1
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Yang JJ, Goff A, Wild DJ, Ding Y, Annis A, Kerber R, Foote B, Passi A, Duerksen JL, London S, Puhl AC, Lane TR, Braunstein M, Waddell SJ, Ekins S. Computational drug repositioning identifies niclosamide and tribromsalan as inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium abscessus. Tuberculosis (Edinb) 2024; 146:102500. [PMID: 38432118 PMCID: PMC10978224 DOI: 10.1016/j.tube.2024.102500] [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: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is still a major global health challenge, killing over 1.5 million people each year, and hence, there is a need to identify and develop novel treatments for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis). The prevalence of infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is also increasing and has overtaken TB cases in the United States and much of the developed world. Mycobacterium abscessus (M. abscessus) is one of the most frequently encountered NTM and is difficult to treat. We describe the use of drug-disease association using a semantic knowledge graph approach combined with machine learning models that has enabled the identification of several molecules for testing anti-mycobacterial activity. We established that niclosamide (M. tuberculosis IC90 2.95 μM; M. abscessus IC90 59.1 μM) and tribromsalan (M. tuberculosis IC90 76.92 μM; M. abscessus IC90 147.4 μM) inhibit M. tuberculosis and M. abscessus in vitro. To investigate the mode of action, we determined the transcriptional response of M. tuberculosis and M. abscessus to both compounds in axenic log phase, demonstrating a broad effect on gene expression that differed from known M. tuberculosis inhibitors. Both compounds elicited transcriptional responses indicative of respiratory pathway stress and the dysregulation of fatty acid metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy J Yang
- School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA; Data2Discovery, Inc., Bloomington, IN, USA; Department of Internal Medicine Translational Informatics Division, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Aaron Goff
- Department of Global Health and Infection, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, UK
| | - David J Wild
- School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA; Data2Discovery, Inc., Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Ying Ding
- School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA; Data2Discovery, Inc., Bloomington, IN, USA; School of Information, Dell Medical School, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Ayano Annis
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | | | | | - Anurag Passi
- Department of Pediatrics, UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Ana C Puhl
- Collaborations Pharmaceuticals Inc., 840 Main Campus Drive, Lab 3510, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA
| | - Thomas R Lane
- Collaborations Pharmaceuticals Inc., 840 Main Campus Drive, Lab 3510, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA
| | - Miriam Braunstein
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Simon J Waddell
- Department of Global Health and Infection, Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, UK
| | - Sean Ekins
- Collaborations Pharmaceuticals Inc., 840 Main Campus Drive, Lab 3510, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA.
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2
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Bei C, Zhu J, Culviner PH, Gan M, Rubin EJ, Fortune SM, Gao Q, Liu Q. Genetically encoded transcriptional plasticity underlies stress adaptation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3088. [PMID: 38600064 PMCID: PMC11006872 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47410-5] [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: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Transcriptional regulation is a critical adaptive mechanism that allows bacteria to respond to changing environments, yet the concept of transcriptional plasticity (TP) - the variability of gene expression in response to environmental changes - remains largely unexplored. In this study, we investigate the genome-wide TP profiles of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) genes by analyzing 894 RNA sequencing samples derived from 73 different environmental conditions. Our data reveal that Mtb genes exhibit significant TP variation that correlates with gene function and gene essentiality. We also find that critical genetic features, such as gene length, GC content, and operon size independently impose constraints on TP, beyond trans-regulation. By extending our analysis to include two other Mycobacterium species -- M. smegmatis and M. abscessus -- we demonstrate a striking conservation of the TP landscape. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the TP exhibited by mycobacteria genes, shedding light on this significant, yet understudied, genetic feature encoded in bacterial genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Bei
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Science, Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Junhao Zhu
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogen Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Peter H Culviner
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mingyu Gan
- Center for Molecular Medicine, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, National Children's Medical Center, 201102, Shanghai, China
| | - Eric J Rubin
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sarah M Fortune
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Qian Gao
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Science, Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
| | - Qingyun Liu
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
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3
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Youngblom MA, Smith TM, Murray HJ, Pepperell CS. Adaptation of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis transcriptome to biofilm growth. PLoS Pathog 2024; 20:e1012124. [PMID: 38635841 PMCID: PMC11060545 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012124] [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: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), is a leading global cause of death from infectious disease. Biofilms are increasingly recognized as a relevant growth form during M. tb infection and may impede treatment by enabling bacterial drug and immune tolerance. M. tb has a complicated regulatory network that has been well-characterized for many relevant disease states, including dormancy and hypoxia. However, despite its importance, our knowledge of the genes and pathways involved in biofilm formation is limited. Here we characterize the biofilm transcriptomes of fully virulent clinical isolates and find that the regulatory systems underlying biofilm growth vary widely between strains and are also distinct from regulatory programs associated with other environmental cues. We used experimental evolution to investigate changes to the transcriptome during adaptation to biofilm growth and found that the application of a uniform selection pressure resulted in loss of strain-to-strain variation in gene expression, resulting in a more uniform biofilm transcriptome. The adaptive trajectories of transcriptomes were shaped by the genetic background of the M. tb population leading to convergence on a sub-lineage specific transcriptome. We identified widespread upregulation of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) as a common feature of the biofilm transcriptome and hypothesize that ncRNA function in genome-wide modulation of gene expression, thereby facilitating rapid regulatory responses to new environments. These results reveal a new facet of the M. tb regulatory system and provide valuable insight into how M. tb adapts to new environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madison A. Youngblom
- Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Madison-Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Tracy M. Smith
- Department of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Holly J. Murray
- Department of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Caitlin S. Pepperell
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Madison-Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Department of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
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Orgeur M, Sous C, Madacki J, Brosch R. Evolution and emergence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2024; 48:fuae006. [PMID: 38365982 PMCID: PMC10906988 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuae006] [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: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the deadliest infectious diseases in human history, prevailing even in the 21st century. The causative agents of TB are represented by a group of closely related bacteria belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), which can be subdivided into several lineages of human- and animal-adapted strains, thought to have shared a last common ancestor emerged by clonal expansion from a pool of recombinogenic Mycobacterium canettii-like tubercle bacilli. A better understanding of how MTBC populations evolved from less virulent mycobacteria may allow for discovering improved TB control strategies and future epidemiologic trends. In this review, we highlight new insights into the evolution of mycobacteria at the genus level, describing different milestones in the evolution of mycobacteria, with a focus on the genomic events that have likely enabled the emergence and the dominance of the MTBC. We also review the recent literature describing the various MTBC lineages and highlight their particularities and differences with a focus on host preferences and geographic distribution. Finally, we discuss on putative mechanisms driving the evolution of tubercle bacilli and mycobacteria in general, by taking the mycobacteria-specific distributive conjugal transfer as an example.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mickael Orgeur
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 6047, Unit for Integrated Mycobacterial Pathogenomics, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Camille Sous
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 6047, Unit for Integrated Mycobacterial Pathogenomics, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Jan Madacki
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 6047, Unit for Integrated Mycobacterial Pathogenomics, 75015 Paris, France
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 2000, Unit for Human Evolutionary Genetics, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Roland Brosch
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 6047, Unit for Integrated Mycobacterial Pathogenomics, 75015 Paris, France
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Frando A, Boradia V, Grundner C. Regulatory Intersection of Two-component System and Ser/Thr Protein Kinase Signaling in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Mol Biol 2024; 436:168379. [PMID: 38043732 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2023.168379] [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: 08/28/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
Phosphosignaling in bacteria is mediated by two distinct systems, the two-component systems (TCSs) and the protein Ser/Thr/Tyr, or O-phosphorylation systems. These two arms of phosphosignaling are currently thought to be largely independent from one another. We mined a deep Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) phosphoproteome and identified over 170 O-phosphorylation sites on histidine kinases and response regulators of TCSs, suggesting that the two signaling pathways extensively intersect. Several TCSs were phosphorylated on multiple sites, and many by multiple Ser/Thr protein kinases, suggesting convergent and cooperative regulatory interactions. To test in which way these O-phosphorylation sites affect TCS activity, we reconstituted the NarSL phosphorelay in vitro. The Ser/Thr protein kinase PknL phosphorylated the histidine kinase NarS and activated its autophosphorylating activity. A phosphoablative mutation at the PknL phosphorylation site Thr380 resulted in low autophosphorylating activity, whereas a phosphomimetic mutation strongly activated autophosphorylation. The phosphomimetic mutation also resulted in more efficient phosphotransfer from NarS to the response regulator NarL and suppression of gene expression. These data show control of NarSL signaling by STPKs through a phosphoswitch and point to extensive, functional crosstalk between TCSs and O-phosphorylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Frando
- Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Vishant Boradia
- Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Christoph Grundner
- Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States; Department of Global Health, United States.
