1
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Awad MM, Suraweera CD, Vidor CJ, Ye-Lin AY, Williams GC, Mileto SJ, Barlow CK, McGowan S, Lyras D. A Clostridioides difficile endolysin modulates toxin secretion without cell lysis. Commun Biol 2024; 7:1044. [PMID: 39179651 PMCID: PMC11344133 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06730-4] [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: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 08/13/2024] [Indexed: 08/26/2024] Open
Abstract
The Clostridia produce and secrete Large Clostridial Glucosylating Toxins (LCGTs) responsible for disease symptoms, but the secretion mechanism is largely unknown. Recently, a holin-like protein was shown to be essential for toxin secretion. Holins, typically bacteriophage-specific proteins, are part of the holin-endo(lysin) system that releases phage progeny. To determine if the clostridia also use a lysin, we investigated two conserved putative lysins, M7404_01910 and M7404_02200, in the release of the LCGTs TcdA and TcdB from a Clostridioides difficile ribotype 027 strain, M7404. Sequence analysis and structural modelling indicates that both proteins are related to N-acetylmuramoyl-l-alanine amidases, similar to CD27L, a lysin from the C. difficile phage ΦCD27. Disruption of these genes reveal that only M7404_02200 contributes to toxin secretion and does so in a non-lytic fashion. Peptidoglycan hydrolysis assays show that recombinant M7404_02200 is an active peptidoglycan amidase, confirming its role in TcdA and TcdB secretion in C. difficile M7404.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milena M Awad
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, 3800, Australia
| | - Chathura D Suraweera
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, 3800, Australia
| | - Callum J Vidor
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, 3800, Australia
| | - Auberon Y Ye-Lin
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, 3800, Australia
| | - Galain C Williams
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, 3800, Australia
| | - Steven J Mileto
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, 3800, Australia
| | - Christopher K Barlow
- Department of Biochemistry, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, 3800, Australia
- Monash Proteomics & Metabolomics Platform, Monash University, Clayton, 3800, Australia
| | - Sheena McGowan
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, 3800, Australia
| | - Dena Lyras
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, 3800, Australia.
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2
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Di Bella S, Sanson G, Monticelli J, Zerbato V, Principe L, Giuffrè M, Pipitone G, Luzzati R. Clostridioides difficile infection: history, epidemiology, risk factors, prevention, clinical manifestations, treatment, and future options. Clin Microbiol Rev 2024; 37:e0013523. [PMID: 38421181 PMCID: PMC11324037 DOI: 10.1128/cmr.00135-23] [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] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
SUMMARYClostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is one of the major issues in nosocomial infections. This bacterium is constantly evolving and poses complex challenges for clinicians, often encountered in real-life scenarios. In the face of CDI, we are increasingly equipped with new therapeutic strategies, such as monoclonal antibodies and live biotherapeutic products, which need to be thoroughly understood to fully harness their benefits. Moreover, interesting options are currently under study for the future, including bacteriophages, vaccines, and antibiotic inhibitors. Surveillance and prevention strategies continue to play a pivotal role in limiting the spread of the infection. In this review, we aim to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of epidemiological aspects, predisposing factors, clinical manifestations, diagnostic tools, and current and future prophylactic and therapeutic options for C. difficile infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Di Bella
- Clinical Department of
Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, Trieste
University, Trieste,
Italy
| | - Gianfranco Sanson
- Clinical Department of
Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, Trieste
University, Trieste,
Italy
| | - Jacopo Monticelli
- Infectious Diseases
Unit, Trieste University Hospital
(ASUGI), Trieste,
Italy
| | - Verena Zerbato
- Infectious Diseases
Unit, Trieste University Hospital
(ASUGI), Trieste,
Italy
| | - Luigi Principe
- Microbiology and
Virology Unit, Great Metropolitan Hospital
“Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli”,
Reggio Calabria, Italy
| | - Mauro Giuffrè
- Clinical Department of
Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, Trieste
University, Trieste,
Italy
- Department of Internal
Medicine (Digestive Diseases), Yale School of Medicine, Yale
University, New Haven,
Connecticut, USA
| | - Giuseppe Pipitone
- Infectious Diseases
Unit, ARNAS Civico-Di Cristina
Hospital, Palermo,
Italy
| | - Roberto Luzzati
- Clinical Department of
Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, Trieste
University, Trieste,
Italy
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3
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Xue M, Chakraborty S, Gao R, Wang S, Gu M, Shen N, Wei L, Cao C, Sun X, Cai J. Antimicrobial Guanidinylate Polycarbonates Show Oral In Vivo Efficacy Against Clostridioides Difficile. Adv Healthc Mater 2024; 13:e2303295. [PMID: 38321619 PMCID: PMC11144102 DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202303295] [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: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/08/2024]
Abstract
The emerging antibiotic resistance has been named by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top 10 threats to public health. Notably, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VREF) are designated as serious threats, whereas Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is recognized as one of the most urgent threats to human health and unmet medical need. Herein, they report the design and application of novel biodegradable polymers - the lipidated antimicrobial guanidinylate polycarbonates. These polymers showed potent antimicrobial activity against a panel of bacteria with fast-killing kinetics and low resistance development tendency, mainly due to their bacterial membrane disruption mechanism. More importantly, the optimal polymer showed excellent antibacterial activity against C. difficile infection (CDI) in vivo via oral administration. In addition, compared with vancomycin, the polymer demonstrated a much-prolonged therapeutic effect and virtually diminished recurrence rate of CDI. The convenient synthesis, easy scale-up, low cost, as well as biodegradability of this class of polycarbonates, together with their in vitro broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and orally in vivo efficacy against CDI, suggest the great potential of lipidated guandinylate polycarbonates as a new class of antibacterial biomaterials to treat CDI and combat emerging antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Menglin Xue
