known about the mechanisms via which antimicrobial peptides move through the periplasm from the outer membrane to their site of action, the inner membrane. We utilize all-atom molecular dynamics to study two antimicrobial peptides, polymyxins B1 and E, within models of the E. coli periplasm crowded to different extents. In a simple chemical environment, both PMB1 and PME bind irreversibly to the cell wall. The presence of specific macromolecules leads to competition with the polymyxins for cell wall interaction sites, resulting in polymyxin dissociation from the cell wall. Chemical complexity also impacts interactions between polymyxins and Braun's lipoprotein; thus, the interaction modes of lipoprotein antibiotics within the periplasm are dependent upon the nature of the other species present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iain P.
S. Smith
- School of
Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, U.K.
| | - Conrado Pedebos
- Programa
de Pós-Graduação em Biociências (PPGBio), Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde
de Porto Alegre—UFCSPA, Porto Alegre 90050-170, Brazil
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, U.K.
| | - Syma Khalid
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, U.K.
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12
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Heo HY, Zou G, Baek S, Kim J, Mylonakis E, Ausubel FM, Gao H, Kim W. A Methylazanediyl Bisacetamide Derivative Sensitizes Staphylococcus aureus Persisters to a Combination of Gentamicin And Daptomycin. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2024; 11:e2306112. [PMID: 38126676 PMCID: PMC10916567 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202306112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, notably methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), pose treatment challenges due to its ability to tolerate antibiotics and develop antibiotic resistance. The former, a mechanism independent of genetic changes, allows bacteria to withstand antibiotics by altering metabolic processes. Here, a potent methylazanediyl bisacetamide derivative, MB6, is described, which selectively targets MRSA membranes over mammalian membranes without observable resistance development. Although MB6 is effective against growing MRSA cells, its antimicrobial activity against MRSA persisters is limited. Nevertheless, MB6 significantly potentiates the bactericidal activity of gentamicin against MRSA persisters by facilitating gentamicin uptake. In addition, MB6 in combination with daptomycin exhibits enhanced anti-persister activity through mutual reinforcement of their membrane-disrupting activities. Crucially, the "triple" combination of MB6, gentamicin, and daptomycin exhibits a marked enhancement in the killing of MRSA persisters compared to individual components or any double combinations. These findings underscore the potential of MB6 to function as a potent and selective membrane-active antimicrobial adjuvant to enhance the efficacy of existing antibiotics against persister cells. The molecular mechanisms of MB6 elucidated in this study provide valuable insights for designing anti-persister adjuvants and for developing new antimicrobial combination strategies to overcome the current limitations of antibiotic treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hee Young Heo
- College of PharmacyGraduate School of Pharmaceutical SciencesEwha Womans UniversitySeoul03760Republic of Korea
| | - Guijin Zou
- Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC)Agency for ScienceTechnology and Research (A*STAR)Singapore138632Republic of Singapore
| | - Seongeun Baek
- College of PharmacyGraduate School of Pharmaceutical SciencesEwha Womans UniversitySeoul03760Republic of Korea
| | - Jae‐Seok Kim
- Department of Laboratory MedicineKangdong Sacred Heart HospitalHallym University College of MedicineSeoul05355Republic of Korea
| | | | - Frederick M. Ausubel
- Department of Molecular BiologyMassachusetts General HospitalBostonMA02114USA
- Department of GeneticsHarvard Medical SchoolBostonMA02115USA
| | - Huajian Gao
- Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC)Agency for ScienceTechnology and Research (A*STAR)Singapore138632Republic of Singapore
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringCollege of EngineeringNanyang Technological UniversitySingapore639789Republic of Singapore
| | - Wooseong Kim
- College of PharmacyGraduate School of Pharmaceutical SciencesEwha Womans UniversitySeoul03760Republic of Korea
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13
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Vaiwala R, Ayappa KG. Martini-3 Coarse-Grained Models for the Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide Outer Membrane of Escherichia coli. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:1704-1716. [PMID: 37676287 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
The outer lipopolysaccharide (LPS) membrane of Gram-negative bacteria forms the main barrier for transport of antimicrobial molecules into the bacterial cell. In this study we develop coarse-grained models for the outer membrane of Escherichia coli in the Martini-3 framework. The coarse-grained model force field was parametrized and validated using all-atom simulations of symmetric membranes of lipid A and rough LPS as well as a complete asymmetric membrane of LPS with the O-antigen. The bonded parameters were obtained using an iterative refinement procedure with target bonded distributions obtained from all-atom simulations. The membrane thickness, area of the LPS, and density distributions for the different regions as well as the water and ion densities in Martini-3 simulations show excellent agreement with the all-atom data. Additionally the solvent accessible surface area for individual molecules in water was found to be in good agreement. The binding of calcium ions with phosphate and carboxylate moieties of LPS is accurately captured in the Martini-3 model, indicative of the integrity of the highly negatively charged LPS molecules in the outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria. The melting transition of the coarse-grained lipid A membrane model was found to occur between 300 and 310 K, and the model captured variations in area per LPS, order parameter, and membrane thickness across the melting transition. Our study reveals that the proposed Martini-3 models for LPS are able to capture the physicochemical balance of the complex sugar architecture of the outer membrane of Escherichia coli. The coarse-grained models developed in this study would be useful for determining membrane protein interactions and permeation of potential antimicrobials through bacterial membranes at mesoscopic spatial and temporal scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rakesh Vaiwala
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
| | - K Ganapathy Ayappa
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
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14
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Shobhna, Dutta A, Kumari P, Kashyap HK. Stability of Cytoplasmic Membrane of Escherichia coli Bacteria in Aqueous and Ethanolic Environment. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2024; 40:2893-2906. [PMID: 38311936 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c02780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2024]
Abstract
The mechanism of action of any antibacterial agent or disinfectant depends largely on their interaction with the bacterial membrane. Herein, we use the SPICA (surface property fitting coarse graining) force-field and develop a coarse-grained (CG) model for the structure of the cytoplasmic membrane of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and its interaction with water and ethanol. We elucidate the impact of different concentrations of ethanol on the cytoplasmic membrane bilayers and vesicles of E. coli using the CG molecular dynamics (CG MD) simulations. Our modeling approach first focuses on the parametrization of the required force-field for POPG lipid and its interaction with water, ethanol, and POPE lipid. Subsequently, the structural stability of the E. coli bacterial membrane in the presence of high and low concentrations of ethanol is delineated. Both flat bilayers as well as vesicles of E. coli membrane were considered for the CG MD. Our results reveal that, at low ethanol concentrations (<30 mol %), the size of the E. coli vesicles increases with discernible deformations in their shapes. Because of ethanol-induced interdigitation, thinning of the E. coli vesicular membrane is also observed. However, at higher ethanol concentrations (>30 mol %), the integrity of the vesicles is lost because of deteriorating invasion of ethanol molecules into the vesicle bilayer and significant weakening of lipid-lipid interactions. At higher ethanol concentrations (40 and 70 mol %), both the multivesicle and single-vesicle bacterial membranes exhibit a similar rupturing pattern wherein the extraction of lipids from the membrane and formation of aggregates of the component lipids are observed. These aggregates consist of polar head groups of 3-5 POPE/POPG lipids with intertwined nonpolar tails.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shobhna
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
| | - Ayishwarya Dutta
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
| | - Pratibha Kumari
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
| | - Hemant K Kashyap
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
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15
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Velayatipour F, Tarrahimofrad H, Zamani J, Fotouhi F, Aminzadeh S. In-vitro antimicrobial activity of AF-DP protein and in-silico approach of cell membrane disruption. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2024:1-18. [PMID: 38319027 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2024.2308763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 01/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Microbial resistance against common antibiotics has become one of the most serious threats to human health. The increasing statistics on this problem show the necessity of finding a way to deal with it. In recent years, antimicrobial peptides with unique properties and the capability of targeting a wide range of pathogens, have been considered as a potential for replacing common antibiotics. A small chitin-binding protein with anticandidal activity was isolated from Moringa oleifera seeds by Neto and colleagues in 2017, which very much resembled antimicrobial peptides. In this study, the antimicrobial protein 'AF-DP' was identified and characterized. AF-DP was heterologously expressed, purified, and characterized, and its 3D structure was predicted. Six molecular dynamic simulations were performed to investigate how the protein interacts with Gram-negative inner and outer, Gram-positive, fungal, cancerous, and normal mammalian membranes. Also, its antimicrobial and anticancer activity was assessed in vitro via minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and MTT assays, respectively. This protein with 111 amino acids and a total net charge (of 10.5) has been predicted to be mainly composed of alpha helix and random coils. Its MIC affecting the growth of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans was 30 µg/ml, 100 µg/ml, and 100 µg/ml, respectively; AF-DP showed anticancer activity against MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Scanning electron microscopic analysis confirmed the creation of pores and scratches on the surface of the bacterial membrane. The results of this research show that AF-DP can be a candidate for the production of new drugs as an AMP with antimicrobial activity.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatemeh Velayatipour