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Huang T, He J, Zhou X, Pan H, He F, Du A, Yu B, Jiang N, Li X, Yuan K, Wang Z. Discovering common pathogenetic processes between COVID-19 and tuberculosis by bioinformatics and system biology approach. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1280223. [PMID: 38162574 PMCID: PMC10757339 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1280223] [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: 08/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, stemming from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has persistently threatened the global health system. Meanwhile, tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) still continues to be endemic in various regions of the world. There is a certain degree of similarity between the clinical features of COVID-19 and TB, but the underlying common pathogenetic processes between COVID-19 and TB are not well understood. Methods To elucidate the common pathogenetic processes between COVID-19 and TB, we implemented bioinformatics and systematic research to obtain shared pathways and molecular biomarkers. Here, the RNA-seq datasets (GSE196822 and GSE126614) are used to extract shared differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of COVID-19 and TB. The common DEGs were used to identify common pathways, hub genes, transcriptional regulatory networks, and potential drugs. Results A total of 96 common DEGs were selected for subsequent analyses. Functional enrichment analyses showed that viral genome replication and immune-related pathways collectively contributed to the development and progression of TB and COVID-19. Based on the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, we identified 10 hub genes, including IFI44L, ISG15, MX1, IFI44, OASL, RSAD2, GBP1, OAS1, IFI6, and HERC5. Subsequently, the transcription factor (TF)-gene interaction and microRNA (miRNA)-gene coregulatory network identified 61 TFs and 29 miRNAs. Notably, we identified 10 potential drugs to treat TB and COVID-19, namely suloctidil, prenylamine, acetohexamide, terfenadine, prochlorperazine, 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine, chlorophyllin, etoposide, clioquinol, and propofol. Conclusion This research provides novel strategies and valuable references for the treatment of tuberculosis and COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tengda Huang
- Division of Liver Surgery, Department of General Surgery and Laboratory of Liver Surgery, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Jinyi He
- Division of Liver Surgery, Department of General Surgery and Laboratory of Liver Surgery, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Xinyi Zhou
- Division of Liver Surgery, Department of General Surgery and Laboratory of Liver Surgery, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Hongyuan Pan
- Division of Liver Surgery, Department of General Surgery and Laboratory of Liver Surgery, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Fang He
- Center of Infectious Diseases, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Ao Du
- Division of Liver Surgery, Department of General Surgery and Laboratory of Liver Surgery, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Bingxuan Yu
- Division of Liver Surgery, Department of General Surgery and Laboratory of Liver Surgery, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Nan Jiang
- Division of Liver Surgery, Department of General Surgery and Laboratory of Liver Surgery, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Xiaoquan Li
- Division of Liver Surgery, Department of General Surgery and Laboratory of Liver Surgery, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Kefei Yuan
- Division of Liver Surgery, Department of General Surgery and Laboratory of Liver Surgery, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Zhen Wang
- Division of Liver Surgery, Department of General Surgery and Laboratory of Liver Surgery, and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Bei C, Zhu J, Culviner PH, Rubin EJ, Fortune SM, Gao Q, Liu Q. Genetically encoded transcriptional plasticity underlies stress adaptation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-3303807. [PMID: 37790329 PMCID: PMC10543248 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3303807/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
Transcriptional regulation is a critical adaptive mechanism that allows bacteria to respond to changing environments, yet the concept of transcriptional plasticity (TP) remains largely unexplored. In this study, we investigate the genome-wide TP profiles of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) genes by analyzing 894 RNA sequencing samples derived from 73 different environmental conditions. Our data reveal that Mtb genes exhibit significant TP variation that correlates with gene function and gene essentiality. We also found that critical genetic features, such as gene length, GC content, and operon size independently impose constraints on TP, beyond trans-regulation. By extending our analysis to include two other Mycobacterium species -- M. smegmatis and M. abscessus -- we demonstrate a striking conservation of the TP landscape. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the TP exhibited by mycobacteria genes, shedding light on this significant, yet understudied, genetic feature encoded in bacterial genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Bei
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Science, Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Junhao Zhu
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Peter H Culviner
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Eric J. Rubin
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Sarah M Fortune
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Qian Gao
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Science, Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Qingyun Liu
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Limón G, Samhadaneh NM, Pironti A, Darwin KH. Aldehyde accumulation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis with defective proteasomal degradation results in copper sensitivity. mBio 2023; 14:e0036323. [PMID: 37350636 PMCID: PMC10470581 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00363-23] [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: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a major human pathogen and the causative agent of tuberculosis disease. M. tuberculosis is able to persist in the face of host-derived antimicrobial molecules nitric oxide (NO) and copper (Cu). However, M. tuberculosis with defective proteasome activity is highly sensitive to NO and Cu, making the proteasome an attractive target for drug development. Previous work linked NO susceptibility with the accumulation of para-hydroxybenzaldehyde (pHBA) in M. tuberculosis mutants with defective proteasomal degradation. In this study, we found that pHBA accumulation was also responsible for Cu sensitivity in these strains. We showed that exogenous addition of pHBA to wild-type M. tuberculosis cultures sensitized bacteria to Cu to a degree similar to that of a proteasomal degradation mutant. We determined that pHBA reduced the production and function of critical Cu resistance proteins of the regulated in copper repressor (RicR) regulon. Furthermore, we extended these Cu-sensitizing effects to an aldehyde that M. tuberculosis may face within the macrophage. Collectively, this study is the first to mechanistically propose how aldehydes can render M. tuberculosis susceptible to an existing host defense and could support a broader role for aldehydes in controlling M. tuberculosis infections. IMPORTANCE M. tuberculosis is a leading cause of death by a single infectious agent, causing 1.5 million deaths annually. An effective vaccine for M. tuberculosis infections is currently lacking, and prior infection does not typically provide robust immunity to subsequent infections. Nonetheless, immunocompetent humans can control M. tuberculosis infections for decades. For these reasons, a clear understanding of how mammalian immunity inhibits mycobacterial growth is warranted. In this study, we show aldehydes can increase M. tuberculosis susceptibility to copper, an established antibacterial metal used by immune cells to control M. tuberculosis and other microbes. Given that activated macrophages produce increased amounts of aldehydes during infection, we propose host-derived aldehydes may help control bacterial infections, making aldehydes a previously unappreciated antimicrobial defense.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gina Limón
- Department of Microbiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Nora M. Samhadaneh
- Department of Microbiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
- Antimicrobial-Resistant Pathogens Program, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
- Microbial Computational Genomic Core Lab, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Alejandro Pironti
- Department of Microbiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
- Antimicrobial-Resistant Pathogens Program, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
- Microbial Computational Genomic Core Lab, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - K. Heran Darwin
- Department of Microbiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
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Zhang L, Zhang Y, Li Y, Huo F, Chen X, Zhu H, Guo S, Fu L, Wang B, Lu Y. Rv1453 is associated with clofazimine resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0000223. [PMID: 37615440 PMCID: PMC10580819 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00002-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Clofazimine (CFZ) has been repurposed for treating tuberculosis (TB), especially multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). However, the mechanisms of resistance to clofazimine are poorly understood. We previously reported a mutation located in the intergenic region of Rv1453 that was linked to resistance to CFZ and demonstrated that an Rv1453 knockout resulted in an increased minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of CFZ. The current study aims to go back and describe in detail how the mutation was identified and further explore its association with CFZ resistance by testing additional 30 isolates. We investigated MICs of clofazimine against 100 clinical strains isolated from MDR-TB patients by microplate alamarBlue assay. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on 11 clofazimine-resistant and 7 clofazimine-susceptible strains, including H37Rv. Among the 11 clofazimine-resistant mutants subjected to WGS, the rate of mutation in the intergenic region of the Rv1453 gene was 55% (6/11) in clofazimine-resistant strains. Among another 30 clofazimine-resistant clinical isolates, 27 had mutations in the intergenic region of the Rv1453 gene. A mutation in the Rv1453 gene associated with clofazimine resistance was identified, which shed light on the mechanisms of action and resistance of clofazimine. IMPORTANCE Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, especially the emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) brings great distress to humans. Clofazimine (CFZ) plays an important role in the treatment of MDR-TB. To understand the underlying mechanism of clofazimine resistance better, in this study, we review and detail the findings of the mutation of intergenic region of Rv1453 and find additional evidence that this mutation is related to clofazimine resistance in 30 additional isolates. The significance of our research is to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of clofazimine-resistant mechanisms, which is critical for reducing the emergence of resistance and for anti-TB drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Resistance Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Ye Zhang
- Department of Pharmacology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Resistance Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Yuanyuan Li
- Department of Pharmacology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Resistance Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Fengmin Huo
- National Clinical Laboratory on Tuberculosis, Beijing Key Laboratory for Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Xi Chen
- Department of Pharmacology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Resistance Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Hui Zhu
- Department of Pharmacology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Resistance Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Shaochen Guo
- Department of Pharmacology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Resistance Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Lei Fu
- Department of Pharmacology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Resistance Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Bin Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Resistance Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, China
| | - Yu Lu
- Department of Pharmacology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Resistance Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute, Beijing, China
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10
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Nelson SJ, Williams JT, Buglino JA, Nambi S, Lojek LJ, Glickman MS, Ioerger TR, Sassetti CM. The Rip1 intramembrane protease contributes to iron and zinc homeostasis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. mSphere 2023; 8:e0038922. [PMID: 37318217 PMCID: PMC10449499 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00389-22] [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: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is exposed to a variety of stresses during a chronic infection, as the immune system simultaneously produces bactericidal compounds and starves the pathogen of essential nutrients. The intramembrane protease, Rip1, plays an important role in the adaptation to these stresses, at least partially by the cleavage of membrane-bound transcriptional regulators. Although Rip1 is known to be critical for surviving copper intoxication and nitric oxide exposure, these stresses do not fully account for the regulatory protein's essentiality during infection. In this work, we demonstrate that Rip1 is also necessary for growth in low-iron and low-zinc conditions, similar to those imposed by the immune system. Using a newly generated library of sigma factor mutants, we show that the known regulatory target of Rip1, SigL, shares this defect. Transcriptional profiling under iron-limiting conditions supported the coordinated activity of Rip1 and SigL and demonstrated that the loss of these proteins produces an exaggerated iron starvation response. These observations demonstrate that Rip1 coordinates several aspects of metal homeostasis and suggest that a Rip1- and SigL-dependent pathway is necessary to thrive in the iron-deficient environments encountered during infection. IMPORTANCE Metal homeostasis represents a critical point of interaction between the mammalian immune system and potential pathogens. While the host attempts to intoxicate microbes with high concentrations of copper or starve the invader of iron and zinc, successful pathogens have acquired mechanisms to overcome these defenses. Our work identifies a regulatory pathway consisting of the Rip1 intramembrane protease and the sigma factor, SigL, that is essential for the important human pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to grow in low-iron or low-zinc conditions such as those encountered during infection. In conjunction with Rip1's known role in resisting copper toxicity, our work implicates this protein as a critical integration point that coordinates the multiple metal homeostatic systems required for this pathogen to survive in host tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha J. Nelson
- Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - John T. Williams
- Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - John A. Buglino
- Immunology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, New York City, New York, USA
| | - Subhalaxmi Nambi
- Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Lisa J. Lojek
- Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Thomas R. Ioerger
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Christopher M. Sassetti
- Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
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11
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Bei C, Zhu J, Culviner PH, Rubin EJ, Fortune SM, Gao Q, Liu Q. Genetically encoded transcriptional plasticity underlies stress adaptation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.08.20.553992. [PMID: 37645742 PMCID: PMC10462119 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.20.553992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Transcriptional regulation is a critical adaptive mechanism that allows bacteria to respond to changing environments, yet the concept of transcriptional plasticity (TP) remains largely unexplored. In this study, we investigate the genome-wide TP profiles of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) genes by analyzing 894 RNA sequencing samples derived from 73 different environmental conditions. Our data reveal that Mtb genes exhibit significant TP variation that correlates with gene function and gene essentiality. We also found that critical genetic features, such as gene length, GC content, and operon size independently impose constraints on TP, beyond trans-regulation. By extending our analysis to include two other Mycobacterium species -- M. smegmatis and M. abscessus -- we demonstrate a striking conservation of the TP landscape. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the TP exhibited by mycobacteria genes, shedding light on this significant, yet understudied, genetic feature encoded in bacterial genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Bei
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Science, Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Junhao Zhu
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Peter H Culviner
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Eric J. Rubin
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Sarah M Fortune
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Qian Gao
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), School of Basic Medical Science, Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Qingyun Liu
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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12
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Pal P, Khan MY, Sharma S, Kumar Y, Mangla N, Kaushal PS, Agarwal N. ResR/McdR-regulated protein translation machinery contributes to drug resilience in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Commun Biol 2023; 6:708. [PMID: 37433855 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05059-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Survival response of the human tuberculosis pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to a diverse environmental cues is governed through its versatile transcription regulatory mechanisms with the help of a large pool of transcription regulators (TRs). Rv1830 is one such conserved TR, which remains uncharacterized in Mtb. It was named as McdR based on an effect on cell division upon its overexpression in Mycobacterium smegmatis. Recently, it has been implicated in antibiotic resilience in Mtb and reannotated as ResR. While Rv1830 affects cell division by modulating the expression of M. smegmatis whiB2, the underlying cause of its essentiality and regulation of drug resilience in Mtb is yet to be deciphered. Here we show that ResR/McdR, encoded by ERDMAN_2020 in virulent Mtb Erdman, is pivotal for bacterial proliferation and crucial metabolic activities. Importantly, ResR/McdR directly regulates ribosomal gene expression and protein synthesis, requiring distinct disordered N-terminal sequence. Compared to control, bacteria depleted with resR/mcdR exhibit delayed recovery post-antibiotic treatment. A similar effect upon knockdown of rplN operon genes further implicates ResR/McdR-regulated protein translation machinery in attributing drug resilience in Mtb. Overall, findings from this study suggest that chemical inhibitors of ResR/McdR may be proven effective as adjunctive therapy for shortening the duration of TB treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pramila Pal
- Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, NCR Biotech Science Cluster, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001, Haryana, India
- Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi, 110067, Delhi, India
| | - Mohd Younus Khan
- Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, NCR Biotech Science Cluster, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001, Haryana, India
- Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi, 110067, Delhi, India
| | - Shivani Sharma
- Regional Centre for Biotechnology, NCR Biotech Science Cluster, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001, Haryana, India
| | - Yashwant Kumar
- Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, NCR Biotech Science Cluster, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001, Haryana, India
| | - Nikita Mangla
- Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, NCR Biotech Science Cluster, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001, Haryana, India
- Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi, 110067, Delhi, India
| | - Prem S Kaushal
- Regional Centre for Biotechnology, NCR Biotech Science Cluster, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001, Haryana, India
| | - Nisheeth Agarwal
- Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, NCR Biotech Science Cluster, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001, Haryana, India.
