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Su M, Yin M, Zhou Y, Xiao S, Yi J, Tang R. Freeze-Thaw Microfluidic System Produces "Themis" Nanocomplex for Cleaning Persisters-Infected Macrophages and Enhancing Uninfected Macrophages. Adv Mater 2024; 36:e2311436. [PMID: 38181783 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202311436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 01/01/2024] [Indexed: 01/07/2024]
Abstract
Macrophages are the primary effectors against potential pathogen infections. They can be "parasitized" by intracellular bacteria, serving as "accomplices", protecting intracellular bacteria and even switching them to persisters. Here, using a freeze-thaw strategy-based microfluidic chip, a "Themis" nanocomplex (TNC) is created. The TNC consists of Lactobacillus reuteri-derived membrane vesicles, heme, and vancomycin, which cleaned infected macrophages and enhanced uninfected macrophages. In infected macrophages, TNC releases heme that led to the reconstruction of the respiratory chain complexes of intracellular persisters, forcing them to regrow. The revived bacteria produces virulence factors that destroyed host macrophages (accomplices), thereby being externalized and becoming vulnerable to immune responses. In uninfected macrophages, TNC upregulates the TCA cycle and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), contributing to immunoenhancement. The combined effect of TNC of cleaning the accomplice (infected macrophages) and reinforcing uninfected macrophages provides a promising strategy for intracellular bacterial therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingyue Su
- School of stomatology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Mengying Yin
- School of stomatology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Yifu Zhou
- School of stomatology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Shuya Xiao
- School of stomatology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Jundan Yi
- School of stomatology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Rongbing Tang
- School of stomatology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
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2
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Kispert S, Liguori M, Velikaneye C, Qiu C, Wang S, Zhang N, Gu H. Role of Staphylococcus aureus's Buoyant Density in the Development of Biofilm Associated Antibiotic Susceptibility. Microorganisms 2024; 12:759. [PMID: 38674703 PMCID: PMC11052065 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12040759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2024] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Biofilms are clusters of microorganisms that form at various interfaces, including those between air and liquid or liquid and solid. Due to their roles in enhancing wastewater treatment processes, and their unfortunate propensity to cause persistent human infections through lowering antibiotic susceptibility, understanding and managing bacterial biofilms is of paramount importance. A pivotal stage in biofilm development is the initial bacterial attachment to these interfaces. However, the determinants of bacterial cell choice in colonizing an interface first and heterogeneity in bacterial adhesion remain elusive. Our research has unveiled variations in the buoyant density of free-swimming Staphylococcus aureus cells, irrespective of their growth phase. Cells with a low cell buoyant density, characterized by fewer cell contents, exhibited lower susceptibility to antibiotic treatments (100 μg/mL vancomycin) and favored biofilm formation at air-liquid interfaces. In contrast, cells with higher cell buoyant density, which have richer cell contents, were more vulnerable to antibiotics and predominantly formed biofilms on liquid-solid interfaces when contained upright. Cells with low cell buoyant density were not able to revert to a more antibiotic sensitive and high cell buoyant density phenotype. In essence, S. aureus cells with higher cell buoyant density may be more inclined to adhere to upright substrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Kispert
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Biomedical Engineering, Tagliatela College of Engineering, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Madison Liguori
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Biomedical Engineering, Tagliatela College of Engineering, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Cody Velikaneye
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Biomedical Engineering, Tagliatela College of Engineering, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Chong Qiu
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Biomedical Engineering, Tagliatela College of Engineering, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Shue Wang
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Biomedical Engineering, Tagliatela College of Engineering, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Nan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Targeting Therapy and Diagnosis for Critical Diseases of Henan Province, Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Huan Gu
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Biomedical Engineering, Tagliatela College of Engineering, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
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3