- Bioprocess Engineering Group, Institute of Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Iran
| | - Hossein Tarrahimofrad
- Bioprocess Engineering Group, Institute of Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Iran
| | - Javad Zamani
- Bioprocess Engineering Group, Institute of Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Fotouhi
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Saeed Aminzadeh
- Bioprocess Engineering Group, Institute of Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Iran
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16
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Bollikanda RK, Nagineni D, Pranathi AN, Chirra N, Misra S, Kantevari S. Dihydrobenzothiazole coupled N-piperazinyl acetamides as antimicrobial agents: Design, synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular docking studies. Arch Pharm (Weinheim) 2024; 357:e2300450. [PMID: 38036302 DOI: 10.1002/ardp.202300450] [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: 08/18/2023] [Revised: 09/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
Substituted saturated N-heterocycles have gained momentum as effective scaffolds for the development of new drugs. In this study, we coupled partly saturated benzothiazoles with substituted piperazines and evaluated their antimicrobial activity. Following a three-step reaction sequence from commercially available cyclic 1,3-diones, a series of novel 2-[4-substituted-1-piperazinyl]-N-(7-oxo-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)acetamides (7a-af) were synthesised. 2-Amino-5,6-dihydro-benzo[d]thiazol-7(4H)-ones, obtained through the condensation of cyclohexane-1,3-diones with thiourea, were acetylated with chloroacetic chloride and then reacted with N-substituted piperazines 6a-p to give the desired products 7a-af in excellent yields. All 32 new compounds were fully characterised by their 1 H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), 13 C-NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry spectra. The synthetic compounds 7a-af were tested in vitro for their efficacy as antimicrobials against pathogenic strains of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, Streptococcus mutans and Salmonella typhi, respectively, as well as against fungal strains, including Candida albicans 3018 and C. albicans 4748. Ciprofloxacin and fluconazole served as the reference drugs. While compounds 7c and 7l showed inhibition against fungal strains with zones of inhibition of 11 and 1 mm, respectively, four analogues (7d, 7l, 7n, and 7r) demonstrated strong antibacterial action (zone of inhibition in the range of 10-15 mm). Three compounds (7j, 7l, and 7w) also exhibited moderate antitubercular activity (MIC: 6.25 µg/mL) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. Molecular docking investigations and the predicted physicochemical and ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity) properties for the potent compounds made this scaffold useful as a pharmacologically active framework for the development of potential antimicrobial hits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rakesh K Bollikanda
- Fluoro & Agrochemicals Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India
| | - Devendra Nagineni
- Fluoro & Agrochemicals Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India
| | - Abburi Naga Pranathi
- Fluoro & Agrochemicals Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India
| | - Nagaraju Chirra
- Fluoro & Agrochemicals Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India
| | - Sunil Misra
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India
- Department of Applied Biology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India
| | - Srinivas Kantevari
- Fluoro & Agrochemicals Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India
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17
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González-Cuevas JA, Argüello R, Florentin M, André FM, Mir LM. Experimental and Theoretical Brownian Dynamics Analysis of Ion Transport During Cellular Electroporation of E. coli Bacteria. Ann Biomed Eng 2024; 52:103-123. [PMID: 37651029 DOI: 10.1007/s10439-023-03353-4] [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: 12/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
Escherichia coli bacterium is a rod-shaped organism composed of a complex double membrane structure. Knowledge of electric field driven ion transport through both membranes and the evolution of their induced permeabilization has important applications in biomedical engineering, delivery of genes and antibacterial agents. However, few studies have been conducted on Gram-negative bacteria in this regard considering the contribution of all ion types. To address this gap in knowledge, we have developed a deterministic and stochastic Brownian dynamics model to simulate in 3D space the motion of ions through pores formed in the plasma membranes of E. coli cells during electroporation. The diffusion coefficient, mobility, and translation time of Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, and Cl- ions within the pore region are estimated from the numerical model. Calculations of pore's conductance have been validated with experiments conducted at Gustave Roussy. From the simulations, it was found that the main driving force of ionic uptake during the pulse is the one due to the externally applied electric field. The results from this work provide a better understanding of ion transport during electroporation, aiding in the design of electrical pulses for maximizing ion throughput, primarily for application in cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan A González-Cuevas
- School of Engineering, National University of Asunción, Campus San Lorenzo, 2169, San Lorenzo, Paraguay.
| | - Ricardo Argüello
- School of Engineering, National University of Asunción, Campus San Lorenzo, 2169, San Lorenzo, Paraguay
| | - Marcos Florentin
- School of Chemistry, National University of Asunción, Campus San Lorenzo, 2169, San Lorenzo, Paraguay
| | - Franck M André
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Gustave Roussy, UMR 9018 METSY, 94805, Villejuif, France
| | - Lluis M Mir
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Gustave Roussy, UMR 9018 METSY, 94805, Villejuif, France
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18
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Wang H, Wang Y, Xu W, Zhang H, Lv J, Wang X, Zheng Z, Zhao Y, Yu L, Yuan Q, Yu L, Zheng B, Gao L. Host-Guest-Interaction Enhanced Nitric Oxide Photo-Generation within a Pillar[5]arene Cavity for Antibacterial Gas Therapy. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023; 15:54266-54279. [PMID: 37969079 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c10862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
Supramolecular macrocycles with intrinsic cavities have been widely explored as containers to fabricate versatile functional materials via specific host-guest recognitions. However, relatively few studies have focused on the modulation of guest reactivity within a macrocyclic cavity. Here, we demonstrate the confinement effect of pillar[5]arene with an electron-rich and precise cavity that can dramatically enhance guest photoactivity and nitric oxide (NO) generation upon visible light irradiation. Mechanism studies reveal that it is achieved through increasing the ground state nitro-aromatic torsion angle, suppressing the intersystem crossing relaxation path of the S1 state, and accelerating the isomerization reaction path of guest molecules. This NO-generating system displays broad-spectrum antibacterial, biofilm inhibition, and dispersal activities. Moreover, it can accelerate the healing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-infected wounds in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haojie Wang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
| | - Yuan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Wenhua Xu
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
| | - Haixin Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
| | - Jinmeng Lv
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
| | - Xue Wang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
| | - Zhi Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
| | - Yanxia Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
| | - Le Yu
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
| | - Quan Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Leixiao Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Bo Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
| | - Lingyan Gao
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
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19
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Frigini EN, Porasso RD, Beke-Somfai T, López Cascales JJ, Enriz RD, Pantano S. The Mechanism of Antimicrobial Small-Cationic Peptides from Coarse-Grained Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:6877-6889. [PMID: 37905818 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial cationic peptides (AMPs) are excellent candidates for use as therapeutic antimicrobial agents. Among them, short peptides possessing sequences of 9-11 amino acids have some advantages over long-sequence peptides. However, one of the main limitations of short peptides is that their mechanism of action at the molecular level is not well-known. In this article, we report a model based on multiscale molecular dynamics simulations of short peptides interacting with vesicles containing palmitoyl-oleoyl-phosphatidylglycerol (POPG)/palmitoyl-oleoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine (POPE). Simulations using this approach have allowed us to understand the different behaviors of peptides with antimicrobial activity with respect to those that do not produce this effect. We found remarkable agreement with a series of experimental results directly supporting our model. Moreover, these results allow us to understand the mechanism of action at the molecular level of these short peptides. Our simulations suggest that mechanical inhomogeneities appear in the membrane, promoting membrane rupture when a threshold concentration of peptides adsorbed on the membrane is achieved. These results explain the high structural demand for these peptides to maintain a delicate balance between the affinity for the bilayer surface, a low peptide-peptide repulsion (in order to reach the threshold concentration), and an acceptable tendency to penetrate into the bilayer. This mechanism is different from those proposed for peptides with long amino acid sequences. Such information is very useful from the medicinal chemistry point of view for the design of new small antimicrobial peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ezequiel N Frigini
- Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas (IMIBIO-SL), Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Ejército de los Andes 950, San Luis 5700, Argentina
- Biomolecular Simulations Group, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
| | - Rodolfo D Porasso
- Instituto de Matemáticas Aplicada San Luis (IMASL), CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Av. Ejército de los Andes 950, San Luis 5700, Argentina
| | - Tamás Beke-Somfai
- Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - José Javier López Cascales
- Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Grupo de Bioinformática y Macromoleculas (BioMac), Area de Química Física, Aulario II, Campus de Alfonso XIII, 30203 Cartagena, Murcia, Spain
| | - Ricardo D Enriz
- Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas (IMIBIO-SL), Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Ejército de los Andes 950, San Luis 5700, Argentina
| | - Sergio Pantano
- Biomolecular Simulations Group, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
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20
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Santos DS, De Nicola A, dos Santos VF, Milano G, Soares TA. Exploring the Molecular Dynamics of a Lipid-A Vesicle at the Atom Level: Morphology and Permeation Mechanism. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:6694-6702. [PMID: 37467380 PMCID: PMC10405212 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c02848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 06/18/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
Lipid-A was previously shown to spontaneously aggregate into a vesicle via the hybrid particle field approach. We assess the validity of the proposed vesiculation mechanism by simulating the resulting lipid-A vesicle at the atom level. The spatial confinement imposed by the vesicle geometry on the conformation and packing of lipid-A induces significant heterogeneity of physical properties in the inner and outer leaflets. It also induces tighter molecular packing and lower acyl chain order compared to the lamellar arrangement. Around 5% of water molecules passively permeates the vesicle membrane inward and outward. The permeation is facilitated by interactions with water molecules that are transported across the membrane by a network of electrostatic interactions with the hydrogen bond donors/acceptors in the N-acetylglucosamine ring and upper region of the acyl chains of lipid-A. The permeation process takes place at low rates but still at higher frequencies than observed for the lamellar arrangement of lipid-A. These findings not only substantiate the proposed lipid-A vesiculation mechanism but also reveal the complex structural dynamics of an important nonlamellar arrangement of lipid-A.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denys
E. S. Santos
- Departmento
de Química Fundamental, Universidade
Federal de Pernambuco, Recife 50740-560, Brazil
| | - Antonio De Nicola
- Scuola
Superiore Meridionale, Largo S. Marcellino 10, Napoli 80138, Italy
- Graduate
School of Organic Materials Science, Yamagata
University, Yonezawa 992-8510, Yamagata, Japan
| | - Vinicius F. dos Santos
- Departamento
de Química, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras
de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de
São Paulo, Ribeirão
Preto 14040-901, Brazil
| | - Giuseppe Milano
- Department
of Chemical, Materials and Production Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio 80, Napoli 80125, Italy
| | - Thereza A. Soares
- Departamento
de Química, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras
de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de
São Paulo, Ribeirão
Preto 14040-901, Brazil
- Hylleraas
Centre for Quantum Molecular Sciences, University
of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
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21
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Waller C, Marzinek JK, McBurnie E, Bond PJ, Williamson PTF, Khalid S. Impact on S. aureus and E. coli Membranes of Treatment with Chlorhexidine and Alcohol Solutions: Insights from Molecular Simulations and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. J Mol Biol 2023; 435:167953. [PMID: 37330283 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2023.167953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Membranes form the first line of defence of bacteria against potentially harmful molecules in the surrounding environment. Understanding the protective properties of these membranes represents an important step towards development of targeted anti-bacterial agents such as sanitizers. Use of propanol, isopropanol and chlorhexidine can significantly decrease the threat imposed by bacteria in the face of growing anti-bacterial resistance via mechanisms that include membrane disruption. Here we have employed molecular dynamics simulations and nuclear magnetic resonance to explore the impact of chlorhexidine and alcohol on the S. aureus cell membrane, as well as the E. coli inner and outer membranes. We identify how sanitizer components partition into these bacterial membranes, and show that chlorhexidine is instrumental in this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Callum Waller
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK; Bioinformatics Institute, 30 Biopolis Street, Singapore 138671, Singapore
| | - Jan K Marzinek
- Bioinformatics Institute, 30 Biopolis Street, Singapore 138671, Singapore
| | - Eilish McBurnie
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK; Bioinformatics Institute, 30 Biopolis Street, Singapore 138671, Singapore
| | - Peter J Bond
- Bioinformatics Institute, 30 Biopolis Street, Singapore 138671, Singapore; National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | | | - Syma Khalid
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK; Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK.
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22
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Zhou K, Sun L, Zhang X, Xu X, Mi K, Ma W, Zhang L, Huang L. Salmonella antimicrobials inherited and the non-inherited resistance: mechanisms and alternative therapeutic strategies. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1176317. [PMID: 37303797 PMCID: PMC10249997 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1176317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Salmonella spp. is one of the most important foodborne pathogens. Typhoid fever and enteritis caused by Salmonella enterica are associated with 16-33 million infections and 500,000 to 600,000 deaths annually worldwide. The eradication of Salmonella is becoming increasingly difficult because of its remarkable capacity to counter antimicrobial agents. In addition to the intrinsic and acquired resistance of Salmonella, increasing studies indicated that its non-inherited resistance, which commonly mentioned as biofilms and persister cells, plays a critical role in refractory infections and resistance evolution. These remind the urgent demand for new therapeutic strategies against Salmonella. This review starts with escape mechanisms of Salmonella against antimicrobial agents, with particular emphasis on the roles of the non-inherited resistance in antibiotic failure and resistance evolution. Then, drug design or therapeutic strategies that show impressive effects in overcoming Salmonella resistance and tolerance are summarized completely, such as overcoming the barrier of outer membrane by targeting MlaABC system, reducing persister cells by limiting hydrogen sulfide, and applying probiotics or predatory bacteria. Meanwhile, according to the clinical practice, the advantages and disadvantages of above strategies are discussed. Finally, we further analyze how to deal with this tricky problems, thus can promote above novel strategies to be applied in the clinic as soon as possible. We believed that this review will be helpful in understanding the relationships between tolerance phenotype and resistance of Salmonella as well as the efficient control of antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaixiang Zhou
- Department of Veterinary Medicine Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- National Reference Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residues (HZAU), Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Lei Sun
- Department of Veterinary Medicine Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- National Reference Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residues (HZAU), Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Xuehua Zhang
- Department of Veterinary Medicine Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- National Reference Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residues (HZAU), Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Xiangyue Xu
- Department of Veterinary Medicine Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- National Reference Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residues (HZAU), Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Kun Mi
- Department of Veterinary Medicine Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- National Reference Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residues (HZAU), Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Wenjin Ma
- Department of Veterinary Medicine Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- National Reference Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residues (HZAU), Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Lan Zhang
- Department of Veterinary Medicine Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- National Reference Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residues (HZAU), Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Lingli Huang
- Department of Veterinary Medicine Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- National Reference Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residues (HZAU), Wuhan, Hubei, China
- MOA Key Laboratory for Detection of Veterinary Drug Residues, Wuhan, Hubei, China
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23
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Rončević T, Maleš M, Sonavane Y, Guida F, Pacor S, Tossi A, Zoranić L. Relating Molecular Dynamics Simulations to Functional Activity for Gly-Rich Membranolytic Helical Kiadin Peptides. Pharmaceutics 2023; 15:pharmaceutics15051433. [PMID: 37242675 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15051433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2023] [Revised: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Kiadins are in silico designed peptides with a strong similarity to diPGLa-H, a tandem sequence of PGLa-H (KIAKVALKAL) and with single, double or quadruple glycine substitutions. They were found to show high variability in their activity and selectivity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, as well as cytotoxicity against host cells, which are influenced by the number and placing of glycine residues along the sequence. The conformational flexibility introduced by these substitutions contributes differently peptide structuring and to their interactions with the model membranes, as observed by molecular dynamics simulations. We relate these results to experimentally determined data on the structure of kiadins and their interactions with liposomes having a phospholipid membrane composition similar to simulation membrane models, as well as to their antibacterial and cytotoxic activities, and also discuss the challenges in interpreting these multiscale experiments and understanding why the presence of glycine residues in the sequence affected the antibacterial potency and toxicity towards host cells in a different manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomislav Rončević