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13
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Dey U, Olymon K, Banik A, Abbas E, Yella VR, Kumar A. DNA structural properties of DNA binding sites for 21 transcription factors in the mycobacterial genome. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1147544. [PMID: 37396305 PMCID: PMC10312376 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1147544] [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: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, has evolved over time into a multidrug resistance strain that poses a serious global pandemic health threat. The ability to survive and remain dormant within the host macrophage relies on multiple transcription factors contributing to virulence. To date, very limited structural insights from crystallographic and NMR studies are available for TFs and TF-DNA binding events. Understanding the role of DNA structure in TF binding is critical to deciphering MTB pathogenicity and has yet to be resolved at the genome scale. In this work, we analyzed the compositional and conformational preference of 21 mycobacterial TFs, evident at their DNA binding sites, in local and global scales. Results suggest that most TFs prefer binding to genomic regions characterized by unique DNA structural signatures, namely, high electrostatic potential, narrow minor grooves, high propeller twist, helical twist, intrinsic curvature, and DNA rigidity compared to the flanking sequences. Additionally, preference for specific trinucleotide motifs, with clear periodic signals of tetranucleotide motifs, are observed in the vicinity of the TF-DNA interactions. Altogether, our study reports nuanced DNA shape and structural preferences of 21 TFs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Upalabdha Dey
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur, India
| | - Kaushika Olymon
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur, India
| | - Anikesh Banik
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur, India
| | - Eshan Abbas
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur, India
| | - Venkata Rajesh Yella
- Department of Biotechnology, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, Guntur, India
| | - Aditya Kumar
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur, India
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14
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Frando A, Boradia V, Gritsenko M, Beltejar C, Day L, Sherman DR, Ma S, Jacobs JM, Grundner C. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein O-phosphorylation landscape. Nat Microbiol 2023; 8:548-561. [PMID: 36690861 DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01313-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Bacterial phosphosignalling has been synonymous with two-component systems and their histidine kinases, but many bacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), also code for Ser/Thr protein kinases (STPKs). STPKs are the main phosphosignalling enzymes in eukaryotes but the full extent of phosphorylation on protein Ser/Thr and Tyr (O-phosphorylation) in bacteria is untested. Here we explored the global signalling capacity of the STPKs in Mtb using a panel of STPK loss-of-function and overexpression strains combined with mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics. A deep phosphoproteome with >14,000 unique phosphosites shows that O-phosphorylation in Mtb is a vastly underexplored protein modification that affects >80% of the proteome and extensively interfaces with the transcriptional machinery. Mtb O-phosphorylation gives rise to an expansive, distributed and cooperative network of a complexity that has not previously been seen in bacteria and that is on par with eukaryotic phosphosignalling networks. A resource of >3,700 high-confidence direct substrate-STPK interactions and their transcriptional effects provides signalling context for >80% of Mtb proteins and allows the prediction and assembly of signalling pathways for mycobacterial physiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Frando
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Vishant Boradia
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Claude Beltejar
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Le Day
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - David R Sherman
- Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Shuyi Ma
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Jon M Jacobs
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
| | - Christoph Grundner
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
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15
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Yan MY, Zheng D, Li SS, Ding XY, Wang CL, Guo XP, Zhan L, Jin Q, Yang J, Sun YC. Application of combined CRISPR screening for genetic and chemical-genetic interaction profiling in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eadd5907. [PMID: 36417506 PMCID: PMC9683719 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add5907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
CRISPR screening, including CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and CRISPR-knockout (CRISPR-KO) screening, has become a powerful technology in the genetic screening of eukaryotes. In contrast with eukaryotes, CRISPR-KO screening has not yet been applied to functional genomics studies in bacteria. Here, we constructed genome-scale CRISPR-KO and also CRISPRi libraries in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). We first examined these libraries to identify genes essential for Mtb viability. Subsequent screening identified dozens of genes associated with resistance/susceptibility to the antitubercular drug bedaquiline (BDQ). Genetic and chemical validation of the screening results suggested that it provided a valuable resource to investigate mechanisms of action underlying the effects of BDQ and to identify chemical-genetic synergies that can be used to optimize tuberculosis therapy. In summary, our results demonstrate the potential for efficient genome-wide CRISPR-KO screening in bacteria and establish a combined CRISPR screening approach for high-throughput investigation of genetic and chemical-genetic interactions in Mtb.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mei-Yi Yan
- NHC Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for Tuberculosis Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Dandan Zheng
- NHC Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for Tuberculosis Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Si-Shang Li
- NHC Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for Tuberculosis Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Xin-Yuan Ding
- NHC Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for Tuberculosis Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Chun-Liang Wang
- NHC Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for Tuberculosis Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Xiao-Peng Guo
- NHC Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for Tuberculosis Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Lingjun Zhan
- NHC Key Laboratory of Human Disease Comparative Medicine, Institute of Laboratory Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Qi Jin
- NHC Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for Tuberculosis Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Jian Yang
- NHC Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for Tuberculosis Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Yi-Cheng Sun
- NHC Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for Tuberculosis Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
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16
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Miotto P, Sorrentino R, De Giorgi S, Provvedi R, Cirillo DM, Manganelli R. Transcriptional regulation and drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:990312. [PMID: 36118045 PMCID: PMC9480834 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.990312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial drug resistance is one of the major challenges to present and future human health, as the continuous selection of multidrug resistant bacteria poses at serious risk the possibility to treat infectious diseases in the near future. One of the infection at higher risk to become incurable is tuberculosis, due to the few drugs available in the market against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Drug resistance in this species is usually due to point mutations in the drug target or in proteins required to activate prodrugs. However, another interesting and underexplored aspect of bacterial physiology with important impact on drug susceptibility is represented by the changes in transcriptional regulation following drug exposure. The main regulators involved in this phenomenon in M. tuberculosis are the sigma factors, and regulators belonging to the WhiB, GntR, XRE, Mar and TetR families. Better understanding the impact of these regulators in survival to drug treatment might contribute to identify new drug targets and/or to design new strategies of intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Miotto
- Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit, Div. of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy
| | - Rita Sorrentino
- Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit, Div. of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy
| | - Stefano De Giorgi
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | | - Daniela Maria Cirillo
- Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit, Div. of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy
| | - Riccardo Manganelli
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- *Correspondence: Riccardo Manganelli,
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17
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Giacalone D, Yap RE, Ecker AMV, Tan S. PrrA modulates Mycobacterium tuberculosis response to multiple environmental cues and is critically regulated by serine/threonine protein kinases. PLoS Genet 2022; 18:e1010331. [PMID: 35913986 PMCID: PMC9371303 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to adapt to its surrounding environment is critical for the bacterium to successfully colonize its host. Transcriptional changes are a vital mechanism by which Mtb responds to key environmental signals experienced, such as pH, chloride (Cl-), nitric oxide (NO), and hypoxia. However, much remains unknown regarding how Mtb coordinates its response to the disparate signals seen during infection. Utilizing a transcription factor (TF) overexpression plasmid library in combination with a pH/Cl--responsive luciferase reporter, we identified the essential TF, PrrA, part of the PrrAB two-component system, as a TF involved in modulation of Mtb response to pH and Cl-. Further studies revealed that PrrA also affected Mtb response to NO and hypoxia, with prrA overexpression dampening induction of NO and hypoxia-responsive genes. PrrA is phosphorylated not just by its cognate sensor histidine kinase PrrB, but also by serine/threonine protein kinases (STPKs) at a second distinct site. Strikingly, a STPK-phosphoablative PrrA variant was significantly dampened in its response to NO versus wild type Mtb, disrupted in its ability to adaptively enter a non-replicative state upon extended NO exposure, and attenuated for in vivo colonization. Together, our results reveal PrrA as an important regulator of Mtb response to multiple environmental signals, and uncover a critical role of STPK regulation of PrrA in its function. Vital to successful host colonization by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis, is the bacterium’s ability to respond and adapt to changes in its local environment during infection. Here, we discover that the essential transcription factor PrrA, part of the PrrAB two-component system (TCS), modulates Mtb response to four important environmental cues encountered within the host: pH, chloride, nitric oxide, and hypoxia. PrrA acts as a rheostat, adjusting the amplitude of Mtb gene expression changes upon bacterial exposure to each of the four environmental signals. Further, we reveal a critical impact of serine/threonine protein kinases (STPKs) on PrrA function, with prevention of STPK phosphorylation of PrrA disrupting adaptive response of Mtb to growth-inhibiting cues and attenuating the bacterium’s ability to colonize its host. Our work uncovers PrrA as a regulator with broad impact across environmental signals, and highlights how two regulatory systems, TCSs and STPKs, critically interact in coordinating Mtb response to environmental cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Giacalone
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Graduate Program in Molecular Microbiology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Rochelle E. Yap
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Alwyn M. V. Ecker
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Shumin Tan
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Graduate Program in Molecular Microbiology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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18
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Expanding the search for small-molecule antibacterials by multidimensional profiling. Nat Chem Biol 2022; 18:584-595. [PMID: 35606559 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-022-01040-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
New techniques for systematic profiling of small-molecule effects can enhance traditional growth inhibition screens for antibiotic discovery and change how we search for new antibacterial agents. Computational models that integrate physicochemical compound properties with their phenotypic and molecular downstream effects can not only predict efficacy of molecules yet to be tested, but also reveal unprecedented insights on compound modes of action (MoAs). The unbiased characterization of compounds that themselves are not growth inhibitory but exhibit diverse MoAs, can expand antibacterial strategies beyond direct inhibition of core essential functions. Early and systematic functional annotation of compound libraries thus paves the way to new models in the selection of lead antimicrobial compounds. In this Review, we discuss how multidimensional small-molecule profiling and the ever-increasing computing power are accelerating the discovery of unconventional antibacterials capable of bypassing resistance and exploiting synergies with established antibacterial treatments and with protective host mechanisms.
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Mycobacterium tuberculosis Transcription Factor EmbR Regulates the Expression of Key Virulence Factors That Aid in Ex Vivo and In Vivo Survival. mBio 2022; 13:e0383621. [PMID: 35471080 PMCID: PMC9239209 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.03836-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes ~200 transcription factors that modulate gene expression under different microenvironments in the host. Even though high-throughput chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing and transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) studies have identified the regulatory network for ~80% of transcription factors, many transcription factors remain uncharacterized. EmbR is one such transcription factor whose in vivo regulon and biological function are yet to be elucidated. Previous in vitro studies suggested that phosphorylation of EmbR by PknH upregulates the embCAB operon. Using a gene replacement mutant of embR, we investigated its role in modulating cellular morphology, antibiotic resistance, and survival in the host. Contrary to the prevailing hypothesis, under normal growth conditions, EmbR is neither phosphorylated nor impacted by ethambutol resistance through the regulation of the embCAB operon. The embR deletion mutant displayed attenuated M. tuberculosis survival in vivo. RNA-seq analysis suggested that EmbR regulates operons involved in the secretion pathway, lipid metabolism, virulence, and hypoxia, including well-known hypoxia-inducible genes devS and hspX. Lipidome analysis revealed that EmbR modulates levels of all lysophospholipids, several phospholipids, and M. tuberculosis-specific lipids, which is more pronounced under hypoxic conditions. We found that the EmbR mutant is hypersusceptible to hypoxic stress, and RNA sequencing performed under hypoxic conditions indicated that EmbR majorly regulates genes involved in response to acidic pH, hypoxia, and fatty acid metabolism. We observed condition-specific phosphorylation of EmbR, which contributes to EmbR-mediated transcription of several essential genes, ensuring enhanced survival. Collectively, the study establishes EmbR as a key modulator of hypoxic response that facilitates mycobacterial survival in the host.
