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Lemenze A, Mittal N, Perryman AL, Daher SS, Ekins S, Occi J, Ahn YM, Wang X, Russo R, Patel JS, Daugherty RM, Wood DO, Connell N, Freundlich JS. Rickettsia Aglow: A Fluorescence Assay and Machine Learning Model to Identify Inhibitors of Intracellular Infection. ACS Infect Dis 2022; 8:1280-1290. [PMID: 35748568 PMCID: PMC9912140 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.2c00014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Rickettsia is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria that has for centuries caused large-scale morbidity and mortality. In recent years, the resurgence of rickettsial diseases as a major cause of pyrexias of unknown origin, bioterrorism concerns, vector movement, and concerns over drug resistance is driving a need to identify novel treatments for these obligate intracellular bacteria. Utilizing an uvGFP plasmid reporter, we developed a screen for identifying anti-rickettsial small molecule inhibitors using Rickettsia canadensis as a model organism. The screening data were utilized to train a Bayesian model to predict growth inhibition in this assay. This two-pronged methodology identified anti-rickettsial compounds, including duartin and JSF-3204 as highly specific, efficacious, and noncytotoxic compounds. Both molecules exhibited in vitro growth inhibition of R. prowazekii, the causative agent of epidemic typhus. These small molecules and the workflow, featuring a high-throughput phenotypic screen for growth inhibitors of intracellular Rickettsia spp. and machine learning models for the prediction of growth inhibition of an obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacterium, should prove useful in the search for new therapeutic strategies to treat infections from Rickettsia spp. and other obligate intracellular bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Lemenze
- Department of Medicine, and the Ruy V. Lourenco Center for the Study of Emerging and Reemerging Pathogens, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States; Present Address: Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Cancer Center Building, 205 South Orange Avenue, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States
| | - Nisha Mittal
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States; Present Address: Bristol Myers Squibb, 1 Squibb Drive, Building 85 Room A-WS216D, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, United States
| | - Alexander L. Perryman
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States; Present Address: Repare Therapeutics, 7171 Rue Frederick-Banting, Montreal, Quebec H4S 1Z9, Canada
| | - Samer S. Daher
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States; Present Address: Ambrx, 10975 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - Sean Ekins
- Collaborations in Chemistry, Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina 27526, United States; Present Address: Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Main Campus Drive, Lab 3510 Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, United States
| | - James Occi
- Department of Medicine, and the Ruy V. Lourenco Center for the Study of Emerging and Reemerging Pathogens, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States; Present Address: Center for Vector Biology, Department of Entomology, Rutgers University, 180 Jones Avenue, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, United States
| | - Yong-Mo Ahn
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States
| | - Xin Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States; Present Address: Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Riccardo Russo
- Department of Medicine, and the Ruy V. Lourenco Center for the Study of Emerging and Reemerging Pathogens, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States
| | - Jimmy S. Patel
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States; Present Address: Department of Radiation Oncology, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, 1365-A Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States
| | - Robin M. Daugherty
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama 36688, United States
| | - David O. Wood
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama 36688, United States
| | - Nancy Connell
- Department of Medicine, and the Ruy V. Lourenco Center for the Study of Emerging and Reemerging Pathogens, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States; Present Address: U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, 500 5th Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20002, United States
| | - Joel S. Freundlich
- Department of Medicine, and the Ruy V. Lourenco Center for the Study of Emerging and Reemerging Pathogens and Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience, Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States
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Biswal M, Zaman K, Suri V, Gopi S, Kumar A, Gopi T, Vig S, Sharma N, Bhalla A. Molecular confirmation & characterization of Rickettsia conorii in north India: A report of three cases. Indian J Med Res 2020; 151:59-64. [PMID: 32134015 PMCID: PMC7055166 DOI: 10.4103/ijmr.ijmr_92_18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background & objectives In India, spotted fever group rickettsiae (SFGR) are an underdiagnosed cause of acute febrile illness (AFI). The non-specific Weil-Felix test is the first diagnostic modality for the diagnosis of SFGR in many laboratories due to the lack of advanced diagnostic facilities in developing countries. The aim of this study was to detect SFGR using molecular methods in the patients, presenting with AFI in a tertiary care centre in north India. Methods Consecutive patients (>14 yr of age) with AFI were enrolled over a six month period. Standard investigations for common pathogens causing AFI in India (malaria, dengue, scrub typhus, leptospirosis and enteric fever) were carried out. In patients who were negative for all of the above investigations, blood was subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting outer membrane protein A (ompA) gene of Rickettsia. Results Of the 51 patients with an undiagnosed aetiology, three were positive by ompA PCR. Two of the PCR products produced good sequences and BLAST identification confirmed them as Rickettsia conorii. The sequences of R. conorii reported from south India clustered with two previously reported novel rickettsial genotypes. The study sequences clustered in a group different from that of Rickettsia spp. of the south Indian sequences reported earlier. Interpretation & conclusions This study showed the existence of R. conorii in north India. Testing for SFGR may be included in the diagnostic workup of AFI for better disease management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manisha Biswal
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India
| | - Kamran Zaman
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India
| | - Vikas Suri
- Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India
| | - Srikanth Gopi
- Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India
| | - Abhay Kumar
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India
| | - T Gopi
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India
| | - Shashi Vig
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India
| | - Navneet Sharma
- Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India
| | - Ashish Bhalla
- Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India
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Kalal BS, Shivalli S. Comment on "Serological Evidence of Scrub Typhus among Cases of PUO in the Kashmir Valley- A Hospital Based Study". J Clin Diagn Res 2017; 11:DL01-DL02. [PMID: 28764167 DOI: 10.7860/jcdr/2017/25345.10038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2016] [Accepted: 01/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bhuvanesh Sukhlal Kalal
- Senior Research Fellow (CSIR), Department of Biochemistry, Yenepoya Medical College, Yenepoya University, Mangalore, Karnataka, India and Yenepoya Research Centre, Yenepoya University, Mangalore, India
| | - Siddharudha Shivalli
- Associate Professor, Community Medicine, Yenepoya University, Mangalore, India and Regional Technical Advisor South-East Asia, TEPHINET, Task Force for Global Health, Inc., USA
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