The Lon-2 protease of Borrelia burgdorferi is critical for infection in the mammalian host

bb0689 contributes to the virulence of Borrelia burgdorferi in a murine model of Lyme disease

Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease pathogen, continuously changes its gene expression profile in order to adapt to ticks and mammalian hosts. The alternative sigma factor RpoS plays a central role in borrelial host adaptation. Global transcriptome analyses suggested that more than 100 genes might be regulated by RpoS, but the main part of the regulon remains unexplored. Here, we showed that the expression of bb0689, a gene encoding an outer surface lipoprotein with unknown function, was activated by RpoS. By analyzing gene expression using luciferase reporter assays and quantitative reverse transcription PCR, we found that expression of bb0689 was induced by an elevated temperature, a reduced pH, and increased cell density during in vitro cultivation. The transcriptional start site and a functional promoter for gene expression were identified in the 5' regulatory region of bb0689. The promoter was responsive to environmental stimuli and influenced by RpoS. We also showed that bb0689 expression was expressed in B. burgdorferi during animal infection, suggesting the importance of this gene for infection. We further generated a bb0689 mutant and found that the infectivity of the mutant was severely attenuated in a murine infection model. Although bb0689-deficient spirochetes exhibited no defect during in vitro growth, they were defective in resistance to osmotic stress. Cis-complementation of the mutant with a wild-type copy of bb0689 fully rescued all phenotypes. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the RpoS-regulated gene bb0689 is a key contributor to the optimal infection of B. burgdorferi in animals.

Analysis of bb0556 Expression and Its Role During Borrelia burgdorferi Mammalian Infection

In Borrelia burgdorferi, BB0556 was annotated as a conserved hypothetical protein. We herein investigated gene expression and the importance of this protein during infection. Our data support that bb0556 forms an operon with five other genes. A transcriptional start site and the associated σ70-type promoter were identified in the sequences upstream of bb0554, and luciferase reporter assays indicated that this promoter is functional in B. burgdorferi. Furthermore, the sequences upstream of bb0556 contain an internal promoter to drive gene expression. bb0556 expression was affected by various environmental factors such as changes in temperature, pH, and cell density when B. burgdorferi was grown in vitro. Surprisingly, significant differences were observed for bb0556 expression between B. burgdorferi strains B31-A3 and CE162, likely due to the different cis- and trans-acting factors in these strains. Moreover, bb0556 was found to be highly expressed by B. burgdorferi in infected mice tissues, suggesting that this gene plays an important role during animal infection. To test this hypothesis, we generated a bb0556 deletion mutant in a virulent bioluminescent B. burgdorferi strain. The mutant grew normally in the medium and displayed no defect in the resistance to environmental stresses such as reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species, and osmotic stress. However, when the infectivity was compared between the mutant and its parental strain using in vivo bioluminescence imaging as well as analyses of spirochete recovery and bacterial burdens in animal tissues, our data showed that, contrary to the parental strain, the mutant was unable to infect mice. Complementation of bb0556 in cis fully restored the infectious phenotype to wild-type levels. Taken together, our study demonstrates that the hypothetical protein BB0556 is a novel virulence factor essential for B. burgdorferi mammalian infection.

Assessment of the hypothetical protein BB0616 in the murine infection of Borrelia burgdorferi

bb0616 of Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease pathogen, encodes a hypothetical protein of unknown function. In this study, we showed that BB0616 was not surface-exposed or associated with the membrane through localization analyses using proteinase K digestion and cell partitioning assays. The expression of bb0616 was influenced by a reduced pH but not by growth phases, elevated temperatures, or carbon sources during in vitro cultivation. A transcriptional start site for bb0616 was identified by using 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends, which led to the identification of a functional promoter in the 5' regulatory region upstream of bb0616. By analyzing a bb0616-deficient mutant and its isogenic complemented counterparts, we found that the infectivity potential of the mutant was significantly attenuated. The inactivation of bb0616 displayed no effect on borrelial growth in the medium or resistance to oxidative stress, but the mutant was significantly more susceptible to osmotic stress. In addition, the production of global virulence regulators such as BosR and RpoS as well as virulence-associated outer surface lipoproteins OspC and DbpA was reduced in the mutant. These phenotypes were fully restored when gene mutation was complemented with a wild-type copy of bb0616. Based on these findings, we concluded that the hypothetical protein BB0616 is required for the optimal infectivity of B. burgdorferi, potentially by impacting B. burgdorferi virulence gene expression as well as survival of the spirochete under stressful conditions.