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Heo HY, Zou G, Baek S, Kim J, Mylonakis E, Ausubel FM, Gao H, Kim W. A Methylazanediyl Bisacetamide Derivative Sensitizes Staphylococcus aureus Persisters to a Combination of Gentamicin And Daptomycin. Adv Sci (Weinh) 2024; 11:e2306112. [PMID: 38126676 PMCID: PMC10916567 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202306112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, notably methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), pose treatment challenges due to its ability to tolerate antibiotics and develop antibiotic resistance. The former, a mechanism independent of genetic changes, allows bacteria to withstand antibiotics by altering metabolic processes. Here, a potent methylazanediyl bisacetamide derivative, MB6, is described, which selectively targets MRSA membranes over mammalian membranes without observable resistance development. Although MB6 is effective against growing MRSA cells, its antimicrobial activity against MRSA persisters is limited. Nevertheless, MB6 significantly potentiates the bactericidal activity of gentamicin against MRSA persisters by facilitating gentamicin uptake. In addition, MB6 in combination with daptomycin exhibits enhanced anti-persister activity through mutual reinforcement of their membrane-disrupting activities. Crucially, the "triple" combination of MB6, gentamicin, and daptomycin exhibits a marked enhancement in the killing of MRSA persisters compared to individual components or any double combinations. These findings underscore the potential of MB6 to function as a potent and selective membrane-active antimicrobial adjuvant to enhance the efficacy of existing antibiotics against persister cells. The molecular mechanisms of MB6 elucidated in this study provide valuable insights for designing anti-persister adjuvants and for developing new antimicrobial combination strategies to overcome the current limitations of antibiotic treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hee Young Heo
- College of PharmacyGraduate School of Pharmaceutical SciencesEwha Womans UniversitySeoul03760Republic of Korea
| | - Guijin Zou
- Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC)Agency for ScienceTechnology and Research (A*STAR)Singapore138632Republic of Singapore
| | - Seongeun Baek
- College of PharmacyGraduate School of Pharmaceutical SciencesEwha Womans UniversitySeoul03760Republic of Korea
| | - Jae‐Seok Kim
- Department of Laboratory MedicineKangdong Sacred Heart HospitalHallym University College of MedicineSeoul05355Republic of Korea
| | | | - Frederick M. Ausubel
- Department of Molecular BiologyMassachusetts General HospitalBostonMA02114USA
- Department of GeneticsHarvard Medical SchoolBostonMA02115USA
| | - Huajian Gao
- Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC)Agency for ScienceTechnology and Research (A*STAR)Singapore138632Republic of Singapore
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringCollege of EngineeringNanyang Technological UniversitySingapore639789Republic of Singapore
| | - Wooseong Kim
- College of PharmacyGraduate School of Pharmaceutical SciencesEwha Womans UniversitySeoul03760Republic of Korea
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4
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Celeste FV, Powers S. Induction of Multiple Alternative Mitogenic Signaling Pathways Accompanies the Emergence of Drug-Tolerant Cancer Cells. Cancers (Basel) 2024; 16:1001. [PMID: 38473364 PMCID: PMC10930612 DOI: 10.3390/cancers16051001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2024] [Revised: 02/24/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Drug resistance can evolve from a subpopulation of cancer cells that initially survive drug treatment and then gradually form a pool of drug-tolerant cells. Several studies have pinpointed the activation of a specific bypass pathway that appears to provide the critical therapeutic target for preventing drug tolerance. Here, we take a systems-biology approach, using proteomics and genomics to examine the development of drug tolerance to EGFR inhibitors in EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinoma cells and BRAF inhibitors in BRAF-mutant melanoma cells. We found that there are numerous alternative mitogenic pathways that become activated in both cases, including YAP, STAT3, IGFR1, and phospholipase C (PLC)/protein kinase C (PKC) pathways. Our results suggest that an effective therapeutic strategy to prevent drug tolerance will need to take multiple alternative mitogenic pathways into account rather than focusing on one specific pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank V. Celeste
- Graduate Program in Genetics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
- Department of Pathology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Scott Powers
- Graduate Program in Genetics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
- Department of Pathology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
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5
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Ke W, Xie Y, Chen Y, Ding H, Ye L, Qiu H, Li H, Zhang L, Chen L, Tian X, Shen Z, Song Z, Fan X, Zong JF, Guo Z, Ma X, Xiao M, Liao G, Liu CH, Yin WB, Dong Z, Yang F, Jiang YY, Perlin DS, Chen Y, Fu YV, Wang L. Fungicide-tolerant persister formation during cryptococcal pulmonary infection. Cell Host Microbe 2024; 32:276-289.e7. [PMID: 38215741 DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2023.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/14/2024]
Abstract
Bacterial persisters, a subpopulation of genetically susceptible cells that are normally dormant and tolerant to bactericides, have been studied extensively because of their clinical importance. In comparison, much less is known about the determinants underlying fungicide-tolerant fungal persister formation in vivo. Here, we report that during mouse lung infection, Cryptococcus neoformans forms persisters that are highly tolerant to amphotericin B (AmB), the standard of care for treating cryptococcosis. By exploring stationary-phase indicator molecules and developing single-cell tracking strategies, we show that in the lung, AmB persisters are enriched in cryptococcal cells that abundantly produce stationary-phase molecules. The antioxidant ergothioneine plays a specific and key role in AmB persistence, which is conserved in phylogenetically distant fungi. Furthermore, the antidepressant sertraline (SRT) shows potent activity specifically against cryptococcal AmB persisters. Our results provide evidence for and the determinant of AmB-tolerant persister formation in pulmonary cryptococcosis, which has potential clinical significance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weixin Ke