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Matko Maleš
- Faculty of Maritime Studies, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Yogesh Sonavane
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Filomena Guida
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Sabrina Pacor
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Alessandro Tossi
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Larisa Zoranić
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
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24
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Kumari M, Kashyap HK. Wrapping-Trapping versus Extraction Mechanism of Bactericidal Activity of MoS 2 Nanosheets against Staphylococcus aureus Bacterial Membrane. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2023; 39:5440-5453. [PMID: 37013340 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c00118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The promising broad-spectrum antibacterial activity of two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (2D MoS2) has been widely recognized in the past decade. However, a comprehensive understanding of how the antibacterial pathways opted by the MoS2 nanosheets varies with change in lipid compositions of different bacterial strains is imperative to harness their full antibacterial potential and remains unexplored thus far. Herein, we present an atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) study to investigate the distinct modes of antibacterial action of MoS2 nanosheets against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) under varying conditions. We observed that the freely dispersed nanosheets readily adhered to the bacterial membrane outer surface and opted for an unconventional surface directed "wrapping-trapping" mechanism at physiological temperature (i.e., 310 K). The adsorbed nanosheets mildly influenced the membrane structure by originating a compact packing of the lipid molecules present in its direct contact. Interestingly, these surface adsorbed nanosheets exhibited extensive phospholipid extraction to their surface, thereby inducing transmembrane water passage analogous to the cellular leakage, even at a slight increment of 20 K in the temperature. The strong van der Waals interactions between lipid fatty acyl tails and MoS2 basal planes were primarily responsible for this destructive phospholipid extraction. In addition, the MoS2 nanosheets bound to an imaginary substrate, controlling their vertical alignment, demonstrated a "nano-knives" action by spontaneously piercing inside the membrane core through their sharp corner, subsequently causing localized lipid ordering in their vicinity. The larger nanosheet produced a more profound deteriorating impact in all of the observed mechanisms. Keeping the existing knowledge about the bactericidal activity of 2D MoS2 in view, our study concludes that their antibacterial activity is strongly governed by the lipid composition of the bacterial membrane and can be intensified either by controlling the nanosheet vertical alignment or by moderately warming up the systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Kumari
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
| | - Hemant K Kashyap
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
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25
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Kasparyan G, Hub JS. Equivalence of Charge Imbalance and External Electric Fields during Free Energy Calculations of Membrane Electroporation. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:2676-2683. [PMID: 37052575 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/14/2023]
Abstract
Electric fields across lipid membranes play important roles in physiology, medicine, and biotechnology, rationalizing the wide interest in modeling transmembrane potentials in molecular dynamics simulations. Transmembrane potentials have been implemented with external electric fields or by imposing charge imbalance between the two water compartments of a stacked double-membrane system. We compare the two methods in the context of membrane electroporation, which involves a large change of membrane structure and capacitance. We show that, given that Ewald electrostatics are defined with tinfoil boundary conditions, the two methods lead to (i) identical potentials of mean force (PMFs) of pore formation and expansion at various potentials, demonstrating that the two methods impose equivalent driving forces for large-scale transitions at membranes, and (ii) to identical polarization of water within thin water wires or open pores, suggesting that the two methods furthermore impose equivalent local electric fields. Without tinfoil boundary conditions, effects from external fields on pore formation are spuriously suppressed or even removed. Together, our study shows that both methods, external fields and charge imbalance, are well suitable for studying large-scale transitions of lipid membranes that involve changes of membrane capacitance. However, using charge imbalance is technically more challenging for maintaining a constant transmembrane potential since it requires updating of the charge imbalance as the membrane capacitance changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gari Kasparyan
- Theoretical Physics and Center for Biophysics, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Jochen S Hub
- Theoretical Physics and Center for Biophysics, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
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26
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Gao Y, Widmalm G, Im W. Modeling and Simulation of Bacterial Outer Membranes with Lipopolysaccharides and Capsular Polysaccharides. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:1592-1601. [PMID: 36802606 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
Capsule is one of the common virulence factors in Gram-negative bacteria protecting pathogens from host defenses and consists of long-chain capsular polysaccharides (CPS) anchored in the outer membrane (OM). Elucidating structural properties of CPS is important to understand its biological functions as well as the OM properties. However, the outer leaflet of the OM in current simulation studies is represented exclusively by LPS due to the complexity and diversity of CPS. In this work, representative Escherichia coli CPS, KLPS (a lipid A-linked form) and KPG (a phosphatidylglycerol-linked form), are modeled and incorporated into various symmetric bilayers with co-existing LPS in different ratios. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations of these systems have been conducted to characterize various bilayer properties. Incorporation of KLPS makes the acyl chains of LPS more rigid and ordered, while incorporation of KPG makes them less ordered and flexible. These results are consistent with the calculated area per lipid (APL) of LPS, in which the APL of LPS becomes smaller when KLPS is incorporated, whereas it gets larger when KPG is included. Torsional analysis reveals that the influence of the CPS presence on the conformational distributions of the glycosidic linkages of LPS is small, and minor differences are also detected for the inner and outer regions of the CPS. Combined with previously modeled enterobacterial common antigens (ECAs) in the form of mixed bilayers, this work provides more realistic OM models as well as the basis for characterization of interactions between the OM and OM proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya Gao
- School of Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China.,Department of Biological Sciences, Department of Chemistry, and Department of Bioengineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Göran Widmalm
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Wonpil Im
- Department of Biological Sciences, Department of Chemistry, and Department of Bioengineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
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27
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Makowska M, Kosikowska-Adamus P, Zdrowowicz M, Wyrzykowski D, Prahl A, Sikorska E. Lipidation of Naturally Occurring α-Helical Antimicrobial Peptides as a Promising Strategy for Drug Design. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24043951. [PMID: 36835362 PMCID: PMC9959048 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24043951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
In this paper, we describe the chemical synthesis, preliminary evaluation of antimicrobial properties and mechanisms of action of a novel group of lipidated derivatives of three naturally occurring α-helical antimicrobial peptides, LL-I (VNWKKVLGKIIKVAK-NH2), LK6 (IKKILSKILLKKL-NH2), ATRA-1 (KRFKKFFKKLK-NH2). The obtained results showed that biological properties of the final compounds were defined both by the length of the fatty acid and by the structural and physico-chemical properties of the initial peptide. We consider C8-C12 length of the hydrocarbon chain as the optimal for antimicrobial activity improvement. However, the most active analogues exerted relatively high cytotoxicity toward keratinocytes, with the exception of the ATRA-1 derivatives, which had a higher selectivity for microbial cells. The ATRA-1 derivatives had relatively low cytotoxicity against healthy human keratinocytes but high cytotoxicity against human breast cancer cells. Taking into account that ATRA-1 analogues carry the highest positive net charge, it can be assumed that this feature contributes to cell selectivity. As expected, the studied lipopeptides showed a strong tendency to self-assembly into fibrils and/or elongated and spherical micelles, with the least cytotoxic ATRA-1 derivatives forming apparently smaller assemblies. The results of the study also confirmed that the bacterial cell membrane is the target for the studied compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Makowska
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (E.S.)
| | - Paulina Kosikowska-Adamus
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Magdalena Zdrowowicz
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Dariusz Wyrzykowski
- Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Adam Prahl
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Emilia Sikorska
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (E.S.)