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Soumyadeep Chakraborty
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, 12901 Bruce B Downs Blvd, Tampa, FL 33612, USA
| | - Ruixuan Gao
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Shaohui Wang
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, 12901 Bruce B Downs Blvd, Tampa, FL 33612, USA
| | - Meng Gu
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Ning Shen
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Lulu Wei
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33620, USA
| | - Chuanhai Cao
- Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Taneja College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA
| | - Xingmin Sun
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, 12901 Bruce B Downs Blvd, Tampa, FL 33612, USA
| | - Jianfeng Cai
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33620, USA
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4
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Hu C, Garey KW. Microscopy methods for Clostridioides difficile. Anaerobe 2024; 86:102822. [PMID: 38341023 DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2024.102822] [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: 08/17/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Microscopic technologies including light and fluorescent, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and cryo-electron microscopy have been widely utilized to visualize Clostridioides difficile at the molecular, cellular, community, and structural biology level. This comprehensive review summarizes the microscopy tools (fluorescent and reporter system) in their use to study different aspects of C. difficile life cycle and virulence (sporulation, germination) or applications (detection of C. difficile or use of antimicrobials). With these developing techniques, microscopy tools will be able to find broader applications and address more challenging questions to study C. difficile and C. difficile infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenlin Hu
- University of Houston College of Pharmacy, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Kevin W Garey
- University of Houston College of Pharmacy, Houston, TX, USA.
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5
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Buddle JE, Fagan RP. Pathogenicity and virulence of Clostridioides difficile. Virulence 2023; 14:2150452. [PMID: 36419222 DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2022.2150452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Revised: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile is the most common cause of nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and is responsible for a spectrum of diseases characterized by high levels of recurrence, morbidity, and mortality. Treatment is complex, since antibiotics constitute both the main treatment and the major risk factor for infection. Worryingly, resistance to multiple antibiotics is becoming increasingly widespread, leading to the classification of this pathogen as an urgent threat to global health. As a consummate opportunist, C. difficile is well equipped for promoting disease, owing to its arsenal of virulence factors: transmission of this anaerobe is highly efficient due to the formation of robust endospores, and an array of adhesins promote gut colonization. C. difficile produces multiple toxins acting upon gut epithelia, resulting in manifestations typical of diarrheal disease, and severe inflammation in a subset of patients. This review focuses on such virulence factors, as well as the importance of antimicrobial resistance and genome plasticity in enabling pathogenesis and persistence of this important pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica E Buddle
- Molecular Microbiology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Robert P Fagan
- Molecular Microbiology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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6
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Chandra H, Kovall RA, Yadav JS, Sun X. Host Immune Responses to Surface S-Layer Proteins (SLPs) of Clostridioides difficile. Microorganisms 2023; 11:380. [PMID: 36838345 PMCID: PMC9963625 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11020380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2023] [Revised: 01/28/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile, a nosocomial pathogen, is an emerging gut pathobiont causing antibiotic-associated diarrhea. C. difficile infection involves gut colonization and disruption of the gut epithelial barrier, leading to the induction of inflammatory/immune responses. The expression of two major exotoxins, TcdA and TcdB is the major cause of C. difficile pathogenicity. Attachment of bacterial abundant cell wall proteins or surface S-layer proteins (SLPs) such as SlpA with host epithelial cells is critical for virulence. In addition to being toxins, these surface components have been shown to be highly immunogenic. Recent studies indicate that C. difficile SLPs play important roles in the adhesion of the bacteria to the intestinal epithelial cells, disruption of tight junctions, and modulation of the immune response of the host cells. These proteins might serve as new targets for vaccines and new therapeutic agents. This review summarizes our current understanding of the immunological role of SLPs in inducing host immunity and their use in the development of vaccines and novel therapeutics to combat C. difficile infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harish Chandra
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow 226025, UP, India
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA
| | - Rhett A. Kovall
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA
| | - Jagjit S. Yadav
- Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA
| | - Xingmin Sun
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA
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7
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Non-Toxin-Based Clostridioides difficile Vaccination Approaches. Pathogens 2023; 12:pathogens12020235. [PMID: 36839507 PMCID: PMC9966970 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12020235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Revised: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile (CD) is a Gram-positive, anaerobic bacterium that infects mainly hospitalized and elderly people who have been treated with long-term antibiotic therapy leading to dysbiosis. The deteriorating demographic structure and the increase in the number of antibiotics used indicate that the problem of CD infections (CDI) will continue to increase. Thus far, there is no vaccine against CD on the market. Unfortunately, clinical trials conducted using the CD toxin-based antigens did not show sufficiently high efficacy, because they did not prevent colonization and transmission between patients. It seems that the vaccine should also include antigens found in the bacterium itself or its spores in order not only to fight the effects of toxins but also to prevent the colonization of the patient. This literature review summarizes the latest advances in research into vaccine antigens that do not contain CD toxins.