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20
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Multiplexed Strain Phenotyping Defines Consequences of Genetic Diversity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis for Infection and Vaccination Outcomes. mSystems 2022; 7:e0011022. [PMID: 35430871 PMCID: PMC9239107 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00110-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
There is growing evidence that genetic diversity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, contributes to the outcomes of infection and public health interventions, such as vaccination. Epidemiological studies suggest that among the phylogeographic lineages of M. tuberculosis, strains belonging to a sublineage of Lineage 2 (mL2) are associated with concerning clinical features, including hypervirulence, treatment failure, and vaccine escape. The global expansion and increasing prevalence of this sublineage has been attributed to the selective advantage conferred by these characteristics, yet confounding host and environmental factors make it difficult to identify the bacterial determinants driving these associations in human studies. Here, we developed a molecular barcoding strategy to facilitate high-throughput, experimental phenotyping of M. tuberculosis clinical isolates. This approach allowed us to characterize growth dynamics for a panel of genetically diverse M. tuberculosis strains during infection and after vaccination in the mouse model. We found that mL2 strains exhibit distinct growth dynamics in vivo and are resistant to the immune protection conferred by Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination. The latter finding corroborates epidemiological observations and demonstrates that mycobacterial features contribute to vaccine efficacy. To investigate the genetic and biological basis of mL2 strains’ distinctive phenotypes, we performed variant analysis, transcriptional studies, and genome-wide transposon sequencing. We identified functional genetic changes across multiple stress and host response pathways in a representative mL2 strain that are associated with variants in regulatory genes. These adaptive changes may underlie the distinct clinical characteristics and epidemiological success of this lineage. IMPORTANCE Tuberculosis, caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a remarkably heterogeneous disease, a feature that complicates clinical care and public health interventions. The contributions of pathogen genetic diversity to this heterogeneity are uncertain, in part due to the challenges of experimentally manipulating M. tuberculosis, a slow-growing, biosafety level 3 organism. To overcome these challenges, we applied a molecular barcoding strategy to a panel of M. tuberculosis clinical isolates. This novel application of barcoding permitted the high-throughput characterization of M. tuberculosis strain growth dynamics and vaccine resistance in the mouse model of infection. Integrating these results with genomic analyses, we uncover bacterial pathways that contribute to infection outcomes, suggesting targets for improved therapeutics and vaccines.
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21
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Multiple genetic paths including massive gene amplification allow Mycobacterium tuberculosis to overcome loss of ESX-3 secretion system substrates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:2112608119. [PMID: 35193958 PMCID: PMC8872769 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2112608119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) ESX-3 type VII secretion system plays a critical role in iron acquisition. Infection of mice with highly attenuated Mtb deletion mutants lacking esxG or esxH, genes encoding key ESX-3 substrates, unexpectedly yielded suppressor mutants with restored capacity to grow in vivo and in vitro in the absence of iron supplementation. Whole-genome sequencing identified two mechanisms of suppression, the disruption of a transcriptional repressor that regulates expression of an ESX-3 paralogous region encoding EsxR and EsxS, and a massive 38- to 60-fold gene amplification of this same region. These data are significant because they reveal a previously unrecognized iron acquisition regulon and inform mechanisms of Mtb chromosome evolution. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) possesses five type VII secretion systems (T7SS), virulence determinants that include the secretion apparatus and associated secretion substrates. Mtb strains deleted for the genes encoding substrates of the ESX-3 T7SS, esxG or esxH, require iron supplementation for in vitro growth and are highly attenuated in vivo. In a subset of infected mice, suppressor mutants of esxG or esxH deletions were isolated, which enabled growth to high titers or restored virulence. Suppression was conferred by mechanisms that cause overexpression of an ESX-3 paralogous region that lacks genes for the secretion apparatus but encodes EsxR and EsxS, apparent ESX-3 orphan substrates that functionally compensate for the lack of EsxG or EsxH. The mechanisms include the disruption of a transcriptional repressor and a massive 38- to 60-fold gene amplification. These data identify an iron acquisition regulon, provide insight into T7SS, and reveal a mechanism of Mtb chromosome evolution involving “accordion-type” amplification.
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22
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MadR mediates acyl CoA-dependent regulation of mycolic acid desaturation in mycobacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:2111059119. [PMID: 35165190 PMCID: PMC8872791 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2111059119] [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] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Our studies show that the mycolic acid desaturase regulator (MadR) acts as a molecular switch, controlling the desaturation and biosynthesis of mycolic acids, key lipids of the cell envelopes of mycobacteria. MadR works by a distinct mechanism wherein it binds various acyl-coenzyme As (aceyl-CoAs), but only saturated acyl-CoAs relieve DNA binding and repression. This suggests a unique mechanism that involves sensing of acyl-CoA pools as a checkpoint for coordinating mycolic acid remodeling and biosynthesis in response to cell surface perturbation. Our findings further our understanding of how mycobacteria control cell wall composition in response to stress across various environments ranging from soil to an intracellular niche in infected macrophages, with implications for understanding strategies for pathogenesis in the tubercle bacillus. Mycobacterium tuberculosis has a lipid-rich cell envelope that is remodeled throughout infection to enable adaptation within the host. Few transcriptional regulators have been characterized that coordinate synthesis of mycolic acids, the major cell wall lipids of mycobacteria. Here, we show that the mycolic acid desaturase regulator (MadR), a transcriptional repressor of the mycolate desaturase genes desA1 and desA2, controls mycolic acid desaturation and biosynthesis in response to cell envelope stress. A madR-null mutant of M. smegmatis exhibited traits of an impaired cell wall with an altered outer mycomembrane, accumulation of a desaturated α-mycolate, susceptibility to antimycobacterials, and cell surface disruption. Transcriptomic profiling showed that enriched lipid metabolism genes that were significantly down-regulated upon madR deletion included acyl-coenzyme A (aceyl-CoA) dehydrogenases, implicating it in the indirect control of β-oxidation pathways. Electromobility shift assays and binding affinities suggest a unique acyl-CoA pool–sensing mechanism, whereby MadR is able to bind a range of acyl-CoAs, including those with unsaturated as well as saturated acyl chains. MadR repression of desA1/desA2 is relieved upon binding of saturated acyl-CoAs of chain length C16 to C24, while no impact is observed upon binding of shorter chain and unsaturated acyl-CoAs. We propose this mechanism of regulation as distinct to other mycolic acid and fatty acid synthesis regulators and place MadR as the key regulatory checkpoint that coordinates mycolic acid remodeling during infection in response to host-derived cell surface perturbation.
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23
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Birhanu AG, Gómez-Muñoz M, Kalayou S, Riaz T, Lutter T, Yimer SA, Abebe M, Tønjum T. Proteome Profiling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Cells Exposed to Nitrosative Stress. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:3470-3482. [PMID: 35128256 PMCID: PMC8811941 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c05923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are secreted by human cells in response to infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Although RNS can kill Mtb under some circumstances, Mtb can adapt and survive in the presence of RNS by a process that involves modulation of gene expression. Previous studies focused primarily on stress-related changes in the Mtb transcriptome. This study unveils changes in the Mtb proteome in response to a sub-lethal dose of nitric oxide (NO) over several hours of exposure. Proteins were identified using liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). A total of 2911 Mtb proteins were identified, of which 581 were differentially abundant (DA) after exposure to NO in at least one of the four time points (30 min, 2 h, 6 h, and 20 h). The proteomic response to NO was marked by two phases, with few DA proteins in the early phase and a multitude of DA proteins in the later phase. The efflux pump Rv1687 stood out as being the only protein more abundant at all the time points and might play a role in the early protection of Mtb against nitrosative stress. These changes appeared to be compensatory in nature, contributing to iron homeostasis, energy metabolism, and other stress responses. This study thereby provides new insights into the response of Mtb to NO at the level of proteomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alemayehu Godana Birhanu
- Department
of Microbiology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 4950, Nydalen, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway
- Institute
of Biotechnology, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Marta Gómez-Muñoz
- Department
of Microbiology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 4950, Nydalen, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway
| | - Shewit Kalayou
- Department
of Microbiology, Oslo University Hospital, P.O. Box 4950, Nydalen, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway
- International
Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), P.O. Box 30772-00100 Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Tahira Riaz
- Department
of Microbiology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 4950, Nydalen, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway
| | - Timo Lutter
- Department
of Microbiology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 4950, Nydalen, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway
| | - Solomon Abebe Yimer
- Department
of Microbiology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 4950, Nydalen, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway
- Coalition
for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), P.O. Box 123, Torshov, 0412 Oslo, Norway
| | - Markos Abebe
- Armauer
Hansen Research Institute, Jimma Road, P.O. Box 1005 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Tone Tønjum
- Department
of Microbiology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 4950, Nydalen, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway
- Department
of Microbiology, Oslo University Hospital, P.O. Box 4950, Nydalen, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway
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24
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Immanuel SRC, Arrieta-Ortiz ML, Ruiz RA, Pan M, Lopez Garcia de Lomana A, Peterson EJR, Baliga NS. Quantitative prediction of conditional vulnerabilities in regulatory and metabolic networks using PRIME. NPJ Syst Biol Appl 2021; 7:43. [PMID: 34873198 PMCID: PMC8648758 DOI: 10.1038/s41540-021-00205-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to adopt heterogeneous physiological states underlies its success in evading the immune system and tolerating antibiotic killing. Drug tolerant phenotypes are a major reason why the tuberculosis (TB) mortality rate is so high, with over 1.8 million deaths annually. To develop new TB therapeutics that better treat the infection (faster and more completely), a systems-level approach is needed to reveal the complexity of network-based adaptations of Mtb. Here, we report a new predictive model called PRIME (Phenotype of Regulatory influences Integrated with Metabolism and Environment) to uncover environment-specific vulnerabilities within the regulatory and metabolic networks of Mtb. Through extensive performance evaluations using genome-wide fitness screens, we demonstrate that PRIME makes mechanistically accurate predictions of context-specific vulnerabilities within the integrated regulatory and metabolic networks of Mtb, accurately rank-ordering targets for potentiating treatment with frontline drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Rene A Ruiz
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Min Pan
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Adrian Lopez Garcia de Lomana
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, USA
- Center for Systems Biology, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | | | - Nitin S Baliga
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Departments of Biology and Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA, USA.