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28
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Luyet C, Elvati P, Vinh J, Violi A. Low-THz Vibrations of Biological Membranes. MEMBRANES 2023; 13:membranes13020139. [PMID: 36837641 PMCID: PMC9965665 DOI: 10.3390/membranes13020139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
A growing body of work has linked key biological activities to the mechanical properties of cellular membranes, and as a means of identification. Here, we present a computational approach to simulate and compare the vibrational spectra in the low-THz region for mammalian and bacterial membranes, investigating the effect of membrane asymmetry and composition, as well as the conserved frequencies of a specific cell. We find that asymmetry does not impact the vibrational spectra, and the impact of sterols depends on the mobility of the components of the membrane. We demonstrate that vibrational spectra can be used to distinguish between membranes and, therefore, could be used in identification of different organisms. The method presented, here, can be immediately extended to other biological structures (e.g., amyloid fibers, polysaccharides, and protein-ligand structures) in order to fingerprint and understand vibrations of numerous biologically-relevant nanoscale structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloe Luyet
- Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2125, USA
| | - Paolo Elvati
- Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2125, USA
| | - Jordan Vinh
- Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2125, USA
| | - Angela Violi
- Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2125, USA
- Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2125, USA
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2125, USA
- Correspondence:
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29
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Greenfield ML, Martin LM, Joodaki F. Computing Individual Area per Head Group Reveals Lipid Bilayer Dynamics. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:10697-10711. [PMID: 36475708 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c04633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Lipid bilayers express a range of phases from solid-like to gel-like to liquid-like as a function of temperature and lipid surface concentration. The area occupied per lipid head group serves as one useful indicator of the bilayer phase, in conjunction with the two-dimensional radial distribution function (i.e., structure factor) within the bilayer. Typically, the area per head group is determined by dividing the bilayer area equally among all head groups. Such an approach is less satisfactory for a multicomponent set of diverse lipids. In this work, area determination is performed on a lipid-by-lipid basis by attributing to a lipid the volume that surrounds each atom. Voronoi tessellation provides this division of the interfacial region on a per-atom basis. The method is applied to a multicomponent system of water, NaCl, and 19 phospholipid types that was devised recently [Langmuir2022, 38, 9481-9499] as a computational representation of the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus phospholipid bilayer. Results demonstrate that lipids and water molecules occupy similar extents of area within the interfacial region; ascribing area only to head groups implicitly incorporates assumptions about head group hydration. Results further show that lipid tails provide non-negligible contributions to area on the membrane side of the bilayer-water interface. Results for minimum and maximum area of individual lipids reveal that spontaneous fluctuations displace head groups more than 10 Å from the interfacial region during an NPT simulation at 310 K, leading to a zero contribution to total area at some times. Total area fluctuations and fluctuations per individual lipid relax with a correlation time of ∼10 ns. The method complements density profile as an approach to quantify the structure and dynamics of computational lipid bilayers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael L Greenfield
- Department of Chemical Engineering, 360 Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island02881, United States
| | - Lenore M Martin
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Rhode Island, 120 Flagg Road, Kingston, Rhode Island02881, United States
| | - Faramarz Joodaki
- Department of Chemical Engineering, 360 Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island02881, United States
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30
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Vermaas JV, Crowley MF, Beckham GT. Molecular simulation of lignin-related aromatic compound permeation through gram-negative bacterial outer membranes. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102627. [PMID: 36273587 PMCID: PMC9720347 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Lignin, an abundant aromatic heteropolymer in secondary plant cell walls, is the single largest source of renewable aromatics in the biosphere. Leveraging this resource for renewable bioproducts through targeted microbial action depends on lignin fragment uptake by microbial hosts and subsequent enzymatic action to obtain the desired product. Recent computational work has emphasized that bacterial inner membranes are permeable to many aromatic compounds expected from lignin depolymerization processes. In this study, we expand on these findings through simulations for 42 lignin-related compounds across a gram-negative bacterial outer membrane model. Unbiased simulation trajectories indicate that spontaneous crossing for the full outer membrane is relatively rare at molecular simulation timescales, primarily due to preferential membrane partitioning and slow diffusion within the lipopolysaccharide layer within the outer membrane. Membrane partitioning and permeability coefficients were determined through replica exchange umbrella sampling simulations to overcome sampling limitations. We find that the glycosylated lipopolysaccharides found in the outer membrane increase the permeation barrier to many lignin-related compounds, particularly the most hydrophobic compounds. However, the effect is relatively modest; at industrially relevant concentrations, uncharged lignin-related compounds will readily diffuse across the outer membrane without the need for specific porins. Together, our results provide insight into the permeability of the bacterial outer membrane for assessing lignin fragment uptake and the future production of renewable bioproducts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josh V. Vermaas
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, USA,National Center for Computational Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA,MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA,For correspondence: Josh V. Vermaas; Michael F. Crowley; Gregg T. Beckham
| | - Michael F. Crowley
- Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy, Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, USA,For correspondence: Josh V. Vermaas; Michael F. Crowley; Gregg T. Beckham
| | - Gregg T. Beckham
- Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy, Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, USA,For correspondence: Josh V. Vermaas; Michael F. Crowley; Gregg T. Beckham
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31
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Cecropin a Improves the Antibacterial Activity of Hen Egg White Lysozyme against Challenging Salmonella enterica Serovars. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14102201. [PMID: 36297635 PMCID: PMC9610619 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14102201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Revised: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The prevalence of multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica among animal- and plant-derived food products threatens global healthcare and economic sectors. Hen egg white lysozyme is widely exploited as a food preservative against Gram-positive pathogens. Nevertheless, its limited penetration of the outer membrane renders it ineffective against Gram-negative bacteria. Herein, we present a safe and effective approach to facilitate HEWL access to peptidoglycan layers using cecropin A. In silico analysis of cecropin A peptide revealed an amphipathic α-helical peptide with potential outer membrane permeabilizing activity through its interaction with both hydrophobic and ionic stabilizing forces. Evaluation of HEWL/cecropin A combination showed a cecropin A dose-dependent bacterial count reduction up to 4.16 and 3.18 ± 0.26 log units against Salmonella enterica ATCC 35664 at the logarithmic and stationary growth phases, respectively. Moreover, the combination displayed antibacterial activity of 2.1 ± 0.31 and ~1 log-unit reductions against Salmonella enterica serovars Kentucky, Typhimurium, and Enteritidis, respectively, whereas Hato and Shangani were found irresponsive. The cytotoxicity assay revealed compatibility of cecropin A with oral epithelial cells. These observations suggest HEWL/cecropin A combination as an effective and safe alternative to lysozyme against Salmonella enterica.
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32
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Maleš M, Zoranić L. Simulation Study of the Effect of Antimicrobial Peptide Associations on the Mechanism of Action with Bacterial and Eukaryotic Membranes. MEMBRANES 2022; 12:891. [PMID: 36135911 PMCID: PMC9502835 DOI: 10.3390/membranes12090891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Revised: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) can be directed to specific membranes based on differences in lipid composition. In this study, we performed atomistic and coarse-grained simulations of different numbers of the designed AMP adepantin-1 with a eukaryotic membrane, cytoplasmic Gram-positive and Gram-negative membranes, and an outer Gram-negative membrane. At the core of adepantin-1's behavior is its amphipathic α-helical structure, which was implemented in its design. The amphipathic structure promotes rapid self-association of peptide in water or upon binding to bacterial membranes. Aggregates initially make contact with the membrane via positively charged residues, but with insertion, the hydrophobic residues are exposed to the membrane's hydrophobic core. This adaptation alters the aggregate's stability, causing the peptides to diffuse in the polar region of the membrane, mostly remaining as a single peptide or pairing up to form an antiparallel dimer. Thus, the aggregate's proposed role is to aid in positioning the peptide into a favorable conformation for insertion. Simulations revealed the molecular basics of adepantin-1 binding to various membranes, and highlighted peptide aggregation as an important factor. These findings contribute to the development of novel anti-infective agents to combat the rapidly growing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matko Maleš
- Faculty of Maritime Studies, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Larisa Zoranić
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
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33
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Pokhrel R, Shakya R, Baral P, Chapagain P. Molecular Modeling and Simulation of the Peptidoglycan Layer of Gram-Positive Bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:4955-4962. [PMID: 35981320 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The peptidoglycan (PG) layer is a vital component of the bacterial cell wall that protects the cell from rupturing due to internal pressure. Its ubiquity across the bacterial kingdom but not animals has made it the target of drug discovery efforts. The PG layer composed of cross-linked PG strands is porous enough to allow the diffusion of molecules through the PG mesh and into the cell. The lack of an accurate atomistic model of the PG mesh has limited the computational investigations of drug diffusion in Gram-positive bacteria, which lack the outer membrane but consist of a much thicker PG layer compared to Gram-negative bacteria. In this work, we built an atomistic model of the Staphylococcus aureus PG layer architecture with horizontally aligned PG strands and performed molecular dynamics simulations of the diffusion of curcumin molecules through the PG mesh. An accurate model of the Gram-positive bacterial cell wall may aid in developing novel antibiotics to tackle the threat posed by antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rudramani Pokhrel
- Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, United States
| | - Rojesh Shakya
- Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, United States
| | - Prabin Baral
- Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, United States
| | - Prem Chapagain
- Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, United States.,Biomolecular Sciences Institute, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, United States
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34
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Joodaki F, Martin LM, Greenfield ML. Generation and Computational Characterization of a Complex Staphylococcus aureus Lipid Bilayer. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:9481-9499. [PMID: 35901279 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c00483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Studies indicate a crucial cell membrane role in the antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus. To simulate its membrane structure and dynamics, a complex molecular-scale computational representation of the S. aureus lipid bilayer was developed. Phospholipid types and their amounts were optimized by reverse Monte Carlo to represent characterization data from the literature, leading to 19 different phospholipid types that combine three headgroups [phosphatidylglycerol, lysyl-phosphatidylglycerol (LPG), and cardiolipin] and 10 tails, including iso- and anteiso-branched saturated chains. The averaged lipid bilayer thickness was 36.7 Å, and area per headgroup was 67.8 Å2. Phosphorus and nitrogen density profiles showed that LPG headgroups tended to be bent and oriented more parallel to the bilayer plane. The water density profile showed that small amounts reached the membrane center. Carbon density profiles indicated hydrophobic interactions for all lipids in the middle of the bilayer. Bond vector order parameters along each tail demonstrated different C-H ordering even within distinct lipids of the same type; however, all tails followed similar trends in average order parameter. These complex simulations further revealed bilayer insights beyond those attainable with monodisperse, unbranched lipids. Longer tails often extended into the opposite leaflet. Carbon at and beyond a branch showed significantly decreased ordering compared to carbon in unbranched tails; this feature arose in every branched lipid. Diverse tail lengths distributed these disordered methyl groups throughout the middle third of the bilayer. Distributions in mobility and ordering reveal diverse properties that cannot be obtained with monodisperse lipids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faramarz Joodaki
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Rhode Island, 360 Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States
| | - Lenore M Martin
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Rhode Island, 120 Flagg Road, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States
| | - Michael L Greenfield
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Rhode Island, 360 Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States
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35
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Bali K, Mohamed Z, Scheeder A, Pappa AM, Daniel S, Kaminski CF, Owens RM, Mela I. Nanoscale Features of Tunable Bacterial Outer Membrane Models Revealed by Correlative Microscopy. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:8773-8782. [PMID: 35748045 PMCID: PMC9330759 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c00628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
The rise of antibiotic resistance is a growing worldwide human health issue, with major socioeconomic implications. An understanding of the interactions occurring at the bacterial membrane is crucial for the generation of new antibiotics. Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) made from reconstituted lipid vesicles have been used to mimic these membranes, but their utility has been restricted by the simplistic nature of these systems. A breakthrough in the field has come with the use of outer membrane vesicles derived from Gram-negative bacteria to form SLBs, thus providing a more physiologically relevant system. These complex bilayer systems hold promise but have not yet been fully characterized in terms of their composition, ratio of natural to synthetic components, and membrane protein content. Here, we use correlative atomic force microscopy (AFM) with structured illumination microscopy (SIM) for the accurate mapping of complex lipid bilayers that consist of a synthetic fraction and a fraction of lipids derived from Escherichia coli outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). We exploit the high resolution and molecular specificity that SIM can offer to identify areas of interest in these bilayers and the enhanced resolution that AFM provides to create detailed topography maps of the bilayers. We are thus able to understand the way in which the two different lipid fractions (natural and synthetic) mix within the bilayers, and we can quantify the amount of bacterial membrane incorporated into the bilayer. We prove the system's tunability by generating bilayers made using OMVs engineered to contain a green fluorescent protein (GFP) binding nanobody fused with the porin OmpA. We are able to directly visualize protein-protein interactions between GFP and the nanobody complex. Our work sets the foundation for accurately understanding the composition and properties of OMV-derived SLBs to generate a high-resolution platform for investigating bacterial membrane interactions for the development of next-generation antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karan Bali
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0AS, U.K.