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8
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Cheng JKJ, Unnikrishnan M. Clostridioides difficile infection: traversing host-pathogen interactions in the gut. MICROBIOLOGY (READING, ENGLAND) 2023; 169. [PMID: 36848200 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.001306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/01/2023]
Abstract
C. difficile is the primary cause for nosocomial infective diarrhoea. For a successful infection, C. difficile must navigate between resident gut bacteria and the harsh host environment. The perturbation of the intestinal microbiota by broad-spectrum antibiotics alters the composition and the geography of the gut microbiota, deterring colonization resistance, and enabling C. difficile to colonize. This review will discuss how C. difficile interacts with and exploits the microbiota and the host epithelium to infect and persist. We provide an overview of C. difficile virulence factors and their interactions with the gut to aid adhesion, cause epithelial damage and mediate persistence. Finally, we document the host responses to C. difficile, describing the immune cells and host pathways that are associated and triggered during C. difficile infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey K J Cheng
- Division of Biomedical Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Meera Unnikrishnan
- Division of Biomedical Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
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9
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Nale JY, Thanki AM, Rashid SJ, Shan J, Vinner GK, Dowah ASA, Cheng JKJ, Sicheritz-Pontén T, Clokie MRJ. Diversity, Dynamics and Therapeutic Application of Clostridioides difficile Bacteriophages. Viruses 2022; 14:v14122772. [PMID: 36560776 PMCID: PMC9784644 DOI: 10.3390/v14122772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile causes antibiotic-induced diarrhoea and pseudomembranous colitis in humans and animals. Current conventional treatment relies solely on antibiotics, but C. difficile infection (CDI) cases remain persistently high with concomitant increased recurrence often due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains. Antibiotics used in treatment also induce gut microbial imbalance; therefore, novel therapeutics with improved target specificity are being investigated. Bacteriophages (phages) kill bacteria with precision, hence are alternative therapeutics for the targeted eradication of the pathogen. Here, we review current progress in C. difficile phage research. We discuss tested strategies of isolating C. difficile phages directly, and via enrichment methods from various sample types and through antibiotic induction to mediate prophage release. We also summarise phenotypic phage data that reveal their morphological, genetic diversity, and various ways they impact their host physiology and pathogenicity during infection and lysogeny. Furthermore, we describe the therapeutic development of phages through efficacy testing in different in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo infection models. We also discuss genetic modification of phages to prevent horizontal gene transfer and improve lysis efficacy and formulation to enhance stability and delivery of the phages. The goal of this review is to provide a more in-depth understanding of C. difficile phages and theoretical and practical knowledge on pre-clinical, therapeutic evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of phage therapy for CDI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janet Y. Nale
- Centre for Epidemiology and Planetary Health, Department of Veterinary and Animal Science, Scotland’s Rural College, Inverness IV2 5NA, UK
- Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Anisha M. Thanki
- Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Srwa J. Rashid
- Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Jinyu Shan
- Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Gurinder K. Vinner
- Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Ahmed S. A. Dowah
- Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
- School of Pharmacy, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK
| | | | - Thomas Sicheritz-Pontén
- Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics, The Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Centre of Excellence for Omics-Driven Computational Biodiscovery, AIMST University, Bedong 08100, Kedah, Malaysia
| | - Martha R. J. Clokie
- Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
- Correspondence:
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10
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Huffman A, Ong E, Hur J, D’Mello A, Tettelin H, He Y. COVID-19 vaccine design using reverse and structural vaccinology, ontology-based literature mining and machine learning. Brief Bioinform 2022; 23:bbac190. [PMID: 35649389 PMCID: PMC9294427 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbac190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Rational vaccine design, especially vaccine antigen identification and optimization, is critical to successful and efficient vaccine development against various infectious diseases including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In general, computational vaccine design includes three major stages: (i) identification and annotation of experimentally verified gold standard protective antigens through literature mining, (ii) rational vaccine design using reverse vaccinology (RV) and structural vaccinology (SV) and (iii) post-licensure vaccine success and adverse event surveillance and its usage for vaccine design. Protegen is a database of experimentally verified protective antigens, which can be used as gold standard data for rational vaccine design. RV predicts protective antigen targets primarily from genome sequence analysis. SV refines antigens through structural engineering. Recently, RV and SV approaches, with the support of various machine learning methods, have been applied to COVID-19 vaccine design. The analysis of post-licensure vaccine adverse event report data also provides valuable results in terms of vaccine safety and how vaccines should be used or paused. Ontology standardizes and incorporates heterogeneous data and knowledge in a human- and computer-interpretable manner, further supporting machine learning and vaccine design. Future directions on rational vaccine design are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony Huffman