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25
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Schrader SM, Botella H, Jansen R, Ehrt S, Rhee K, Nathan C, Vaubourgeix J. Multiform antimicrobial resistance from a metabolic mutation. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:7/35/eabh2037. [PMID: 34452915 PMCID: PMC8397267 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abh2037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
A critical challenge for microbiology and medicine is how to cure infections by bacteria that survive antibiotic treatment by persistence or tolerance. Seeking mechanisms behind such high survival, we developed a forward-genetic method for efficient isolation of high-survival mutants in any culturable bacterial species. We found that perturbation of an essential biosynthetic pathway (arginine biosynthesis) in a mycobacterium generated three distinct forms of resistance to diverse antibiotics, each mediated by induction of WhiB7: high persistence and tolerance to kanamycin, high survival upon exposure to rifampicin, and minimum inhibitory concentration-shifted resistance to clarithromycin. As little as one base change in a gene that encodes, a metabolic pathway component conferred multiple forms of resistance to multiple antibiotics with different targets. This extraordinary resilience may help explain how substerilizing exposure to one antibiotic in a regimen can induce resistance to others and invites development of drugs targeting the mediator of multiform resistance, WhiB7.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M Schrader
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Hélène Botella
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
- MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Robert Jansen
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Microbiology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Sabine Ehrt
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kyu Rhee
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Carl Nathan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Julien Vaubourgeix
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
- MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
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26
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Peterson EJR, Abidi AA, Arrieta-Ortiz ML, Aguilar B, Yurkovich JT, Kaur A, Pan M, Srinivas V, Shmulevich I, Baliga NS. Intricate Genetic Programs Controlling Dormancy in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Cell Rep 2021; 31:107577. [PMID: 32348771 PMCID: PMC7605849 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2019] [Revised: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 04/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) displays the remarkable ability to transition in and out of dormancy, a hallmark of the pathogen’s capacity to evade the immune system and exploit susceptible individuals. Uncovering the gene regulatory programs that underlie the phenotypic shifts in MTB during disease latency and reactivation has posed a challenge. We develop an experimental system to precisely control dissolved oxygen levels in MTB cultures in order to capture the transcriptional events that unfold as MTB transitions into and out of hypoxia-induced dormancy. Using a comprehensive genome-wide transcription factor binding map and insights from network topology analysis, we identify regulatory circuits that deterministically drive sequential transitions across six transcriptionally and functionally distinct states encompassing more than three-fifths of the MTB genome. The architecture of the genetic programs explains the transcriptional dynamics underlying synchronous entry of cells into a dormant state that is primed to infect the host upon encountering favorable conditions. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) persists within the host by counteracting disparate stressors including hypoxia. Peterson et al. report a transcriptional program that coordinates sequential state transitions to drive MTB in and out of hypoxia-induced dormancy. Among varied properties, this program encodes advanced preparedness to infect the host in favorable conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Abrar A Abidi
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | | | - Boris Aguilar
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | | | - Amardeep Kaur
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Min Pan
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | | | | | - Nitin S Baliga
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, Departments of Microbiology and Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, Berkeley, CA.
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27
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Dissecting the RecA-(In)dependent Response to Mitomycin C in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Using Transcriptional Profiling and Proteomics Analyses. Cells 2021; 10:cells10051168. [PMID: 34064944 PMCID: PMC8151990 DOI: 10.3390/cells10051168] [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: 03/26/2021] [Revised: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Mycobacteria exploit at least two independent global systems in response to DNA damage: the LexA/RecA-dependent SOS response and the PafBC-regulated pathway. Intracellular pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are exposed to oxidative and nitrosative stress during the course of infection while residing inside host macrophages. The current understanding of RecA-independent responses to DNA damage is based on the saprophytic model of Mycobacterium smegmatis, a free-living and nonpathogenic mycobacterium. The aim of the present study was to identify elements of RecA-independent responses to DNA damage in pathogenic intracellular mycobacteria. With the help of global transcriptional profiling, we were able to dissect RecA-dependent and RecA-independent pathways. We profiled the DNA damage responses of an M. tuberculosis strain lacking the recA gene, a strain with an undetectable level of the PafBC regulatory system, and a strain with both systems tuned down simultaneously. RNA-Seq profiling was correlated with the evaluation of cell survival in response to DNA damage to estimate the relevance of each system to the overall sensitivity to genotoxic agents. We also carried out whole-cell proteomics analysis of the M. tuberculosis strains in response to mitomycin C. This approach highlighted that LexA, a well-defined key element of the SOS system, is proteolytically inactivated during RecA-dependent DNA repair, which we found to be transcriptionally repressed in response to DNA-damaging agents in the absence of RecA. Proteomics profiling revealed that AlkB was significantly overproduced in the ΔrecA pafBCCRISPRi/dCas9 strain and that Holliday junction resolvase RuvX was a DNA damage response factor that was significantly upregulated regardless of the presence of functional RecA and PafBC systems, thus falling into a third category of DNA damage factors: RecA- and PafBC-independent. While invisible to the mass spectrometer, the genes encoding alkA, dnaB, and dnaE2 were significantly overexpressed in the ΔrecA pafBCCRISPRi/dCas9 strain at the transcript level.
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28
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Zhou Y, Zhong T, Wei W, Wu Z, Yang A, Liu N, Wang M, Zhang X. Single START-domain protein Mtsp17 is involved in transcriptional regulation in Mycobacterium smegmatis. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0249379. [PMID: 33857164 PMCID: PMC8049324 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis caused by the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), remains a significant threat to global health. Elucidating the mechanisms of essential MTB genes provides an important theoretical basis for drug exploitation. Gene mtsp17 is essential and is conserved in the Mycobacterium genus. Although Mtsp17 has a structure closely resembling typical steroidogenic acute regulatory protein-related lipid transfer (START) family proteins, its biological function is different. This study characterizes the transcriptomes of Mycobacterium smegmatis to explore the consequences of mtsp17 downregulation on gene expression. Suppression of the mtsp17 gene resulted in significant down-regulation of 3% and upregulation of 1% of all protein-coding genes. Expression of desA1, an essential gene involved in mycolic acid synthesis, and the anti-SigF antagonist MSMEG_0586 were down-regulated in the conditional Mtsp17 knockout mutant and up-regulated in the Mtsp17 over-expression strain. Trends in the changes of 70 of the 79 differentially expressed genes (Log2 fold change > 1.5) in the conditional Mtsp17 knockout strain were the same as in the SigF knockout strain. Our data suggest that Mtsp17 is likely an activator of desA1 and Mtsp17 regulates the SigF regulon by SigF regulatory pathways through the anti-SigF antagonist MSMEG_0586. Our findings indicate the role of Mtsp17 may be in transcriptional regulation, provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of START family proteins, and uncover a new node in the regulatory network of mycobacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Zhou
- Department of Bone and Joint Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Tianying Zhong
- Guangdong Province Green and High Performance Novel Materials Engineering Research Center, Jiangmen Polytechnic, Jiangmen, China
| | - Wenjing Wei
- Center for Tuberculosis Control of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhuhua Wu
- Center for Tuberculosis Control of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China
| | - Anping Yang
- School of Medicine, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, China
| | - Ning Liu
- Department of Bone and Joint Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- * E-mail: (NL); (MW); (XZ)
| | - Ming Wang
- Key Laboratory of RNA Biology, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- * E-mail: (NL); (MW); (XZ)
| | - Xiaoli Zhang
- School of Medicine, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, China
- * E-mail: (NL); (MW); (XZ)
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29
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Grosse-Siestrup BT, Gupta T, Helms S, Tucker SL, Voskuil MI, Quinn FD, Karls RK. A Role for Mycobacterium tuberculosis Sigma Factor C in Copper Nutritional Immunity. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:2118. [PMID: 33672733 PMCID: PMC7924339 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22042118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2020] [Revised: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Sigma factor C (SigC) contributes to Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence in various animal models, but the stress response coordinated by this transcription factor was undefined. The results presented here indicate that SigC prevents copper starvation. Whole genome expression studies demonstrate short-term (4-h) induction of sigC, controlled from a tetracycline-inducible promoter, upregulates ctpB and genes in the nonribosomal peptide synthase (nrp) operon. These genes are expressed at higher levels after 48-h sigC induction, but also elevated are genes encoding copper-responsive regulator RicR and RicR-regulated copper toxicity response operon genes rv0846-rv0850, suggesting prolonged sigC induction results in excessive copper uptake. No growth and global transcriptional differences are observed between a sigC null mutant relative to its parent strain in 7H9 medium. In a copper-deficient medium, however, growth of the sigC deletion strain lags the parent, and 40 genes (including those in the nrp operon) are differentially expressed. Copper supplementation reverses the growth defect and silences most transcriptional differences. Together, these data support SigC as a transcriptional regulator of copper acquisition when the metal is scarce. Attenuation of sigC mutants in severe combined immunodeficient mice is consistent with an inability to overcome innate host defenses that sequester copper ions to deprive invading microbes of this essential micronutrient.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin T. Grosse-Siestrup
- Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; (B.T.G.-S.); (T.G.); (S.H.); (S.L.T.); (F.D.Q.)
| | - Tuhina Gupta
- Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; (B.T.G.-S.); (T.G.); (S.H.); (S.L.T.); (F.D.Q.)
| | - Shelly Helms
- Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; (B.T.G.-S.); (T.G.); (S.H.); (S.L.T.); (F.D.Q.)
| | - Samantha L. Tucker
- Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; (B.T.G.-S.); (T.G.); (S.H.); (S.L.T.); (F.D.Q.)
| | - Martin I. Voskuil
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA;
| | - Frederick D. Quinn
- Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; (B.T.G.-S.); (T.G.); (S.H.); (S.L.T.); (F.D.Q.)
| | - Russell K. Karls
- Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; (B.T.G.-S.); (T.G.); (S.H.); (S.L.T.); (F.D.Q.)
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30
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Sawyer EB, Phelan JE, Clark TG, Cortes T. A snapshot of translation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis during exponential growth and nutrient starvation revealed by ribosome profiling. Cell Rep 2021; 34:108695. [PMID: 33535039 PMCID: PMC7856553 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Revised: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis, can undergo prolonged periods of non-replicating persistence in the host. The mechanisms underlying this are not fully understood, but translational regulation is thought to play a role. A large proportion of mRNA transcripts expressed in M. tuberculosis lack canonical bacterial translation initiation signals, but little is known about the implications of this for fine-tuning of translation. Here, we perform ribosome profiling to characterize the translational landscape of M. tuberculosis under conditions of exponential growth and nutrient starvation. Our data reveal robust, widespread translation of non-canonical transcripts and point toward different translation initiation mechanisms compared to canonical Shine-Dalgarno transcripts. During nutrient starvation, patterns of ribosome recruitment vary, suggesting that regulation of translation in this pathogen is more complex than originally thought. Our data represent a rich resource for others seeking to understand translational regulation in bacterial pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth B Sawyer
- TB Centre and Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Jody E Phelan
- TB Centre and Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Taane G Clark
- TB Centre and Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK; Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Teresa Cortes
- TB Centre and Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
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31
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Kanabalan RD, Lee LJ, Lee TY, Chong PP, Hassan L, Ismail R, Chin VK. Human tuberculosis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex: A review on genetic diversity, pathogenesis and omics approaches in host biomarkers discovery. Microbiol Res 2021; 246:126674. [PMID: 33549960 DOI: 10.1016/j.micres.2020.126674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Revised: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) refers to a group of mycobacteria encompassing nine members of closely related species that causes tuberculosis in animals and humans. Among the nine members, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) remains the main causative agent for human tuberculosis that results in high mortality and morbidity globally. In general, MTBC species are low in diversity but exhibit distinctive biological differences and phenotypes among different MTBC lineages. MTBC species are likely to have evolved from a common ancestor through insertions/deletions processes resulting in species speciation with different degrees of pathogenicity. The pathogenesis of human tuberculosis is complex and remains poorly understood. It involves multi-interactions or evolutionary co-options between host factors and bacterial determinants for survival of the MTBC. Granuloma formation as a protection or survival mechanism in hosts by MTBC remains controversial. Additionally, MTBC species are capable of modulating host immune response and have adopted several mechanisms to evade from host immune attack in order to survive in humans. On the other hand, current diagnostic tools for human tuberculosis are inadequate and have several shortcomings. Numerous studies have suggested the potential of host biomarkers in early diagnosis of tuberculosis, in disease differentiation and in treatment monitoring. "Multi-omics" approaches provide holistic views to dissect the association of MTBC species with humans and offer great advantages in host biomarkers discovery. Thus, in this review, we seek to understand how the genetic variations in MTBC lead to species speciation with different pathogenicity. Furthermore, we also discuss how the host and bacterial players contribute to the pathogenesis of human tuberculosis. Lastly, we provide an overview of the journey of "omics" approaches in host biomarkers discovery in human tuberculosis and provide some interesting insights on the challenges and directions of "omics" approaches in host biomarkers innovation and clinical implementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renuga Devi Kanabalan
- Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, Bandar Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur, 56000, Malaysia
| | - Le Jie Lee
- Prima Nexus Sdn. Bhd., Menara CIMB, Jalan Stesen Sentral 2, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Tze Yan Lee
- Perdana University School of Liberal Arts, Science and Technology (PUScLST), Suite 9.2, 9th Floor, Wisma Chase Perdana, Changkat Semantan Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur, 50490, Malaysia
| | - Pei Pei Chong
- School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylor's University Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya, 47500, Malaysia
| | - Latiffah Hassan
- Department of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnostics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, 43400 UPM, Malaysia
| | - Rosnah Ismail
- Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latiff, Bandar Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur, 56000, Malaysia.
| | - Voon Kin Chin
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, 43400 UPM, Malaysia; Integrative Pharmacogenomics Institute (iPROMISE), Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam Campus, Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor, 42300, Malaysia.