| | - Zeinab Mohamed
- School
of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Anna Scheeder
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0AS, U.K.
| | - Anna-Maria Pappa
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, Khalifa University
of Science and Technology, Abu
Dhabi 127788, United Arab
Emirates
| | - Susan Daniel
- School
of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
- School
of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Clemens F. Kaminski
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0AS, U.K.
| | - Róisín M. Owens
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0AS, U.K.
| | - Ioanna Mela
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0AS, U.K.
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36
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Montero Vega S, Booth V, Rowley CN. Interaction between Antimicrobial Peptide Magainin 2 and Nonlipid Components in the Bacterial Outer Envelope. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:5473-5480. [PMID: 35829704 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c02768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) offer advantages over conventional antibiotics; for example, bacteria develop more resistance to small-molecule antibiotics than to AMPs. The interaction of the AMPs with the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) layer of the Gram-negative bacteria cell envelope is not well understood. A MARTINI model was constructed of a Gram-negative bacterial outer membrane interacting with the AMP Magainin 2. In a 20 μs molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, the AMP diffused to the LPS layer of the cell envelope and remained there, suggesting interactions between the Magainin 2 and the LPS layer, causing the AMP to concentrate at that position. The free energy profile for the insertion of the Magainin 2 into the membrane was also calculated using umbrella sampling, which showed that the AMP positioned such that the cationic side chains of the AMP coordinated to the negatively charged phosphate groups of the LPS layer. These simulations indicate that the AMP Magainin 2 partition into the LPS layer of a bacterial membrane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheyla Montero Vega
- Department of Chemistry, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Valerie Booth
- Department of Biochemistry, Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador A1C 5S7, Canada
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37
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Kumari M, Roy S, Jaiswal A, Kashyap HK. Anionic Lipid Clustering-Mediated Bactericidal Activity and Selective Toxicity of Quaternary Ammonium-Substituted Polycationic Pullulan against the Staphylococcus aureus Bacterial Membrane. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:8065-8076. [PMID: 35731708 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c00871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Non-amphiphilic polycations have recently been recognized to hold excellent antimicrobial potential with great mammalian cell compatibility. In a recent study, the excellent broad-spectrum bactericidal efficacy of a quaternary ammonium-substituted cationic pullulan (CP4) was demonstrated. Their selective toxicity and nominal probability to induce the acquisition of resistance among pathogens fulfill the fundamental requirements of new-generation antibacterials. However, there have been exiguous attempts in the literature to understand the antimicrobial activity of polycations against Gram-positive bacterial membranes. Here, for the first time, we have scrutinized the molecular level interactions of CP4 tetramers with a model Staphylococcus aureus membrane to understand their probable antibacterial function using molecular dynamics simulations. Our analysis reveals that the hydrophilic CP4 molecules are spontaneously adsorbed onto the membrane outer leaflet surface by virtue of strong electrostatic interactions and do not penetrate into the lipid tail hydrophobic region. This surface binding of CP4 is strengthened by the formation of anionic lipid-rich domains in their vicinity, causing lateral compositional heterogeneity. The major outcomes of the asymmetric accumulation of bulky polycationic CP4 on one leaflet are (i) anionic lipid segregation at the interaction site and (ii) a decrease in the cationic lipid acyl tail ordering and ease of water translocation across the lipid hydrophobic barrier. The membrane-CP4 interactions are strongly monitored by the ionic strength; a higher salt concentration weakens the binding of CP4 on the membrane surface. In addition, our study also substantiates the non-interacting behavior of CP4 oligomers with biomimetic 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) membrane, indicating their cell selectivity and specificity against pathogenic membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Kumari
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
| | - Shounak Roy
- School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh 175075, India
| | - Amit Jaiswal
- School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh 175075, India
| | - Hemant K Kashyap
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
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38
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Khalid S, Schroeder C, Bond PJ, Duncan AL. What have molecular simulations contributed to understanding of Gram-negative bacterial cell envelopes? MICROBIOLOGY (READING, ENGLAND) 2022; 168. [PMID: 35294337 PMCID: PMC9558347 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.001165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Bacterial cell envelopes are compositionally complex and crowded and while highly dynamic in some areas, their molecular motion is very limited, to the point of being almost static in others. Therefore, it is no real surprise that studying them at high resolution across a range of temporal and spatial scales requires a number of different techniques. Details at atomistic to molecular scales for up to tens of microseconds are now within range for molecular dynamics simulations. Here we review how such simulations have contributed to our current understanding of the cell envelopes of Gram-negative bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syma Khalid
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Cyril Schroeder
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Peter J Bond
- Bioinformatics Institute (A*STAR), Singapore 138671, Singapore.,Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - Anna L Duncan
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK
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39
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Rems L, Tang X, Zhao F, Pérez-Conesa S, Testa I, Delemotte L. Identification of electroporation sites in the complex lipid organization of the plasma membrane. eLife 2022; 11:e74773. [PMID: 35195069 PMCID: PMC8912918 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The plasma membrane of a biological cell is a complex assembly of lipids and membrane proteins, which tightly regulate transmembrane transport. When a cell is exposed to strong electric field, the membrane integrity becomes transiently disrupted by formation of transmembrane pores. This phenomenon termed electroporation is already utilized in many rapidly developing applications in medicine including gene therapy, cancer treatment, and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. However, the molecular mechanisms of electroporation are not yet sufficiently well understood; in particular, it is unclear where exactly pores form in the complex organization of the plasma membrane. In this study, we combine coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, machine learning methods, and Bayesian survival analysis to identify how formation of pores depends on the local lipid organization. We show that pores do not form homogeneously across the membrane, but colocalize with domains that have specific features, the most important being high density of polyunsaturated lipids. We further show that knowing the lipid organization is sufficient to reliably predict poration sites with machine learning. Additionally, by analysing poration kinetics with Bayesian survival analysis we show that poration does not depend solely on local lipid arrangement, but also on membrane mechanical properties and the polarity of the electric field. Finally, we discuss how the combination of atomistic and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, machine learning methods, and Bayesian survival analysis can guide the design of future experiments and help us to develop an accurate description of plasma membrane electroporation on the whole-cell level. Achieving this will allow us to shift the optimization of electroporation applications from blind trial-and-error approaches to mechanistic-driven design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lea Rems
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. Applied Physics, Science for Life LaboratorySolnaSweden
- University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical EngineeringLjubljanaSlovenia
| | - Xinru Tang
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. Applied Physics, Science for Life LaboratorySolnaSweden
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Fangwei Zhao
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. Applied Physics, Science for Life LaboratorySolnaSweden
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Sergio Pérez-Conesa
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. Applied Physics, Science for Life LaboratorySolnaSweden
| | - Ilaria Testa
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. Applied Physics, Science for Life LaboratorySolnaSweden
| | - Lucie Delemotte
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. Applied Physics, Science for Life LaboratorySolnaSweden
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40
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Pogozheva ID, Armstrong GA, Kong L, Hartnagel TJ, Carpino CA, Gee SE, Picarello DM, Rubin AS, Lee J, Park S, Lomize AL, Im W. Comparative Molecular Dynamics Simulation Studies of Realistic Eukaryotic, Prokaryotic, and Archaeal Membranes. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:1036-1051. [PMID: 35167752 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c01514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
We present a comparative all-atom molecular dynamics simulation study of 18 biomembrane systems with lipid compositions corresponding to eukaryotic, bacterial, and archaebacterial membranes together with three single-component lipid bilayers. A total of 105 lipid types used in this study include diverse sterols and glycerol-based lipids with acyl chains of various lengths, unsaturation degrees, and branched or cyclic moieties. Our comparative analysis provides deeper insight into the influences of sterols and lipid unsaturation on the structural and mechanical properties of these biomembranes, including water permeation into the membrane hydrocarbon core. For sterol-containing membranes, sterol fraction is correlated with the membrane thickness, the area compressibility modulus, and lipid order but anticorrelated with the area per lipid and sterol tilt angles. Similarly, for all 18 biomembranes, lipid order is correlated with the membrane thickness and area compressibility modulus. Sterols and lipid unsaturation produce opposite effects on membrane thickness, but only sterols influence water permeation into the membrane. All membrane systems are accessible for public use in CHARMM-GUI Archive. They can be used as templates to expedite future modeling of realistic cell membranes with transmembrane and peripheral membrane proteins to study their structure, dynamics, molecular interactions, and function in a nativelike membrane environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irina D Pogozheva