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
| | - Edison Ong
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
| | - Junguk Hur
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58202, USA
| | - Adonis D’Mello
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Hervé Tettelin
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Yongqun He
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
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11
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Wang S, Heuler J, Wickramage I, Sun X. Genomic and Phenotypic Characterization of the Nontoxigenic Clostridioides difficile Strain CCUG37785 and Demonstration of Its Therapeutic Potential for the Prevention of C. difficile Infection. Microbiol Spectr 2022; 10:e0178821. [PMID: 35315695 PMCID: PMC9045287 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.01788-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Symptoms of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) are attributed largely to two toxins, TcdA and TcdB. About 17-23% of C. difficile isolates produce binary toxin, which enhances C. difficile pathogenesis. Previously, we engineered the nontoxigenic C. difficile strain CCUG37785 (designated as CCUG37785) to express immunogenic fragments of TcdA and TcdB as an oral mucosal CDI vaccine candidate. In this study, we performed genomic and phenotypic analyses of CCUG37785 and evaluated its potential use for preventing and treating CDI. Whole genome sequencing showed that CCUG37785 is ribotype ST3 and lacks toxin genes. Comparative analyses of PaLoc and CdtLoc loci of CCUG37785 revealed 115-bp and 68-bp conserved fragments in these regions, respectively. Phenotypic comparisons between CCUG37785 and C. difficile R20291 (an epidemic hypervirulent BI/NAPI/027 strain, designated as R20291) found that CCUG37785 exhibited significantly higher adhesion and sporulation, significantly lower spore germination and biofilm formation, and comparable motility to R20291. We also showed that oral inoculation of CCUG37785 spores prior to infection with R20291 spores provided mice almost full protection against developing CDI. However, oral inoculation of CCUG37785 spores after infection with R20291 spores only provided minor protection against CDI. Further analysis showed that mice pretreated with CCUG37785 spores secreted significantly less R20291 spores, while mice treated with CCUG37785 spores after infection with R20291 secreted a comparable amount of R20291 spores to mice infected with R20291 spores only. Our data both highlight the potential use of CCUG37785 for the prevention of primary and recurrent CDI in humans and support its use as an oral mucosal vaccine carrier against CDI. IMPORTANCE Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) symptoms range from diarrhea to intestinal inflammation/lesion and death and are mainly caused by two exotoxins, TcdA and TcdB. Active vaccination provides the attractive opportunity to prevent CDI and recurrence. No vaccine against CDI is currently licensed. Tremendous efforts have been devoted to developing vaccines targeting both toxins. However, ideally, vaccines should target both toxins and C. difficile cells/spores that transmit the disease and cause recurrence. Furthermore, C. difficile is an enteric pathogen, and mucosal/oral immunization would be particularly useful to protect the host against CDI considering that the gut is the main site of disease onset and progression. Data in our current study not only highlight the potential use of CCUG37785 to prevent primary and recurrent CDI in humans but also further support its use as an oral mucosal vaccine carrier against CDI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaohui Wang
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
| | - Joshua Heuler
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
| | - Ishani Wickramage
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
| | - Xingmin Sun
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA
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12
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Chen J, Li Y, Wang S, Zhang H, Du Y, Wu Q, Wang H. Targeting Clostridioides difficile: New uses for old drugs. Drug Discov Today 2022; 27:1862-1873. [PMID: 35390545 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2022.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile bacteria can cause life-threatening diarrhea and colitis owing to limited treatment options and unacceptably high recurrence rates among infected patients. This necessitates the development of alternative routes for C. difficile treatment. Drug repurposing with new indications represents a proven shortcut. Here, we present a refined focus on 16 FDA-approved drugs that would be suitable for further development as potential anti-C. difficile drugs. Of these drugs, clinical trials have been conducted on five currently used drugs; however, ursodeoxycholic acid is the only drug to enter Phase IV clinical trials to date. Thus, drug repurposing promotes the study of mechanistic and therapeutic strategies, providing new options for the development of next-generation anti-C. difficile agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianwei Chen
- College of Pharmaceutical Science & Collaborative Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta Region Green Pharmaceuticals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China; Macau University of Science and Technology, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Macao
| | - Yasheng Li
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University & Anhui Center for Surveillance of Bacterial Resistance, Hefei, China
| | - Siqi Wang
- College of Pharmaceutical Science & Collaborative Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta Region Green Pharmaceuticals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hongfang Zhang
- College of Pharmaceutical Science & Collaborative Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta Region Green Pharmaceuticals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yujie Du
- College of Pharmaceutical Science & Collaborative Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta Region Green Pharmaceuticals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Qiang Wu
- Macau University of Science and Technology, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Macao.