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Plumlee CR, Duffy FJ, Gern BH, Delahaye JL, Cohen SB, Stoltzfus CR, Rustad TR, Hansen SG, Axthelm MK, Picker LJ, Aitchison JD, Sherman DR, Ganusov VV, Gerner MY, Zak DE, Urdahl KB. Ultra-low Dose Aerosol Infection of Mice with Mycobacterium tuberculosis More Closely Models Human Tuberculosis. Cell Host Microbe 2021; 29:68-82.e5. [PMID: 33142108 PMCID: PMC7854984 DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2020.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2020] [Revised: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/25/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is a heterogeneous disease manifesting in a subset of individuals infected with aerosolized Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Unlike human TB, murine infection results in uniformly high lung bacterial burdens and poorly organized granulomas. To develop a TB model that more closely resembles human disease, we infected mice with an ultra-low dose (ULD) of between 1-3 founding bacteria, reflecting a physiologic inoculum. ULD-infected mice exhibited highly heterogeneous bacterial burdens, well-circumscribed granulomas that shared features with human granulomas, and prolonged Mtb containment with unilateral pulmonary infection in some mice. We identified blood RNA signatures in mice infected with an ULD or a conventional Mtb dose (50-100 CFU) that correlated with lung bacterial burdens and predicted Mtb infection outcomes across species, including risk of progression to active TB in humans. Overall, these findings highlight the potential of the murine TB model and show that ULD infection recapitulates key features of human TB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney R Plumlee
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Fergal J Duffy
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Benjamin H Gern
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Jared L Delahaye
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Sara B Cohen
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Caleb R Stoltzfus
- Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Tige R Rustad
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Scott G Hansen
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute and Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR 97006, USA
| | - Michael K Axthelm
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute and Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR 97006, USA
| | - Louis J Picker
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute and Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR 97006, USA
| | - John D Aitchison
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - David R Sherman
- Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Vitaly V Ganusov
- Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - Michael Y Gerner
- Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Daniel E Zak
- Center for Infectious Disease Research, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Kevin B Urdahl
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
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33
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Nicholson KR, Mousseau CB, Champion MM, Champion PA. The genetic proteome: Using genetics to inform the proteome of mycobacterial pathogens. PLoS Pathog 2021; 17:e1009124. [PMID: 33411813 PMCID: PMC7790235 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterial pathogens pose a sustained threat to human health. There is a critical need for new diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines targeting both tuberculous and nontuberculous mycobacterial species. Understanding the basic mechanisms used by diverse mycobacterial species to cause disease will facilitate efforts to design new approaches toward detection, treatment, and prevention of mycobacterial disease. Molecular, genetic, and biochemical approaches have been widely employed to define fundamental aspects of mycobacterial physiology and virulence. The recent expansion of genetic tools in mycobacteria has further increased the accessibility of forward genetic approaches. Proteomics has also emerged as a powerful approach to further our understanding of diverse mycobacterial species. Detection of large numbers of proteins and their modifications from complex mixtures of mycobacterial proteins is now routine, with efforts of quantification of these datasets becoming more robust. In this review, we discuss the “genetic proteome,” how the power of genetics, molecular biology, and biochemistry informs and amplifies the quality of subsequent analytical approaches and maximizes the potential of hypothesis-driven mycobacterial research. Published proteomics datasets can be used for hypothesis generation and effective post hoc supplementation to experimental data. Overall, we highlight how the integration of proteomics, genetic, molecular, and biochemical approaches can be employed successfully to define fundamental aspects of mycobacterial pathobiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen R. Nicholson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, United States of America
| | - C. Bruce Mousseau
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, United States of America
| | - Matthew M. Champion
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, United States of America
- Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame Indiana, United States of America
- * E-mail: (MMC); (PAC)
| | - Patricia A. Champion
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, United States of America
- Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame Indiana, United States of America
- * E-mail: (MMC); (PAC)
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Abstract
A vast array of molecular biology tools have been developed to investigate the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome since the advent of its successful sequencing in 1998. These tools, such as quantitative and end point polymerase chain reaction, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and whole genome sequencing, require genomic DNA extracted from lysed mycobacteria. There are numerous methods described in the literature using mechanical, enzymatic, or chemical means to lyse cells and extract genomic DNA to varying degrees of purity. Here, we describe appropriate methods for genomic DNA isolation from solid or liquid cultures from both M. tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heena Jagatia
- Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
| | - Daire Cantillon
- Department of Global Health and Infection, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
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35
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Antitoxin autoregulation of M. tuberculosis toxin-antitoxin expression through negative cooperativity arising from multiple inverted repeat sequences. Biochem J 2020; 477:2401-2419. [PMID: 32519742 PMCID: PMC7319586 DOI: 10.1042/bcj20200368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2020] [Revised: 06/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Toxin-antitoxin systems play key roles in bacterial adaptation, including protection from antibiotic assault and infection by bacteriophages. The type IV toxin-antitoxin system AbiE encodes a DUF1814 nucleotidyltransferase-like toxin, and a two-domain antitoxin. In Streptococcus agalactiae, the antitoxin AbiEi negatively autoregulates abiE expression through positively co-operative binding to inverted repeats within the promoter. The human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes four DUF1814 putative toxins, two of which have antitoxins homologous to AbiEi. One such M. tuberculosis antitoxin, named Rv2827c, is required for growth and whilst the structure has previously been solved, the mode of regulation is unknown. To complete the gaps in our understanding, we first solved the structure of S. agalactiae AbiEi to 1.83 Å resolution for comparison with M. tuberculosis Rv2827c. AbiEi contains an N-terminal DNA binding domain and C-terminal antitoxicity domain, with bilateral faces of opposing charge. The overall AbiEi fold is similar to Rv2827c, though smaller, and with a 65° difference in C-terminal domain orientation. We further demonstrate that, like AbiEi, Rv2827c can autoregulate toxin-antitoxin operon expression. In contrast with AbiEi, the Prv2827c promoter contains two sets of inverted repeats, which bind Rv2827c with differing affinities depending on the sequence consensus. Surprisingly, Rv2827c bound with negative co-operativity to the full Prv2827c promoter, demonstrating an unexpectedly complex form of transcriptional regulation.
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36
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Metabolic Fate of Human Immunoactive Sterols in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Mol Biol 2020; 433:166763. [PMID: 33359098 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2020.166763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2020] [Revised: 12/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection is among top ten causes of death worldwide, and the number of drug-resistant strains is increasing. The direct interception of human immune signaling molecules by Mtb remains elusive, limiting drug discovery. Oxysterols and secosteroids regulate both innate and adaptive immune responses. Here we report a functional, structural, and bioinformatics study of Mtb enzymes initiating cholesterol catabolism and demonstrated their interrelation with human immunity. We show that these enzymes metabolize human immune oxysterol messengers. Rv2266 - the most potent among them - can also metabolize vitamin D3 (VD3) derivatives. High-resolution structures show common patterns of sterols binding and reveal a site for oxidative attack during catalysis. Finally, we designed a compound that binds and inhibits three studied proteins. The compound shows activity against Mtb H37Rv residing in macrophages. Our findings contribute to molecular understanding of suppression of immunity and suggest that Mtb has its own transformation system resembling the human phase I drug-metabolizing system.
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37
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Zielinski DC, Patel A, Palsson BO. The Expanding Computational Toolbox for Engineering Microbial Phenotypes at the Genome Scale. Microorganisms 2020; 8:E2050. [PMID: 33371386 PMCID: PMC7767376 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms8122050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Revised: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Microbial strains are being engineered for an increasingly diverse array of applications, from chemical production to human health. While traditional engineering disciplines are driven by predictive design tools, these tools have been difficult to build for biological design due to the complexity of biological systems and many unknowns of their quantitative behavior. However, due to many recent advances, the gap between design in biology and other engineering fields is closing. In this work, we discuss promising areas of development of computational tools for engineering microbial strains. We define five frontiers of active research: (1) Constraint-based modeling and metabolic network reconstruction, (2) Kinetics and thermodynamic modeling, (3) Protein structure analysis, (4) Genome sequence analysis, and (5) Regulatory network analysis. Experimental and machine learning drivers have enabled these methods to improve by leaps and bounds in both scope and accuracy. Modern strain design projects will require these tools to be comprehensively applied to the entire cell and efficiently integrated within a single workflow. We expect that these frontiers, enabled by the ongoing revolution of big data science, will drive forward more advanced and powerful strain engineering strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Craig Zielinski
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA; (D.C.Z.); (A.P.)
| | - Arjun Patel
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA; (D.C.Z.); (A.P.)
| | - Bernhard O. Palsson
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA; (D.C.Z.); (A.P.)
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark
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38
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Transcriptional regulator-induced phenotype screen reveals drug potentiators in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Nat Microbiol 2020; 6:44-50. [PMID: 33199862 PMCID: PMC8331221 DOI: 10.1038/s41564-020-00810-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2018] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Transposon-based strategies provide a powerful and unbiased way to study bacterial stress response1–8, but these approaches cannot fully capture the complexities of network-based behavior. Here, we present a network-based genetic screening approach: the Transcriptional Regulator Induced Phenotype (TRIP) screen, which we used to identify previously uncharacterized network adaptations of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to the first-line anti-TB drug isoniazid (INH). We found regulators that alter INH susceptibility when induced, several of which could not be identified by standard gene disruption approaches. We then focused on a specific regulator, mce3R, which potentiated INH activity when induced. We compared mce3R-regulated genes with baseline INH transcriptional responses and implicated the gene ctpD (Rv1469) as a putative INH effector. Evaluating a ctpD disruption mutant demonstrated a previously unknown role for this gene in INH susceptibility. Integrating TRIP screening with network information can uncover sophisticated molecular response programs.