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Grant A Armstrong
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Lingyang Kong
- Department of Bioengineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Timothy J Hartnagel
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Carly A Carpino
- Department of Bioengineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Stephen E Gee
- Department of Bioengineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Danielle M Picarello
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Amanda S Rubin
- Department of Bioengineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Jumin Lee
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Soohyung Park
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - Andrei L Lomize
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Wonpil Im
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States.,Department of Bioengineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States.,Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
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41
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Carey AB, Ashenden A, Köper I. Model architectures for bacterial membranes. Biophys Rev 2022; 14:111-143. [PMID: 35340604 PMCID: PMC8921416 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-021-00913-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/14/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The complex composition of bacterial membranes has a significant impact on the understanding of pathogen function and their development towards antibiotic resistance. In addition to the inherent complexity and biosafety risks of studying biological pathogen membranes, the continual rise of antibiotic resistance and its significant economical and clinical consequences has motivated the development of numerous in vitro model membrane systems with tuneable compositions, geometries, and sizes. Approaches discussed in this review include liposomes, solid-supported bilayers, and computational simulations which have been used to explore various processes including drug-membrane interactions, lipid-protein interactions, host-pathogen interactions, and structure-induced bacterial pathogenesis. The advantages, limitations, and applicable analytical tools of all architectures are summarised with a perspective for future research efforts in architectural improvement and elucidation of resistance development strategies and membrane-targeting antibiotic mechanisms. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12551-021-00913-7.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley B. Carey
- Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, College for Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5042 Australia
| | - Alex Ashenden
- Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, College for Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5042 Australia
| | - Ingo Köper
- Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, College for Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5042 Australia
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42
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Khairalla B, Brand I. Membrane Potentials Trigger Molecular-Scale Rearrangements in the Outer Membrane of Gram-Negative Bacteria. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:446-457. [PMID: 34963050 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c02820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The structural complexity of the cell envelope of Gram-negative bacteria limits the fabrication of realistic models of bacterial cell membranes. A vertical Langmuir-Blodgett withdrawing was used to deposit a 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (POPE) monolayer on the Au(111) surface. The second leaflet composed of di[3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonyl]-lipid A (KLA) was deposited using Langmuir-Schaefer transfer. The use of an electrode material as a support for the POPE-KLA bilayer allowed electrochemical control of the membrane's stability, compactness, and structure. Capacitance-potential curves showed a typical pattern for the supported lipid bilayers electrochemical characteristic. The minimum membrane capacitance was ∼4 μF cm-2 and did not change in the following desorption-adsorption cycles, indicating the presence of a stable bilayer structure with an asymmetric composition of both leaflets. However, at a molecular scale, as elucidated in spectroelectrochemical experiments, large differences in the response of both leaflets to electric potentials were observed. The acyl chains in POPE and KLA existed in a liquid state. The quantitative analysis of the CH stretching modes indicated potential-driven reorientations in the hydrophobic fragment of the bilayer, already in the adsorbed state. To assign observed rearrangements to POPE and KLA lipids in both leaflets, per-deuterated d31-POPE was transferred into the inner leaflet. Since no potential-dependent changes of the CD2 stretching modes in the d31-POPE-KLA bilayer were observed, reorientations in the acyl chain region were assigned to the KLA molecules. Mg2+ ions were bound to the polar head groups of KLA. The strength of electrostatic interactions in the polar head group region of KLA was dependent on the direction of the electric field. At negative electric potentials, the binding of divalent cations weakened, which gave the KLA molecules increased orientational flexibility. This behavior in electric fields is peculiar for the outer membrane and indicates that the microbial cell membranes have different electrochemical properties than phospholipid bilayers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bishoy Khairalla
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Izabella Brand
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
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43
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Brand I, Khairalla B. Structural changes in the model of the outer cell membrane of Gram-negative bacteria interacting with melittin: an in situ spectroelectrochemical study. Faraday Discuss 2021; 232:68-85. [PMID: 34542116 DOI: 10.1039/d0fd00039f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The cell membrane of Gram-negative bacteria interacting with an antimicrobial peptide presents a complex supramolecular assembly. Fabrication of models of bacterial cell membranes remains a large experimental challenge. Langmuir-Blodgett and Langmuir-Schaefer (LS-LB) transfer makes possible the deposition of multicomponent asymmetric lipid bilayers onto a gold surface. Two lipids: 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (POPE) and di[3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonyl]-lipid A (KLA) were used to deposit a model of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria on the Au(111) substrate. The use of gold as the solid substrate enables control of the membrane potential. Molecular scale changes in the model membrane exposed to physiological electric fields and interacting with melittin antimicrobial peptide are discussed in this paper. The interaction of the outer membrane with melittin leads to an increase in the membrane capacitance and permeability to ions and water. The stability of the outer membrane with bound melittin decreases at positive membrane potentials. In situ polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy is used to investigate membrane potential-dependent changes in the structure of the outer membrane interacting with melittin. The hydration of the ester carbonyl groups is not affected by the interaction with melittin. However, the orientation and hydrogen bond network with the carboxylate groups in KLA changes drastically after POPE-KLA bilayer interacts with melittin. We propose that the positively charged groups in the amino acids present at the C-terminus of the peptide interact directly with the polar head group of KLA. Simultaneously, the packing order in hydrocarbon chains in the membrane with bound melittin increases. A hydrophobic match between the chains in the lipids and the peptide, which spans the membrane, seems to be responsible for the ordering of the hydrocarbon chains region of the bilayer. The N-terminus enters into the hydrophobic region of the membrane and forms a channel to the hydrophilic head groups in POPE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Izabella Brand
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
| | - Bishoy Khairalla
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
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44
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A Unique Sequence Is Essential for Efficient Multidrug Efflux Function of the MtrD Protein of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. mBio 2021; 12:e0167521. [PMID: 34465021 PMCID: PMC8406276 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01675-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae has reached an alarming level, severely impacting the effective treatment of gonorrhea. Belonging to the resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND) superfamily of efflux transporters, the MtrD membrane protein of N. gonorrhoeae provides resistance to a broad range of antimicrobial compounds. A unique feature of MtrD is an 11-residue sequence (from N917 to P927 [N917-P927]) that connects transmembrane helices (TMS) 9 and 10; this sequence is not present in homologous RND proteins. This study explores the structural and functional roles of the N917-P927 region by means of mutant analysis and molecular dynamics simulations. We show that N917-P927 plays a key role in modulating substrate access to the binding cleft and influences the overall orientation of the protein within the inner membrane necessary for optimal functioning. Removal of N917-P927 significantly reduced MtrD-mediated resistance to a range of antimicrobials and mutations of three single amino acids impacted MtrD-mediated multidrug resistance. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations showed deletion of N917-P927 in MtrD may dysregulate access of the substrate to the binding cleft and closure of the substrate-binding pocket during the transport cycle. These findings indicate that N917-P927 is a key region for interacting with the inner membrane, conceivably influencing substrate capture from the membrane-periplasm interface and thus is essential for full multidrug resistance capacity of MtrD. IMPORTANCE The historical sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea continues to be a major public health concern with an estimated global annual incidence of 86.9 million cases. N. gonorrhoeae has been identified by the World Health Organization as one of the 12 antimicrobial-resistant bacterial species that poses the greatest risk to human health. As the major efflux pump in gonococci, the MtrD transporter contributes to the cell envelope barrier in this organism and pumps antimicrobials from the periplasm and inner membrane, resulting in resistance. This study demonstrates that a unique region of the MtrD protein that connects TMS 9 and TMS 10 forms a structure that may interact with the inner membrane positioning TMS 9 and stabilizing the protein facilitating substrate capture from the inner membrane-periplasm interface. Analysis of mutants of this region identified that it was essential for MtrD-mediated multidrug resistance. Characterization of the structure and function of this unique local region of MtrD has implications for drug efflux mechanisms used by related proteins and is important knowledge for development of antibiotics that bypass efflux.