| | - Hong Wang
- College of Pharmaceutical Science & Collaborative Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta Region Green Pharmaceuticals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China.
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13
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Clostridioides difficile from brazilian hospitals: characterization of virulence genes by whole genome sequencing. Microbes Infect 2022; 24:104953. [PMID: 35217192 DOI: 10.1016/j.micinf.2022.104953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile (CD) is the most frequent cause of healthcare related diarrhea and its severity has increased in the last decade by the spread of hypervirulent strains. Most important CD virulence factor is toxin production; however, not only toxins are responsible for Clostridioides virulence. We sequenced 38 strains and analyzed the presence and integrity of 24 virulence (including toxin) genes. We identified 28 toxigenic strains, six also presented the cdt genes. Only six strains didn't present all others genes searched. All absent genes were adhesion related. Understand others CD virulence factors can lead to a best understanding on this matter.
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14
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Nibbering B, Gerding DN, Kuijper EJ, Zwittink RD, Smits WK. Host Immune Responses to Clostridioides difficile: Toxins and Beyond. Front Microbiol 2022; 12:804949. [PMID: 34992590 PMCID: PMC8724541 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.804949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile is often resistant to the actions of antibiotics to treat other bacterial infections and the resulting C. difficile infection (CDI) is among the leading causes of nosocomial infectious diarrhea worldwide. The primary virulence mechanism contributing to CDI is the production of toxins. Treatment failures and recurrence of CDI have urged the medical community to search for novel treatment options. Strains that do not produce toxins, so called non-toxigenic C. difficile, have been known to colonize the colon and protect the host against CDI. In this review, a comprehensive description and comparison of the immune responses to toxigenic C. difficile and non-toxigenic adherence, and colonization factors, here called non-toxin proteins, is provided. This revealed a number of similarities between the host immune responses to toxigenic C. difficile and non-toxin proteins, such as the influx of granulocytes and the type of T-cell response. Differences may reflect genuine variation between the responses to toxigenic or non-toxigenic C. difficile or gaps in the current knowledge with respect to the immune response toward non-toxigenic C. difficile. Toxin-based and non-toxin-based immunization studies have been evaluated to further explore the role of B cells and reveal that plasma cells are important in protection against CDI. Since the success of toxin-based interventions in humans to date is limited, it is vital that future research will focus on the immune responses to non-toxin proteins and in particular non-toxigenic strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Britt Nibbering
- Center for Microbiome Analyses and Therapeutics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.,Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Dale N Gerding
- Department of Veterans Affairs, Research Service, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, IL, United States
| | - Ed J Kuijper
- Center for Microbiome Analyses and Therapeutics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.,Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Romy D Zwittink
- Center for Microbiome Analyses and Therapeutics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.,Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Wiep Klaas Smits
- Center for Microbiome Analyses and Therapeutics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.,Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
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15
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Coullon H, Candela T. Clostridioides difficile peptidoglycan modifications. Curr Opin Microbiol 2021; 65:156-161. [PMID: 34883390 DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2021.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Revised: 11/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The cortex and peptidoglycan of Clostridioides difficile have been poorly investigated. This last decade, the interest increased because these two structures are highly modified and these modifications may be involved in antimicrobial resistance. For example, C. difficile peptidoglycan deacetylation was recently reported to be involved in lysozyme resistance. Modifications may also be important for spore cortex synthesis or spore germination, which is essential in C. difficile pathogenesis. As such, the enzymes responsible for modifications of the peptidoglycan and/or cortex could be new drug target candidates or used as anti-C. difficile agents, as seen for the CD11 autolysin. In this review, we focus on C. difficile peptidoglycan and cortex and compare their structures with those of other well studied bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Héloise Coullon
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Micalis Institute, Jouy-en-Josas, France; Division of Infectious Diseases, Dept. of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Thomas Candela
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Micalis Institute, Jouy-en-Josas, France.