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39
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de Wet TJ, Winkler KR, Mhlanga M, Mizrahi V, Warner DF. Arrayed CRISPRi and quantitative imaging describe the morphotypic landscape of essential mycobacterial genes. eLife 2020; 9:e60083. [PMID: 33155979 PMCID: PMC7647400 DOI: 10.7554/elife.60083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 10/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis possesses a large number of genes of unknown or predicted function, undermining fundamental understanding of pathogenicity and drug susceptibility. To address this challenge, we developed a high-throughput functional genomics approach combining inducible CRISPR-interference and image-based analyses of morphological features and sub-cellular chromosomal localizations in the related non-pathogen, M. smegmatis. Applying automated imaging and analysis to 263 essential gene knockdown mutants in an arrayed library, we derive robust, quantitative descriptions of bacillary morphologies consequent on gene silencing. Leveraging statistical-learning, we demonstrate that functionally related genes cluster by morphotypic similarity and that this information can be used to inform investigations of gene function. Exploiting this observation, we infer the existence of a mycobacterial restriction-modification system, and identify filamentation as a defining mycobacterial response to histidine starvation. Our results support the application of large-scale image-based analyses for mycobacterial functional genomics, simultaneously establishing the utility of this approach for drug mechanism-of-action studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J de Wet
- SAMRC/NHLS/UCT Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit, Department of Pathology, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
| | - Kristy R Winkler
- SAMRC/NHLS/UCT Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit, Department of Pathology, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
| | - Musa Mhlanga
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
- Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
| | - Valerie Mizrahi
- SAMRC/NHLS/UCT Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit, Department of Pathology, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
| | - Digby F Warner
- SAMRC/NHLS/UCT Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit, Department of Pathology, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa, University of Cape TownCape TownSouth Africa
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40
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Bandekar AC, Subedi S, Ioerger TR, Sassetti CM. Cell-Cycle-Associated Expression Patterns Predict Gene Function in Mycobacteria. Curr Biol 2020; 30:3961-3971.e6. [PMID: 32916109 PMCID: PMC7578119 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Although the major events in prokaryotic cell cycle progression are likely to be coordinated with transcriptional and metabolic changes, these processes remain poorly characterized. Unlike many rapidly growing bacteria, DNA replication and cell division are temporally resolved in mycobacteria, making these slow-growing organisms a potentially useful system to investigate the prokaryotic cell cycle. To determine whether cell-cycle-dependent gene regulation occurs in mycobacteria, we characterized the temporal changes in the transcriptome of synchronously replicating populations of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). By enriching for genes that display a sinusoidal expression pattern, we discover 485 genes that oscillate with a period consistent with the cell cycle. During cytokinesis, the timing of gene induction could be used to predict the timing of gene function, as mRNA abundance was found to correlate with the order in which proteins were recruited to the developing septum. Similarly, the expression pattern of primary metabolic genes could be used to predict the relative importance of these pathways for different cell cycle processes. Pyrimidine synthetic genes peaked during DNA replication, and their depletion caused a filamentation phenotype that phenocopied defects in this process. In contrast, the inosine monophasphate dehydrogenase dedicated to guanosine synthesis, GuaB2, displayed the opposite expression pattern and its depletion perturbed septation. Together, these data imply obligate coordination between primary metabolism and cell division and identify periodically regulated genes that can be related to specific cell biological functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aditya C Bandekar
- Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 368 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Sishir Subedi
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Thomas R Ioerger
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
| | - Christopher M Sassetti
- Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 368 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
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Mahatha AC, Mal S, Majumder D, Saha S, Ghosh A, Basu J, Kundu M. RegX3 Activates whiB3 Under Acid Stress and Subverts Lysosomal Trafficking of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a WhiB3-Dependent Manner. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:572433. [PMID: 33042081 PMCID: PMC7525159 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.572433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Two-component systems (TCSs) are central to the ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to respond to stress. One such paired TCS is SenX3-RegX3, which responds to phosphate starvation. Here we show that RegX3 is required for M. tuberculosis to withstand low pH, one of the challenges encountered by the bacterium in the host environment, and that RegX3 activates the cytosolic redox sensor WhiB3 to launch an appropriate response to acid stress. We show that the whiB3 promoter of M. tuberculosis harbors a RegX3 binding motif. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) show that phosphorylated RegX3 (RegX3-P) (but not its unphosphorylated counterpart) binds to this motif, whereas a DNA binding mutant, RegX3 (K204A) fails to do so. Mutation of the putative RegX3 binding motif on the whiB3 promoter, abrogates the binding of RegX3-P. The significance of this binding is established by demonstrating that the expression of whiB3 is significantly attenuated under phosphate starvation or under acid stress in the regX3-inactivated mutant, ΔregX3. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-based reporter assays further confirm the requirement of RegX3 for the activation of the whiB3 promoter. The compromised survival of ΔregX3 under acid stress and its increased trafficking to the lysosomal compartment are reversed upon complementation with either regX3 or whiB3, suggesting that RegX3 exerts its effects in a WhiB3-dependent manner. Finally, using an in vitro granuloma model, we show that granuloma formation is compromised in the absence of regX3, but restored upon complementation with either regX3 or whiB3. Our findings provide insight into an important role of RegX3 in the network that regulates the survival of M. tuberculosis under acid stress similar to that encountered in its intracellular niche. Our results argue strongly in favor of a role of the RegX3-WhiB3 axis in establishment of M. tuberculosis infection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Soumya Mal
- Department of Chemistry, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India
| | | | - Sudipto Saha
- Division of Bioinformatics, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India
| | - Abhirupa Ghosh
- Division of Bioinformatics, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India
| | - Joyoti Basu
- Department of Chemistry, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India
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42
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Patil S, Palande A, Lodhiya T, Pandit A, Mukherjee R. Redefining genetic essentiality in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Gene 2020; 765:145091. [PMID: 32898604 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2020.145091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2020] [Revised: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Sequencing transposon mutant libraries have been pivotal in annotating essential and non-essential genes in bacteria. This is particularly very helpful in the case of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with a large part of its genome without known function. It is not known whether there are any variations in the essentiality states as a function of optimal growth in the absence of any selection pressure. We here grow a high-density mutant library of M. tuberculosis through serial cultures and monitor the temporal fluctuations in insertion frequencies across all TA dinucleotides in the genome. Genes that cause morphological and physiological heterogeneity or enable metabolic bypass were found to gradually lose insertions, while genes comprising the toxin-antitoxin systems were found to get enriched with insertions during growth in nutrient replete conditions. High levels of fluctuations were observed in genes involved in cell wall and cell processes, intermediary metabolism, and genes involved in virulence, suggesting new modes of adaptation undertaken by the mutants. We also report the essentiality status of several newly annotated genetic features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saniya Patil
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati, Tirupati 517507, India
| | - Aseem Palande
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati, Tirupati 517507, India
| | - Tejan Lodhiya
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati, Tirupati 517507, India
| | - Awadhesh Pandit
- National Center for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru 560065, India
| | - Raju Mukherjee
- Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati, Tirupati 517507, India.
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43
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Zhu Z, Surujon D, Ortiz-Marquez JC, Huo W, Isberg RR, Bento J, van Opijnen T. Entropy of a bacterial stress response is a generalizable predictor for fitness and antibiotic sensitivity. Nat Commun 2020; 11:4365. [PMID: 32868761 PMCID: PMC7458919 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18134-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Current approaches explore bacterial genes that change transcriptionally upon stress exposure as diagnostics to predict antibiotic sensitivity. However, transcriptional changes are often specific to a species or antibiotic, limiting implementation to known settings only. While a generalizable approach, predicting bacterial fitness independent of strain, species or type of stress, would eliminate such limitations, it is unclear whether a stress-response can be universally captured. By generating a multi-stress and species RNA-Seq and experimental evolution dataset, we highlight the strengths and limitations of existing gene-panel based methods. Subsequently, we build a generalizable method around the observation that global transcriptional disorder seems to be a common, low-fitness, stress response. We quantify this disorder using entropy, which is a specific measure of randomness, and find that in low fitness cases increasing entropy and transcriptional disorder results from a loss of regulatory gene-dependencies. Using entropy as a single feature, we show that fitness and quantitative antibiotic sensitivity predictions can be made that generalize well beyond training data. Furthermore, we validate entropy-based predictions in 7 species under antibiotic and non-antibiotic conditions. By demonstrating the feasibility of universal predictions of bacterial fitness, this work establishes the fundamentals for potentially new approaches in infectious disease diagnostics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeyu Zhu
- Biology Department, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA
| | - Defne Surujon
- Biology Department, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA
| | | | - Wenwen Huo
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02111, USA
| | - Ralph R Isberg
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02111, USA
| | - José Bento
- Computer Science Department, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA
| | - Tim van Opijnen
- Biology Department, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA.
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44
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Gupta SK, Angara RK, Yousuf S, Reddy CG, Ranjan A. Ectopic Expression of Rv0023 Mediates Isoniazid/Ethionamide Tolerance via Altering NADH/NAD + Levels in Mycobacterium smegmatis. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:3. [PMID: 32117088 PMCID: PMC7020754 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2019] [Accepted: 01/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) accounts for nearly 1.2 million deaths per annum worldwide. Due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mtb strains, TB, a curable and avertable disease, remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Isoniazid (INH) is a first-line anti-TB drug while ethionamide (ETH) is used as a second-line anti-TB drug. INH and ETH resistance develop through a network of genes involved in various biosynthetic pathways. In this study, we identified Rv0023, an Mtb protein belonging to the xenobiotic response element (XRE) family of transcription regulators, which has a role in generating higher tolerance toward INH and ETH in Mycobacterium smegmatis (Msmeg). Overexpression of Rv0023 in Msmeg leads to the development of INH- and ETH-tolerant strains. The strains expressing Rv0023 have a higher ratio of NADH/NAD+, and this physiological event is known to play a crucial role in the development of INH/ETH co-resistance in Msmeg. Gene expression analysis of some target genes revealed reduction in the expression of the ndh gene, but no direct interaction was observed between Rv0023 and the ndh promoter region. Rv0023 is divergently expressed to Rv0022c (whiB5) and we observed a direct interaction between the recombinant Rv0023 protein with the upstream region of Rv0022c, confirmed using reporter constructs of Msmeg. However, we found no indication that this interaction might play a role in the development of INH/ETH drug tolerance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shailesh Kumar Gupta
- Computational and Functional Genomics Group, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, India.,Graduate Studies, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | - Rajendra Kumar Angara
- Computational and Functional Genomics Group, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, India
| | - Suhail Yousuf
- Computational and Functional Genomics Group, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, India
| | - Chilakala Gangi Reddy
- Computational and Functional Genomics Group, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, India.,Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad, India
| | - Akash Ranjan
- Computational and Functional Genomics Group, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, India
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45
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Evaluation of specificity determinants in Mycobacterium tuberculosis σ/anti-σ factor interactions. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2019; 521:900-906. [PMID: 31711645 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2019.10.198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/31/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Extra Cytoplasmic Function (ECF) σ factor/regulatory protein (anti-σ factor) pairs govern environment mediated changes in gene expression in bacteria. The release of the ECF σ factor from an inactive σ/anti-σ factor complex is triggered by specific environmental stimuli. The free σ factor then associates with the RNA polymerase and drives the expression of genes in its target regulon. Multiple ECF σ/anti-σ pairs ensure calibrated changes in the expression profile by correlating diverse environmental stimuli with changes in the intracellular levels of different ECF σ factors. Specificity in σ/anti-σ factor interaction is thus essential for accurate signal transduction. Here we describe experiments to evaluate interactions between different M. tuberculosis σ and anti-σ proteins in vitro. The interaction parameters suggest that cross-talk between non-cognate σ/anti-σ pairs is likely. The sequence and conformational determinants that govern interaction specificity in a σ/anti-σ complex are not immediately evident due to substantial structural conservation. Sequence-structure analysis of all σ/anti-σ pairs suggest that conserved residues are not the primary determinants of σ/anti-σ interactions-a finding that suggests a potential route to set tolerance limits in interaction specificity. Non-specific σ/anti-σ interactions are likely to be biologically significant as it can contribute to heterogeneity in cellular responses in a bacterial population under less stringent requirements. This finding is relevant for synthetic biology approaches to engineer bacteria using σ/anti-σ transcription initiation modules for diverse applications in biotechnology.