A chemosensory-like histidine kinase is dispensable for chemotaxis in vitro but regulates the virulence of Borrelia burgdorferi through modulating the stability of RpoS

As an enzootic pathogen, the Lyme disease bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi possesses multiple copies of chemotaxis proteins, including two chemotaxis histidine kinases (CHK), CheA1 and CheA2. Our previous study showed that CheA2 is a genuine CHK that is required for chemotaxis; however, the role of CheA1 remains mysterious. This report first compares the structural features that differentiate CheA1 and CheA2 and then provides evidence to show that CheA1 is an atypical CHK that controls the virulence of B. burgdorferi through modulating the stability of RpoS, a key transcriptional regulator of the spirochete. First, microscopic analyses using green-fluorescence-protein (GFP) tags reveal that CheA1 has a unique and dynamic cellular localization. Second, loss-of-function studies indicate that CheA1 is not required for chemotaxis in vitro despite sharing a high sequence and structural similarity to its counterparts from other bacteria. Third, mouse infection studies using needle inoculations show that a deletion mutant of CheA1 (cheA1mut) is able to establish systemic infection in immune-deficient mice but fails to do so in immune-competent mice albeit the mutant can survive at the inoculation site for up to 28 days. Tick and mouse infection studies further demonstrate that CheA1 is dispensable for tick colonization and acquisition but essential for tick transmission. Lastly, mechanistic studies combining immunoblotting, protein turnover, mutagenesis, and RNA-seq analyses reveal that depletion of CheA1 affects RpoS stability, leading to reduced expression of several RpoS-regulated virulence factors (i.e., OspC, BBK32, and DbpA), likely due to dysregulated clpX and lon protease expression. Bulk RNA-seq analysis of infected mouse skin tissues further show that cheA1mut fails to elicit mouse tnf-α, il-10, il-1β, and ccl2 expression, four important cytokines for Lyme disease development and B. burgdorferi transmigration. Collectively, these results reveal a unique role and regulatory mechanism of CheA1 in modulating virulence factor expression and add new insights into understanding the regulatory network of B. burgdorferi.

Role of the Hypothetical Protein BB0563 during Borrelia burgdorferi Infection in Animals

The alternative sigma factor RpoS in Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiological agent of Lyme disease, has long been postulated to regulate virulence-associated genes other than ospC and dbpA. Here, we demonstrate that bb0563, a gene encoding a hypothetical protein, is regulated by RpoS and contributes to the optimal infectivity of B. burgdorferi. When B. burgdorferi was exposed to environmental stimuli, bb0563 showed similar expression patterns as rpoS, ospC, and dbpA. Expression of bb0563 was significantly downregulated when rpoS was inactivated and was restored in the complemented strain. By using rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) and luciferase reporter assays, a functional promoter was identified in the regulatory region upstream of bb0563. Gene expression from this promoter was drastically decreased in the rpoS mutant. We next investigated the role of bb0563 during animal infection. By using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR), we found that bb0563 was highly expressed in mouse tissues during infection. We further created a bb0563-deficient mutant in a bioluminescent B. burgdorferi strain and examined infection dynamics using in vivo imaging. Relative to the parental and complemented strains, the mutant showed a delayed infection pattern and bacterial load was reduced. Another bb0563 deletion mutant was also created in the strain 297 background, and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis revealed a significantly lower spirochetal burden in tissue samples collected from animals infected with the mutant. In addition, localization studies indicate that BB0563 is not exposed on the cell surface but is associated with outer membrane. Taken together, these results suggest that bb0563 is required for optimal infectivity of B. burgdorferi during experimental infection.

BB0761, a MepM homolog, contributes to Borrelia burgdorferi cell division and mammalian infectivity

M23 family endopeptidases play important roles in cell division and separation in a wide variety of bacteria. Recent studies have suggested that these proteins also contribute to bacterial virulence. However, the biological function of M23 peptidases in pathogenic spirochetes remains unexplored. Here, we describe Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterial pathogen causing Lyme disease, requires a putative M23 family homolog, BB0761, for spirochete morphology and cell division. Indeed, the inactivation of bb0761 led to an aberrant filamentous phenotype as well as the impairment of B. burgdorferi growth in vitro. These phenotypes were complemented not only with B. burgdorferi bb0761, but also with the mepM gene from E. coli. Moreover, the bb0761 mutant showed a complete loss of infectivity in a murine model of Lyme borreliosis. Resistance of the mutant to osmotic and oxidative stresses was markedly reduced. Our combined results indicate that BB0761 contributes to B. burgdorferi cell division and virulence.