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16
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Zhu D, Wang S, Sun X. FliW and CsrA Govern Flagellin (FliC) Synthesis and Play Pleiotropic Roles in Virulence and Physiology of Clostridioides difficile R20291. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:735616. [PMID: 34675903 PMCID: PMC8523840 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.735616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile flagellin FliC is associated with toxin gene expression, bacterial colonization, and virulence, and is also involved in pleiotropic gene regulation during in vivo infection. However, how fliC expression is regulated in C. difficile remains unclear. In Bacillus subtilis, flagellin homeostasis and motility are coregulated by flagellar assembly factor (FliW), flagellin Hag (FliC homolog), and Carbon storage regulator A (CsrA), which is referred to as partner-switching mechanism “FliW-CsrA-Hag.” In this study, we characterized FliW and CsrA functions by deleting or overexpressing fliW, csrA, and fliW-csrA in C. difficile R20291. We showed that fliW deletion, csrA overexpression in R20291, and csrA complementation in R20291ΔWA (fliW-csrA codeletion mutant) dramatically decreased FliC production, but not fliC gene transcription. Suppression of fliC translation by csrA overexpression can be relieved mostly when fliW was coexpressed, and no significant difference in FliC production was detected when only fliW was complemented in R20291ΔWA. Further, loss of fliW led to increased biofilm formation, cell adhesion, toxin production, and pathogenicity in a mouse model of C. difficile infection (CDI), while fliW-csrA codeletion decreased toxin production and mortality in vivo. Our data suggest that CsrA negatively modulates fliC expression and FliW indirectly affects fliC expression through inhibition of CsrA post-transcriptional regulation. In light of “FliW-CsrA-Hag” switch coregulation mechanism reported in B. subtilis, our data also suggest that “FliW-CsrA-fliC/FliC” can regulate many facets of C. difficile R20291 pathogenicity. These findings further aid us in understanding the virulence regulation in C. difficile.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duolong Zhu
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Shaohui Wang
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Xingmin Sun
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
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17
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Zhu D, Patabendige HMLW, Tomlinson BR, Wang S, Hussain S, Flores D, He Y, Shaw LN, Sun X. Cwl0971, a novel peptidoglycan hydrolase, plays pleiotropic roles in Clostridioides difficile R20291. Environ Microbiol 2021; 23:5222-5238. [PMID: 33893759 PMCID: PMC11217927 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, toxin-producing anaerobe that can cause nosocomial antibiotic-associated intestinal disease. Although the production of toxin A (TcdA) and toxin B (TcdB) contribute to the main pathogenesis of C. difficile, the mechanism of TcdA and TcdB release from cell remains unclear. In this study, we identified and characterized a new cell wall hydrolase Cwl0971 (CDR20291_0971) from C. difficile R20291, which is involved in bacterial autolysis. The gene 0971 deletion mutant (R20291Δ0971) generated with CRISPR-AsCpfI exhibited significantly delayed cell autolysis and increased cell viability compared to R20291, and the purified Cwl0971 exhibited hydrolase activity for Bacillus subtilis cell wall. Meanwhile, 0971 gene deletion impaired TcdA and TcdB release due to the decreased cell autolysis in the stationary/late phase of cell growth. Moreover, sporulation of the mutant strain decreased significantly compared to the wild type strain. In vivo, the defect of Cwl0971 decreased fitness over the parent strain in a mouse infection model. Collectively, Cwl0971 is involved in cell wall lysis and cell viability, which affects toxin release, sporulation, germination, and pathogenicity of R20291, indicating that Cwl0971 could be an attractive target for C. difficile infection therapeutics and prophylactics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duolong Zhu
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
| | | | - Brooke Rene Tomlinson
- Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
| | - Shaohui Wang
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
| | - Syed Hussain
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
| | - Domenica Flores
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
| | - Yongqun He
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Lindsey N. Shaw
- Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
| | - Xingmin Sun
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
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18
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Ong E, Cooke MF, Huffman A, Xiang Z, Wong MU, Wang H, Seetharaman M, Valdez N, He Y. Vaxign2: the second generation of the first Web-based vaccine design program using reverse vaccinology and machine learning. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:W671-W678. [PMID: 34009334 PMCID: PMC8218197 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2021] [Revised: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Vaccination is one of the most significant inventions in medicine. Reverse vaccinology (RV) is a state-of-the-art technique to predict vaccine candidates from pathogen's genome(s). To promote vaccine development, we updated Vaxign2, the first web-based vaccine design program using reverse vaccinology with machine learning. Vaxign2 is a comprehensive web server for rational vaccine design, consisting of predictive and computational workflow components. The predictive part includes the original Vaxign filtering-based method and a new machine learning-based method, Vaxign-ML. The benchmarking results using a validation dataset showed that Vaxign-ML had superior prediction performance compared to other RV tools. Besides the prediction component, Vaxign2 implemented various post-prediction analyses to significantly enhance users' capability to refine the prediction results based on different vaccine design rationales and considerably reduce user time to analyze the Vaxign/Vaxign-ML prediction results. Users provide proteome sequences as input data, select candidates based on Vaxign outputs and Vaxign-ML scores, and perform post-prediction analysis. Vaxign2 also includes precomputed results from approximately 1 million proteins in 398 proteomes of 36 pathogens. As a demonstration, Vaxign2 was used to effectively analyse SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus causing COVID-19. The comprehensive framework of Vaxign2 can support better and more rational vaccine design. Vaxign2 is publicly accessible at http://www.violinet.org/vaxign2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edison Ong