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46
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Alqaseer K, Turapov O, Barthe P, Jagatia H, De Visch A, Roumestand C, Wegrzyn M, Bartek IL, Voskuil MI, O'Hare HM, Ajuh P, Bottrill AR, Witney AA, Cohen-Gonsaud M, Waddell SJ, Mukamolova GV. Protein kinase B controls Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth via phosphorylation of the transcriptional regulator Lsr2 at threonine 112. Mol Microbiol 2019; 112:1847-1862. [PMID: 31562654 PMCID: PMC6906086 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.14398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is able to persist in the body through months of multi‐drug therapy. Mycobacteria possess a wide range of regulatory proteins, including the protein kinase B (PknB) which controls peptidoglycan biosynthesis during growth. Here, we observed that depletion of PknB resulted in specific transcriptional changes that are likely caused by reduced phosphorylation of the H‐NS‐like regulator Lsr2 at threonine 112. The activity of PknB towards this phosphosite was confirmed with purified proteins, and this site was required for adaptation of Mtb to hypoxic conditions, and growth on solid media. Like H‐NS, Lsr2 binds DNA in sequence‐dependent and non‐specific modes. PknB phosphorylation of Lsr2 reduced DNA binding, measured by fluorescence anisotropy and electrophoretic mobility shift assays, and our NMR structure of phosphomimetic T112D Lsr2 suggests that this may be due to increased dynamics of the DNA‐binding domain. Conversely, the phosphoablative T112A Lsr2 had increased binding to certain DNA sites in ChIP‐sequencing, and Mtb containing this variant showed transcriptional changes that correspond with the change in DNA binding. In summary, PknB controls Mtb growth and adaptations to the changing host environment by phosphorylating the global transcriptional regulator Lsr2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kawther Alqaseer
- Leicester Tuberculosis Research Group, Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE2 9HN, UK.,Department of Basic Science, Faculty of Nursing, University of Kufa, Najaf Governorate, P.O. Box 21, Kufa, Najaf, Iraq
| | - Obolbek Turapov
- Leicester Tuberculosis Research Group, Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE2 9HN, UK
| | - Philippe Barthe
- Centre de Biochimie Structurale, CNRS, INSERM, University of Montpellier, 34090, Montpellier, France
| | - Heena Jagatia
- Wellcome Trust Brighton and Sussex Centre for Global Health Research, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9PX, UK
| | - Angélique De Visch
- Centre de Biochimie Structurale, CNRS, INSERM, University of Montpellier, 34090, Montpellier, France
| | - Christian Roumestand
- Centre de Biochimie Structurale, CNRS, INSERM, University of Montpellier, 34090, Montpellier, France
| | - Malgorzata Wegrzyn
- Core Biotechnology Services, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Iona L Bartek
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA
| | - Martin I Voskuil
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA
| | - Helen M O'Hare
- Leicester Tuberculosis Research Group, Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE2 9HN, UK.,LISCB, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Paul Ajuh
- Gemini Biosciences Ltd, Liverpool Science Park, Liverpool, L7 8TX, UK
| | - Andrew R Bottrill
- Protein Nucleic Acid Laboratory, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Adam A Witney
- Institute for Infection and Immunity, St George's University of London, London, SW17 0RE, UK
| | - Martin Cohen-Gonsaud
- Centre de Biochimie Structurale, CNRS, INSERM, University of Montpellier, 34090, Montpellier, France
| | - Simon J Waddell
- Wellcome Trust Brighton and Sussex Centre for Global Health Research, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9PX, UK
| | - Galina V Mukamolova
- Leicester Tuberculosis Research Group, Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE2 9HN, UK
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47
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Safi H, Gopal P, Lingaraju S, Ma S, Levine C, Dartois V, Yee M, Li L, Blanc L, Ho Liang HP, Husain S, Hoque M, Soteropoulos P, Rustad T, Sherman DR, Dick T, Alland D. Phase variation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis glpK produces transiently heritable drug tolerance. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:19665-19674. [PMID: 31488707 PMCID: PMC6765255 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1907631116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The length and complexity of tuberculosis (TB) therapy, as well as the propensity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to develop drug resistance, are major barriers to global TB control efforts. M. tuberculosis is known to have the ability to enter into a drug-tolerant state, which may explain many of these impediments to TB treatment. We have identified a mechanism of genetically encoded but rapidly reversible drug tolerance in M. tuberculosis caused by transient frameshift mutations in a homopolymeric tract (HT) of 7 cytosines (7C) in the glpK gene. Inactivating frameshift mutations associated with the 7C HT in glpK produce small colonies that exhibit heritable multidrug increases in minimal inhibitory concentrations and decreases in drug-dependent killing; however, reversion back to a fully drug-susceptible large-colony phenotype occurs rapidly through the introduction of additional insertions or deletions in the same glpK HT region. These reversible frameshift mutations in the 7C HT of M. tuberculosis glpK occur in clinical isolates, accumulate in M. tuberculosis-infected mice with further accumulation during drug treatment, and exhibit a reversible transcriptional profile including induction of dosR and sigH and repression of kstR regulons, similar to that observed in other in vitro models of M. tuberculosis tolerance. These results suggest that GlpK phase variation may contribute to drug tolerance, treatment failure, and relapse in human TB. Drugs effective against phase-variant M. tuberculosis may hasten TB treatment and improve cure rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hassan Safi
- Center for Emerging Pathogens, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103;
- Department of Medicine, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
| | - Pooja Gopal
- Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 117597 Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Subramanya Lingaraju
- Center for Emerging Pathogens, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
- Department of Medicine, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
| | - Shuyi Ma
- Center for Infectious Disease, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA 98105
| | - Carly Levine
- Center for Emerging Pathogens, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
- Department of Medicine, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
| | - Veronique Dartois
- The Public Health Research Institute, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ 07110
| | - Michelle Yee
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 117597 Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - Liping Li
- The Public Health Research Institute, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ 07110
| | - Landry Blanc
- The Public Health Research Institute, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
| | - Hsin-Pin Ho Liang
- The Public Health Research Institute, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ 07110
| | - Seema Husain
- Genomics Center, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
| | - Mainul Hoque
- Genomics Center, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
| | | | - Tige Rustad
- Center for Infectious Disease, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA 98105
| | - David R Sherman
- Center for Infectious Disease, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA 98105
| | - Thomas Dick
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ 07110
| | - David Alland
- Center for Emerging Pathogens, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103;
- Department of Medicine, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07103
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48
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Gao CH, Wei WP, Tao HL, Cai LK, Jia WZ, Hu L, Yang M. Cross-talk between the three furA orthologs in Mycobacterium smegmatis and the contribution to isoniazid resistance. J Biochem 2019; 166:237-243. [PMID: 30993320 DOI: 10.1093/jb/mvz030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2019] [Accepted: 04/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The ferric uptake regulator A (FurA) plays an essential role in responding to oxidative stress in mycobacteria. The genome of Mycobacterium smegmatis harbours three FurA orthologs; however, the potential cross-talk and contribution to drug resistance of different furA operon remain underdetermined. In this study, we characterized the cross-regulation and effect in drug resistance of these orthologs from M. smegmatis. Cross-binding of FurA protein to furA promoter was observed. The binding of FurA1 to furA3p and FurA2 to furA1p or furA3p is even more pronounced than their self-binding. The three FurA proteins are all functional at repressing the expression of the peroxidase enzyme katG1/katG2 in vivo. When overexpressing any of the furA orthologs in M. smegmatis, the bacteria become more resistant to isoniazid (INH). This pattern is consistent with that in Mycobacterium bovis. However, the knockdown of furA does not affect the INH sensitivity. This is the first report of cross-talk and contribution to drug resistance of all three furA orthologs in M. smegmatis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Hui Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, No. 1, Shizishan Street, Hongshan District, Wuhan, China
| | - Wen-Ping Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, No. 1, Shizishan Street, Hongshan District, Wuhan, China
| | - Hui-Ling Tao
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, No. 1, Shizishan Street, Hongshan District, Wuhan, China
| | - Li-Kai Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, No. 1, Shizishan Street, Hongshan District, Wuhan, China
| | - Wan-Zhong Jia
- The State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, No. 1, Xujiaping, Chengguan District, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
| | - Lihua Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, No. 1, Shizishan Street, Hongshan District, Wuhan, China
| | - Min Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, No. 1, Shizishan Street, Hongshan District, Wuhan, China
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49
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Chiner-Oms Á, Berney M, Boinett C, González-Candelas F, Young DB, Gagneux S, Jacobs WR, Parkhill J, Cortes T, Comas I. Genome-wide mutational biases fuel transcriptional diversity in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Nat Commun 2019; 10:3994. [PMID: 31488832 PMCID: PMC6728331 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11948-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 07/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) members display different host-specificities and virulence phenotypes. Here, we have performed a comprehensive RNAseq and methylome analysis of the main clades of the MTBC and discovered unique transcriptional profiles. The majority of genes differentially expressed between the clades encode proteins involved in host interaction and metabolic functions. A significant fraction of changes in gene expression can be explained by positive selection on single mutations that either create or disrupt transcriptional start sites (TSS). Furthermore, we show that clinical strains have different methyltransferases inactivated and thus different methylation patterns. Under the tested conditions, differential methylation has a minor direct role on transcriptomic differences between strains. However, disruption of a methyltransferase in one clinical strain revealed important expression differences suggesting indirect mechanisms of expression regulation. Our study demonstrates that variation in transcriptional profiles are mainly due to TSS mutations and have likely evolved due to differences in host characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Álvaro Chiner-Oms
- Unidad Mixta "Infección y Salud Pública" FISABIO-CSISP/Universidad de Valencia, Instituto de Biología Integrativa de Sistemas-I2SysBio, Valencia, Spain.,Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia, IBV-CSIC, Valencia, Spain
| | - Michael Berney
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA
| | - Christine Boinett
- Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.,Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Fernando González-Candelas
- Unidad Mixta "Infección y Salud Pública" FISABIO-CSISP/Universidad de Valencia, Instituto de Biología Integrativa de Sistemas-I2SysBio, Valencia, Spain.,CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Valencia, Spain
| | | | - Sebastien Gagneux
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.,University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - William R Jacobs
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA
| | - Julian Parkhill
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Mandingley Road, Cambiddge, CB3 OES, UK
| | - Teresa Cortes
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
| | - Iñaki Comas
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia, IBV-CSIC, Valencia, Spain. .,CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Valencia, Spain.
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50
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Kang SM, Kim DH, Jin C, Ahn HC, Lee BJ. The crystal structure of AcrR from Mycobacterium tuberculosis reveals a one-component transcriptional regulation mechanism. FEBS Open Bio 2019; 9:1713-1725. [PMID: 31369208 PMCID: PMC6768106 DOI: 10.1002/2211-5463.12710] [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: 05/24/2019] [Revised: 07/23/2019] [Accepted: 07/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcriptional regulator proteins are closely involved in essential survival strategies in bacteria. AcrR is a one-component allosteric repressor of the genes associated with lipid transport and antibiotic resistance. When fatty acid ligands bind to the C-terminal ligand-binding cavity of AcrR, a conformational change in the N-terminal operator-binding region of AcrR is triggered, which releases the repressed DNA and initiates transcription. This paper focuses on the structural transition mechanism of AcrR of Mycobacterium tuberculosis upon DNA and ligand binding. AcrR loses its structural integrity upon ligand-mediated structural alteration and bends toward the promoter DNA in a more compact form, initiating a rotational motion. Our functional characterization of AcrR and description of the ligand- and DNA-recognition mechanism may facilitate the discovery of new therapies for tuberculosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung-Min Kang
- The Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
| | - Do-Hee Kim
- The Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
| | - Chenglong Jin
- The Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
| | - Hee-Chul Ahn
- Department of Pharmacy, Dongguk University-Seoul, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang, Korea
| | - Bong-Jin Lee
- The Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
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