Endogenous and Borrowed Proteolytic Activity in the Borrelia

The Borrelia spp. are tick-borne pathogenic spirochetes that include the agents of Lyme disease and relapsing fever. As part of their life cycle, the spirochetes traffic between the tick vector and the vertebrate host, which requires significant physiological changes and remodeling of their outer membranes and proteome. This crucial proteome resculpting is carried out by a diverse set of proteases, adaptor proteins, and related chaperones. Despite its small genome, Borrelia burgdorferi has dedicated a large percentage of its genome to proteolysis, including a full complement of ATP-dependent proteases. Energy-driven proteolysis appears to be an important physiological feature of this dual-life-cycle bacterium. The proteolytic arsenal of Borrelia is strategically deployed for disposal of proteins no longer required as they move from one stage to another or are transferred from one host to another. Likewise, the Borrelia spp. are systemic organisms that need to break down and move through host tissues and barriers, and so their unique proteolytic resources, both endogenous and borrowed, make movement more feasible. Both the Lyme disease and relapsing fever Borrelia spp. bind plasminogen as well as numerous components of the mammalian plasminogen-activating system. This recruitment capacity endows the spirochetes with a borrowed proteolytic competency that can lead to increased invasiveness.

Lyme Disease Pathogenesis

Lyme disease Borrelia are obligately parasitic, tick- transmitted, invasive, persistent bacterial pathogens that cause disease in humans and non-reservoir vertebrates primarily through the induction of inflammation. During transmission from the infected tick, the bacteria undergo significant changes in gene expression, resulting in adaptation to the mammalian environment. The organisms multiply and spread locally and induce inflammatory responses that, in humans, result in clinical signs and symptoms. Borrelia virulence involves a multiplicity of mechanisms for dissemination and colonization of multiple tissues and evasion of host immune responses. Most of the tissue damage, which is seen in non-reservoir hosts, appears to result from host inflammatory reactions, despite the low numbers of bacteria in affected sites. This host response to the Lyme disease Borrelia can cause neurologic, cardiovascular, arthritic, and dermatologic manifestations during the disseminated and persistent stages of infection. The mechanisms by which a paucity of organisms (in comparison to many other infectious diseases) can cause varied and in some cases profound inflammation and symptoms remains mysterious but are the subjects of diverse ongoing investigations. In this review, we provide an overview of virulence mechanisms and determinants for which roles have been demonstrated in vivo, primarily in mouse models of infection.

The Lon-1 Protease Is Required by Borrelia burgdorferi To Infect the Mammalian Host

Borrelia burgdorferi encodes a functional homolog of canonical Lon protease termed Lon-2. In addition, B. burgdorferi encodes a second Lon homolog called Lon-1. Recent studies suggest that Lon-1 may function differently from the prototypical Lon protease. However, the function of Lon-1 in B. burgdorferi biology remains virtually unknown. Particularly, the contribution of Lon-1 to B. burgdorferi fitness and infection remains hitherto unexplored. Herein, we show that Lon-1 plays a critical role for the infection of B. burgdorferi in a mammalian host. We found that lon-1 was highly expressed during animal infection, implying an important function of this protein in bacterial infection. We further generated a lon-1 deletion mutant and an isogenic complemented strain. Relative to that of the wild-type strain, the infectivity of the mutant was severely attenuated in a murine infection model. Our data also showed that the mutant displayed growth defects in regular BSK-II medium. Furthermore, bacterial resistance to osmotic stress was markedly reduced when lon-1 was inactivated. When exposed to tert-butyl hydroperoxide, survival of the lon-1 mutant was impaired. In addition, production of several virulence factors, such as BosR, RpoS, and OspC, was elevated in the mutant. These phenotypes were restored when the lon-1 mutation was complemented. Finally, we created a lon-1(S714A) mutant and found that this mutant failed to infect mice, suggesting that the proteolytic activity of Lon-1 is essential for bacterial infection. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Lon-1 is required by B. burgdorferi to infect animal hosts and to cope with environmental stresses.

DksA plays an essential role in regulating the virulence of Borrelia burgdorferi

The RNA polymerase-binding protein DksA, together with the alarmone nucleotides (p)ppGpp, mediates the stringent response to nutrient starvation in Borrelia burgdorferi. To date, the contribution of DksA to B. burgdorferi infection remains unknown. We report here that DksA is essential for B. burgdorferi to infect a mammalian host. dksA expression was highly induced during infection. Moreover, a dksA-deficient mutant was incapable of infecting mice. The mutant displayed growth defects when cultured in vitro and resistance to osmotic pressure was markedly reduced. These phenotypes were fully restored to those of the wild type when dksA mutation was complemented. We further showed that DksA controlled the expression of virulence-associated lipoprotein OspC, likely via the central alternative sigma factor RpoS. Synthesis of RpoS was abolished in the dksA mutant, but rpoS transcription remained unaffected. Additionally, we found that the expression of clpX, clpA, clpP, and clpP2 was significantly increased in the mutant, suggesting that DksA may post-transcriptionally regulate rpoS expression via its effect on ClpXP and/or ClpAP proteases. These combined data demonstrate that DksA regulates B. burgdorferi virulence at least partially through its influence on RpoS and OspC. This study thus elucidates that, in addition to function as a stringent response regulator, DksA promotes the transcription and/or translation of genes contributing to B. burgdorferi infectivity.