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Michael F Cooke
- School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Anthony Huffman
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Zuoshuang Xiang
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Mei U Wong
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Haihe Wang
- Department of Pathogenobiology, Daqing Branch of Harbin Medical University, Daqing, Helongjiang, China
| | - Meenakshi Seetharaman
- Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Ninotchka Valdez
- Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Yongqun He
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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19
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The effects of diet and gut microbiota on the regulation of intestinal mucin glycosylation. Carbohydr Polym 2021; 258:117651. [DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.117651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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20
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Wang H, Ong E, Kao JY, Sun D, He Y. Reverse Microbiomics: A New Reverse Dysbiosis Analysis Strategy and Its Usage in Prediction of Autoantigens and Virulent Factors in Dysbiotic Gut Microbiomes From Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:633732. [PMID: 33717026 PMCID: PMC7947680 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.633732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2020] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Alterations in the gut microbiome have been associated with various human diseases. Most existing gut microbiome studies stopped at the stage of identifying microbial alterations between diseased or healthy conditions. As inspired by reverse vaccinology (RV), we developed a new strategy called Reverse Microbiomics (RM) that turns this process around: based on the identified microbial alternations, reverse-predicting the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease and microbial alternations. Our RM methodology starts by identifying significantly altered microbiota profiles, performing bioinformatics analysis on the proteomes of the microbiota identified, and finally predicting potential virulence or protective factors relevant to a microbiome-associated disease. As a use case study, this reverse methodology was applied to study the molecular pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a common autoimmune and inflammatory disease. Those bacteria differentially associated with RA were first identified and annotated from published data and then modeled and classified using the Ontology of Host-Microbiome Interactions (OHMI). Our study identified 14 species increased and 9 species depleted in the gut microbiota of RA patients. Vaxign was used to comparatively analyze 15 genome sequences of the two pairs of species: Gram-negative Prevotella copri (increased) and Prevotella histicola (depleted), as well as Gram-positive Bifidobacterium dentium (increased) and Bifidobacterium bifidum (depleted). In total, 21 auto-antigens were predicted to be related to RA, and five of them were previously reported to be associated with RA with experimental evidence. Furthermore, we identified 94 potential adhesive virulence factors including 24 microbial ABC transporters. While eukaryotic ABC transporters are key RA diagnosis markers and drug targets, we identified, for the first-time, RA-associated microbial ABC transporters and provided a novel hypothesis of RA pathogenesis. Our study showed that RM, by broadening the scope of RV, is a novel and effective strategy to study from bacterial level to molecular level factors and gain further insight into how these factors possibly contribute to the development of microbial alterations under specific diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haihe Wang
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Harbin Medical University (Daqing), Daqing, China.,Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Edison Ong
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - John Y Kao
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Duxin Sun
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Yongqun He
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.,Center of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
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21
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Razim A, Pacyga K, Martirosian G, Szuba A, Gamian A, Myc A, Górska S. Mapping Epitopes of a Novel Peptidoglycan Cross-Linking Enzyme Cwp22 Recognized by Human Sera Obtained from Patients with Clostridioides difficile Infection and Cord Blood. Microorganisms 2019; 7:microorganisms7110565. [PMID: 31739602 PMCID: PMC6920951 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms7110565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2019] [Revised: 11/12/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile (CD) cause a severe diarrhea which can lead to pseudomembranous colitis and even patient death. CD infection (CDI) is connected mainly with changes in intestinal microbiota as a consequence of antibiotic treatment. The growing resistance to antibiotics, justifies the search for new methods of combating CD. Despite of ongoing research on the immunity against the pathogen, there is still lack of any reliable vaccine. Most recently, Cwp22, that is a cross-linking enzyme involved in the production of CD peptidoglycan, seems to be a promising target to prevent CDI in high-risk patients. In this paper, the Cwp22 protein polypeptide-specific epitopes were mapped in silico and using PEPSCAN procedure. They were recognized not only by antibodies from CDI patients’ but also by umbilical cord blood sera. We identified three epitopes 54EFRVAT59, 201KVNGKM206 and 268WQEKNGKKYY277 of Cwp22 protein. Since Cwp22 protein has key functionality and the described above epitopes are also recognized by umbilical cord blood serum, we postulate that they could have important protective properties. In this paper, we propose Cwp22 protein as a good antigen candidate for CDI preventive vaccine. Our results open the possibility to use 54EFRVAT59, 201KVNGKM206 and 268WQEKNGKKYY277, epitopes as suitable anti-CD vaccine antigens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Razim
- Department of Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland; (A.G.); (A.M.)
