NADH-Mediated Gene Expression in Streptococcus pneumoniae and Role of Rex as a Transcriptional Repressor of the Rex-Regulon

NAD+ metabolism is a key modulator of bacterial respiratory epithelial infections

Lower respiratory tract infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) are a leading cause of death globally. Here we investigate the bronchial epithelial cellular response to Spn infection on a transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolic level. We found the NAD+ salvage pathway to be dysregulated upon infection in a cell line model, primary human lung tissue and in vivo in rodents, leading to a reduced production of NAD+. Knockdown of NAD+ salvage enzymes (NAMPT, NMNAT1) increased bacterial replication. NAD+ treatment of Spn inhibited its growth while growth of other respiratory pathogens improved. Boosting NAD+ production increased NAD+ levels in immortalized and primary cells and decreased bacterial replication upon infection. NAD+ treatment of Spn dysregulated the bacterial metabolism and reduced intrabacterial ATP. Enhancing the bacterial ATP metabolism abolished the antibacterial effect of NAD+. Thus, we identified the NAD+ salvage pathway as an antibacterial pathway in Spn infections, predicting an antibacterial mechanism of NAD+.

Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Thiourea Derivative TD4 against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus via Destroying the NAD+/NADH Homeostasis

To develop effective agents to combat bacterial infections, a series of thiourea derivatives (TDs) were prepared and their antibacterial activities were evaluated. Our results showed that TD4 exerted the most potent antibacterial activity against a number of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), including the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus epidermidis and Enterococcus faecalis strains, with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) at 2-16 µg/mL. It inhibited the MRSA growth curve in a dose-dependent manner and reduced the colony formation unit in 4× MIC within 4 h. Under the transmission electron microscope, TD4 disrupted the integrity of MRSA cell wall. Additionally, it reduced the infective lesion size and the bacterial number in the MRSA-induced infection tissue of mice and possessed a good drug likeness according to the Lipinski rules. Our results indicate that TD4 is a potential lead compound for the development of novel antibacterial agent against the MRSA infection.

Influenza A virus modulation of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection using ex vivo transcriptomics in a human primary lung epithelial cell model reveals differential host glycoconjugate uptake and metabolism

Background

Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) is typically an asymptomatic colonizer of the nasopharynx but it also causes pneumonia and disseminated disease affecting various host anatomical sites. Transition from colonization to invasive disease is not well understood. Studies have shown that such a transition can occur as result of influenza A virus coinfection.

Methods

We investigated the pneumococcal (serotype 19F, strain EF3030) and host transcriptomes with and without influenza A virus (A/California/07 2009 pH1N1) infection at this transition. This was done using primary, differentiated Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells (nHBEC) in a transwell monolayer model at an Air-Liquid Interface (ALI), with multispecies deep RNA-seq.

Results

Distinct pneumococcal gene expression profiles were observed in the presence and absence of influenza. Influenza coinfection allowed for significantly greater pneumococcal growth and triggered the differential expression of bacterial genes corresponding to multiple metabolic pathways; in totality suggesting a fundamentally altered bacterial metabolic state and greater nutrient availability when coinfecting with influenza. Surprisingly, nHBEC transcriptomes were only modestly perturbed by infection with EF3030 alone in comparison to that resulting from Influenza A infection or coinfection, which had drastic alterations in thousands of genes. Influenza infected host transcriptomes suggest significant loss of ciliary function in host nHBEC cells.

Conclusions

Influenza A virus infection of nHBEC promotes pneumococcal infection. One reason for this is an altered metabolic state by the bacterium, presumably due to host components made available as result of viral infection. Influenza infection had a far greater impact on the host response than did bacterial infection alone, and this included down regulation of genes involved in expressing cilia. We conclude that influenza infection promotes a pneumococcal metabolic shift allowing for transition from colonization to disseminated disease.

Pyruvate secretion by oral streptococci modulates hydrogen peroxide dependent antagonism

Many commensal oral streptococci generate H₂O₂ via pyruvate oxidase (SpxB) to inhibit the growth of competing bacteria like Streptococcus mutans, a major cariogenic species. In Streptococcus sanguinis SK36 (SK36) and Streptococcus gordonii DL1 (DL1), spxB expression and H₂O₂ release are subject to carbon catabolite repression by the catabolite control protein A (CcpA). Surprisingly, ccpA deletion mutants of SK36 and DL1 fail to inhibit S. mutans despite their production of otherwise inhibitory levels of H₂O₂. Using H₂O₂-deficient spxB deletion mutants of SK36 and DL1, it was subsequently discovered that both strains confer protection in trans to other bacteria when H₂O₂ is added exogenously. This protective effect depends on the direct detoxification of H₂O₂ by the release of pyruvate. The pyruvate dependent protective effect is also present in other spxB-encoding streptococci, such as the pneumococcus, but is missing from spxB-negative species like S. mutans. Targeted and transposon-based mutagenesis revealed Nox (putative H₂O-forming NADH dehydrogenase) as an essential component required for pyruvate release and oxidative protection, while other genes such as sodA and dps play minor roles. Furthermore, pyruvate secretion is only detectable in aerobic growth conditions at biofilm-like cell densities and is responsive to CcpA-dependent catabolite control. This ability of spxB-encoding streptococci reveals a new facet of the competitive interactions between oral commensals and pathobionts and provides a mechanistic basis for the variable levels of inhibitory potential observed among H₂O₂-producing strains of commensal oral streptococci.