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Xu J, Li D, Kang L, Liu T, Huang J, Li J, Lv J, Wang J, Gao S, Li Y, Yuan B, Zhao B, Wang J, Xin W. Systematic evaluation of membrane-camouflaged nanoparticles in neutralizing Clostridium perfringens ε-toxin. J Nanobiotechnology 2023; 21:95. [PMID: 36932366 PMCID: PMC10021051 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-023-01852-z] [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: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens ε-toxin (ETX) is the main toxin leading to enterotoxemia of sheep and goats and is classified as a potential biological weapon. In addition, no effective treatment drug is currently available in clinical practice for this toxin. We developed membrane-camouflaged nanoparticles (MNPs) with different membrane origins to neutralize ETX and protect the host from fatal ETX intoxication. We evaluated the safety and therapeutic efficacy of these MNPs in vitro and in vivo. Compared with membranes from karyocytes, such as Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells and mouse neuroblastoma N2a cells (N2a cells), membrane from erythrocytes, which do not induce any immune response, are superior in safety. The protective ability of MNPs was evaluated by intravenous injection and lung delivery. We demonstrate that nebulized inhalation is as safe as intravenous injection and that both modalities can effectively protect mice against ETX. In particular, pulmonary delivery of nanoparticles more effectively treated the challenge of inhaled toxins than intravenously injected nanoparticles. Moreover, MNPs can alter the biological distribution of ETX among different organs in the body, and ETX was captured, neutralized and slowly delivered to the liver and spleen, where nanoparticles with ETX could be phagocytized and metabolized. This demonstrates how MNPs treat toxin infections in vivo. Finally, we injected the MNPs into mice in advance to find out whether MNPs can provide preventive protection, and the results showed that the long-cycle MNPs could provide at least a 3-day protection in mice. These findings demonstrate that MNPs provide safe and effective protection against ETX intoxication, provide new insights into membrane choices and delivery routes of nanoparticles, and new evidence of the ability of nanoparticles to provide preventive protection against infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinglin Xu
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China
| | - Dongxue Li
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China
| | - Lin Kang
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China
| | - Tingting Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China
| | - Jing Huang
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China
| | - Jiaxin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China
| | - Jing Lv
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China
| | - Jing Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China
| | - Shan Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China
| | - Yanwei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China
| | - Bing Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China
| | - Baohua Zhao
- Hebei Key Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China.
| | - Jinglin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China.
| | - Wenwen Xin
- State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), Beijing, China.
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Nelson BN, Daugherty CS, Sharp RR, Booth JL, Patel VI, Metcalf JP, Jones KL, Wozniak KL. Protective interaction of human phagocytic APC subsets with Cryptococcus neoformans induces genes associated with metabolism and antigen presentation. Front Immunol 2022; 13:1054477. [PMID: 36466930 PMCID: PMC9709479 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1054477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Cryptococcal meningitis is the most common cause of meningitis among HIV/AIDS patients in sub-Saharan Africa, and worldwide causes over 223,000 cases leading to more than 181,000 annual deaths. Usually, the fungus gets inhaled into the lungs where the initial interactions occur with pulmonary phagocytes such as dendritic cells and macrophages. Following phagocytosis, the pathogen can be killed or can replicate intracellularly. Previous studies in mice showed that different subsets of these innate immune cells can either be antifungal or permissive for intracellular fungal growth. Our studies tested phagocytic antigen-presenting cell (APC) subsets from the human lung against C. neoformans. Human bronchoalveolar lavage was processed for phagocytic APCs and incubated with C. neoformans for two hours to analyze the initial interactions and fate of the fungus, living or killed. Results showed all subsets (3 macrophage and 3 dendritic cell subsets) interacted with the fungus, and both living and killed morphologies were discernable within the subsets using imaging flow cytometry. Single cell RNA-seq identified several different clusters of cells which more closely related to interactions with C. neoformans and its protective capacity against the pathogen rather than discrete cellular subsets. Differential gene expression analyses identified several changes in the innate immune cell's transcriptome as it kills the fungus including increases of TNF-α (TNF) and the switch to using fatty acid metabolism by upregulation of the gene FABP4. Also, increases of TNF-α correlated to cryptococcal interactions and uptake. Together, these analyses implicated signaling networks that regulate expression of many different genes - both metabolic and immune - as certain clusters of cells mount a protective response and kill the pathogen. Future studies will examine these genes and networks to understand the exact mechanism(s) these phagocytic APC subsets use to kill C. neoformans in order to develop immunotherapeutic strategies to combat this deadly disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin N. Nelson
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States
| | - Cheyenne S. Daugherty
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States
| | - Rachel R. Sharp
- Harold Hamm Diabetes Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - J. Leland Booth
- Department of Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Vineet I. Patel
- Department of Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Jordan P. Metcalf
- Department of Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Kenneth L. Jones
- Harold Hamm Diabetes Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Karen L. Wozniak
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States
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Role of serine/threonine protein phosphatase PrpN in the life cycle of Bacillus anthracis. PLoS Pathog 2022; 18:e1010729. [PMID: 35913993 PMCID: PMC9371265 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2021] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Reversible protein phosphorylation at serine/threonine residues is one of the most common protein modifications, widely observed in all kingdoms of life. The catalysts controlling this modification are specific serine/threonine kinases and phosphatases that modulate various cellular pathways ranging from growth to cellular death. Genome sequencing and various omics studies have led to the identification of numerous serine/threonine kinases and cognate phosphatases, yet the physiological relevance of many of these proteins remain enigmatic. In Bacillus anthracis, only one ser/thr phosphatase, PrpC, has been functionally characterized; it was reported to be non-essential for bacterial growth and survival. In the present study, we characterized another ser/thr phosphatase (PrpN) of B. anthracis by various structural and functional approaches. To examine its physiological relevance in B. anthracis, a null mutant strain of prpN was generated and shown to have defects in sporulation and reduced synthesis of toxins (PA and LF) and the toxin activator protein AtxA. We also identified CodY, a global transcriptional regulator, as a target of PrpN and ser/thr kinase PrkC. CodY phosphorylation strongly controlled its binding to the promoter region of atxA, as shown using phosphomimetic and phosphoablative mutants. In nutshell, the present study reports phosphorylation-mediated regulation of CodY activity in the context of anthrax toxin synthesis in B. anthracis by a previously uncharacterized ser/thr protein phosphatase–PrpN. Reversible protein phosphorylation at specific ser/thr residues causes conformational changes in the protein structure, thereby modulating its cellular activity. In B. anthracis, though the role of ser/thr phosphorylation is implicated in various cellular pathways including pathogenesis, till date only one STP (PrpC) has been functionally characterized. This manuscript reports functional characterization of another STP (PrpN) in B. anthracis and with the aid of a null mutant strain (BAS ΔprpN) we provide important insight regarding the role of PrpN in the life cycle of B. anthracis. We have also identified the global transcriptional regulator, CodY as a target of PrpN and PrkC, and for the first time showed the physiological relevance of CodY phosphorylation status in the regulation of anthrax toxin synthesis.
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Mytych JS, Pan Z, Farris AD. Efferocytosis and Anthrax: Implications for Bacterial Sepsis? JOURNAL OF CELLULAR IMMUNOLOGY 2021; 3:133-139. [PMID: 34708219 PMCID: PMC8547791 DOI: 10.33696/immunology.3.090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Joshua S Mytych
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), 825 NE 13th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC), 940 Stanton L. Young Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
| | - Zijian Pan
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), 825 NE 13th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
| | - A Darise Farris
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), 825 NE 13th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC), 940 Stanton L. Young Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
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