- Department of Microbiology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland;
- Correspondence: (A.R.); (S.G.)
| | - Katarzyna Pacyga
- Department of Microbiology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland;
| | - Gajane Martirosian
- Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Medicine in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 40-752 Katowice, Poland;
| | - Andrzej Szuba
- Division of Angiology, Wroclaw Medical University, 51-618 Wroclaw, Poland;
- Department of Internal Medicine, 4th Military Hospital in Wroclaw, 50-981 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Andrzej Gamian
- Department of Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland; (A.G.); (A.M.)
| | - Andrzej Myc
- Department of Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland; (A.G.); (A.M.)
- MNIMBS, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5648, USA
| | - Sabina Górska
- Department of Microbiology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland;
- Correspondence: (A.R.); (S.G.)
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22
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Abhyankar W, Zheng L, Brul S, de Koster CG, de Koning LJ. Vegetative Cell and Spore Proteomes of Clostridioides difficile Show Finite Differences and Reveal Potential Protein Markers. J Proteome Res 2019; 18:3967-3976. [PMID: 31557040 PMCID: PMC6832669 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.9b00413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Clostridioides difficile-associated infection (CDI) is a health-care-associated infection caused, as the name suggests, by obligate anaerobic pathogen C. difficile and thus mainly transmitted via highly resistant endospores from one person to the other. In vivo, the spores need to germinate into cells prior to establishing an infection. Bile acids and glycine, both available in sufficient amounts inside the human host intestinal tract, serve as efficient germinants for the spores. It is therefore, for better understanding of C. difficile virulence, crucial to study both the cell and spore states with respect to their genetic, metabolic, and proteomic composition. In the present study, mass spectrometric relative protein quantification, based on the 14N/15N peptide isotopic ratios, has led to quantification of over 700 proteins from combined spore and cell samples. The analysis has revealed that the proteome turnover between a vegetative cell and a spore for this organism is moderate. Additionally, specific cell and spore surface proteins, vegetative cell proteins CD1228, CD3301 and spore proteins CD2487, CD2434, and CD0684 are identified as potential protein markers for C. difficile infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wishwas
R. Abhyankar
- Department
of Molecular Biology and Microbial Food Safety, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam Faculty
of Science, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department
of Mass Spectrometry of Bio-Macromolecules, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam Faculty
of Science, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Linli Zheng
- Department
of Molecular Biology and Microbial Food Safety, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam Faculty
of Science, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department
of Mass Spectrometry of Bio-Macromolecules, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam Faculty
of Science, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Stanley Brul
- Department
of Molecular Biology and Microbial Food Safety, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam Faculty
of Science, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Chris G. de Koster
- Department
of Mass Spectrometry of Bio-Macromolecules, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam Faculty
of Science, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Leo J. de Koning
- Department
of Mass Spectrometry of Bio-Macromolecules, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam Faculty
of Science, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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23
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Chen KY, Rathod J, Chiu YC, Chen JW, Tsai PJ, Huang IH. The Transcriptional Regulator Lrp Contributes to Toxin Expression, Sporulation, and Swimming Motility in Clostridium difficile. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2019; 9:356. [PMID: 31681632 PMCID: PMC6811523 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Accepted: 10/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium, and major cause of nosocomial diarrhea. Related studies have identified numerous factors that influence virulence traits such as the production of the two primary toxins, toxin A (TcdA) and toxin B (TcdB), as well as sporulation, motility, and biofilm formation. However, multiple putative transcriptional regulators are reportedly encoded in the genome, and additional factors are likely involved in virulence regulation. Although the leucine-responsive regulatory protein (Lrp) has been studied extensively in Gram-negative bacteria, little is known about its function in Gram-positive bacteria, although homologs have been identified in the genome. This study revealed that disruption of the lone lrp homolog in C. difficile decelerated growth under nutrient-limiting conditions, increased TcdA and TcdB production. Lrp was also found to negatively regulate sporulation while positively regulate swimming motility in strain R20291, but not in strain 630. The C. difficile Lrp appeared to function through transcriptional repression or activation. In addition, the lrp mutant was relatively virulent in a mouse model of infection. The results of this study collectively demonstrated that Lrp has broad regulatory function in C. difficile toxin expression, sporulation, motility, and pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuan-Yu Chen
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Jagat Rathod
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Ching Chiu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Jenn-Wei Chen
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.,Center of Infectious Disease and Signaling Research, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Pei-Jane Tsai
- Center of Infectious Disease and Signaling Research, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.,Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - I-Hsiu Huang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.,Center of Infectious Disease and Signaling Research, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
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