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45
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Aronica PGA, Reid LM, Desai N, Li J, Fox SJ, Yadahalli S, Essex JW, Verma CS. Computational Methods and Tools in Antimicrobial Peptide Research. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:3172-3196. [PMID: 34165973 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is an ongoing and troubling development that has increased the number of diseases and infections that risk going untreated. There is an urgent need to develop alternative strategies and treatments to address this issue. One class of molecules that is attracting significant interest is that of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Their design and development has been aided considerably by the applications of molecular models, and we review these here. These methods include the use of tools to explore the relationships between their structures, dynamics, and functions and the increasing application of machine learning and molecular dynamics simulations. This review compiles resources such as AMP databases, AMP-related web servers, and commonly used techniques, together aimed at aiding researchers in the area toward complementing experimental studies with computational approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pietro G A Aronica
- Bioinformatics Institute at A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671
| | - Lauren M Reid
- Bioinformatics Institute at A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671.,School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Highfield Southampton, Hampshire, U.K. SO17 1BJ.,MedChemica Ltd, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire, U.K. SK10 4TG
| | - Nirali Desai
- Bioinformatics Institute at A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671.,Division of Biological and Life Sciences, Ahmedabad University, Central Campus, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India 380009
| | - Jianguo Li
- Bioinformatics Institute at A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671.,Singapore Eye Research Institute, 20 College Road Discovery Tower, Singapore 169856
| | - Stephen J Fox
- Bioinformatics Institute at A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671
| | - Shilpa Yadahalli
- Bioinformatics Institute at A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671
| | - Jonathan W Essex
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Highfield Southampton, Hampshire, U.K. SO17 1BJ
| | - Chandra S Verma
- Bioinformatics Institute at A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), 30 Biopolis Street, #07-01 Matrix, Singapore 138671.,Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, 117543 Singapore.,School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Drive, 637551 Singapore
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Marzuoli I, Cruz CHB, Lorenz CD, Fraternali F. Nanocapsule designs for antimicrobial resistance. NANOSCALE 2021; 13:10342-10355. [PMID: 34137751 DOI: 10.1039/d0nr08146a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The pressing need of new antimicrobial products is growing stronger, particularly because of widespread antimicrobial resistance, endangering our ability to treat common infections. The recent coronavirus pandemic has dramatically highlighted the necessity of effective antibacterial and antiviral protection. This work explores at the molecular level the mechanism of action of antibacterial nanocapsules assembled in virus-like particles, their stability and their interaction with mammal and antimicrobial model membranes. We use Molecular Dynamics with force-fields of different granularity and protein design strategies to study the stability, self-assembly and membrane poration properties of these nanocapsules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Marzuoli
- Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology, King's College London, London, UK.
| | - Carlos H B Cruz
- Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology, King's College London, London, UK.
| | | | - Franca Fraternali
- Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology, King's College London, London, UK.
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Mastering the Gram-negative bacterial barrier - Chemical approaches to increase bacterial bioavailability of antibiotics. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2021; 172:339-360. [PMID: 33705882 DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2021.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
To win the battle against resistant, pathogenic bacteria, novel classes of anti-infectives and targets are urgently needed. Bacterial uptake, distribution, metabolic and efflux pathways of antibiotics in Gram-negative bacteria determine what we here refer to as bacterial bioavailability. Understanding these mechanisms from a chemical perspective is essential for anti-infective activity and hence, drug discovery as well as drug delivery. A systematic and critical discussion of in bacterio, in vitro and in silico assays reveals that a sufficiently accurate holistic approach is still missing. We expect new findings based on Gram-negative bacterial bioavailability to guide future anti-infective research.
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Shearer J, Marzinek JK, Bond PJ, Khalid S. Molecular dynamics simulations of bacterial outer membrane lipid extraction: Adequate sampling? J Chem Phys 2021; 153:044122. [PMID: 32752683 DOI: 10.1063/5.0017734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is almost exclusively composed of lipopolysaccharide in its outer leaflet, whereas the inner leaflet contains a mixture of phospholipids. Lipopolysaccharide diffuses at least an order of magnitude slower than phospholipids, which can cause issues for molecular dynamics simulations in terms of adequate sampling. Here, we test a number of simulation protocols for their ability to achieve convergence with reasonable computational effort using the MARTINI coarse-grained force-field. This is tested in the context both of potential of mean force (PMF) calculations for lipid extraction from membranes and of lateral mixing within the membrane phase. We find that decoupling the cations that cross-link the lipopolysaccharide headgroups from the extracted lipid during PMF calculations is the best approach to achieve convergence comparable to that for phospholipid extraction. We also show that lateral lipopolysaccharide mixing/sorting is very slow and not readily addressable even with Hamiltonian replica exchange. We discuss why more sorting may be unrealistic for the short (microseconds) timescales we simulate and provide an outlook for future studies of lipopolysaccharide-containing membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Shearer
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
| | - Jan K Marzinek
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), 30 Biopolis Street, Matrix #07-01, 138671, Singapore
| | - Peter J Bond
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), 30 Biopolis Street, Matrix #07-01, 138671, Singapore
| | - Syma Khalid
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
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49
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Molecular Simulations Guidelines for Biological Nanomaterials: From Peptides to Membranes. Methods Mol Biol 2021. [PMID: 32856257 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0928-6_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register]
Abstract
In studying biological processes and focusing on the molecular mechanisms at the basis of these, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have demonstrated to be a very useful tool for the past 50 years. This suite of computational methods calculates the time-dependent evolution of a molecular system using physics-based first principles. In this chapter, we give a brief introduction to the theory and practical use of molecular dynamics simulations, highlighting the different models and algorithms that have been developed to tackle specific problems, with a special focus on classical force fields. Some examples of how simulations have been used in the past will help the reader in discerning their power, limitations, and significance.
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50
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Matamoros-Recio A, Franco-Gonzalez JF, Forgione RE, Torres-Mozas A, Silipo A, Martín-Santamaría S. Understanding the Antibacterial Resistance: Computational Explorations in Bacterial Membranes. ACS OMEGA 2021; 6:6041-6054. [PMID: 33718695 PMCID: PMC7948216 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c05590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alejandra Matamoros-Recio
- Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Research Margarita Salas, CIB-CSIC, C/Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan Felipe Franco-Gonzalez
- Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Research Margarita Salas, CIB-CSIC, C/Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Rosa Ester Forgione
- Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Research Margarita Salas, CIB-CSIC, C/Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Complesso Universitario Monte Sant’Angelo, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Cintia 4, 80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Angel Torres-Mozas
- Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Research Margarita Salas, CIB-CSIC, C/Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Alba Silipo
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Complesso Universitario Monte Sant’Angelo, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Cintia 4, 80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Sonsoles Martín-Santamaría
- Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Research Margarita Salas, CIB-CSIC, C/Ramiro de Maeztu, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
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