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yuyan Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yingying Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Hao Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Leixin Ye
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Haoning Qiu
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Hao Li
- Department of Pharmacy, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China
| | - Lanyue Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Lei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xiuyun Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Zhenghao Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zili Song
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Xin Fan
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, China
| | - Jian-Fa Zong
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Zhengyan Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xiaoyu Ma
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Meng Xiao
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China; Beijing Key Laboratory for Mechanisms Research and Precision Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases (BZ0447), Beijing 100730, China
| | - Guojian Liao
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Cui Hua Liu
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Wen-Bing Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zhiyang Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Feng Yang
- Department of Pharmacy, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China
| | - Yuan-Ying Jiang
- Department of Pharmacy, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China
| | - David S Perlin
- Center for Discovery and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health, Nutley, NJ 07110, USA
| | - Yihua Chen
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yu V Fu
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
| | - Linqi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
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6
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Joshi H, Kandari D, Maitra SS, Bhatnagar R, Banerjee N. Identification of genes associated with persistence in Mycobacterium smegmatis. Front Microbiol 2024; 15:1302883. [PMID: 38410395 PMCID: PMC10894938 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1302883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The prevalence of bacterial persisters is related to their phenotypic diversity and is responsible for the relapse of chronic infections. Tolerance to antibiotic therapy is the hallmark of bacterial persistence. In this study, we have screened a transposon library of Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155 strain using antibiotic tolerance, survival in mouse macrophages, and biofilm-forming ability of the mutants. Out of 10 thousand clones screened, we selected ten mutants defective in all the three phenotypes. Six mutants showed significantly lower persister abundance under different stress conditions. Insertions in three genes belonging to the pathways of oxidative phosphorylation msmeg_3233 (cydA), biotin metabolism msmeg_3194 (bioB), and oxidative metabolism msmeg_0719, a flavoprotein monooxygenase, significantly reduced the number of live cells, suggesting their role in pathways promoting long-term survival. Another group that displayed a moderate reduction in CFU included a glycosyltransferase, msmeg_0392, a hydrogenase subunit, msmeg_2263 (hybC), and a DNA binding protein, msmeg_2211. The study has revealed potential candidates likely to facilitate the long-term survival of M. smegmatis. The findings offer new targets to develop antibiotics against persisters. Further, investigating the corresponding genes in M. tuberculosis may provide valuable leads in improving the treatment of chronic and persistent tuberculosis infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hemant Joshi
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | - Divya Kandari
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
- Divacc Research Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., incubated under Atal Incubation Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | - Subhrangsu Sundar Maitra
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | - Rakesh Bhatnagar
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| | - Nirupama Banerjee
- Divacc Research Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., incubated under Atal Incubation Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
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7
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Li Y, Chen X, Zhang W, Fang K, Tian J, Li F, Han M, Huang J, Sun T, Bai F, Cheng M, Xu Y. The metabolic slowdown caused by the deletion of pspA accelerates protein aggregation during stationary phase facilitating antibiotic persistence. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2024; 68:e0093723. [PMID: 38169282 PMCID: PMC10848772 DOI: 10.1128/aac.00937-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Entering a dormant state is a prevailing mechanism used by bacterial cells to transiently evade antibiotic attacks and become persisters. The dynamic progression of bacterial dormancy depths driven by protein aggregation has been found to be critical for antibiotic persistence in recent years. However, our current understanding of the endogenous genes that affects dormancy depth remains limited. Here, we discovered a novel role of phage shock protein A (pspA) gene in modulating bacterial dormancy depth. Deletion of pspA of Escherichia coli resulted in increased bacterial dormancy depths and prolonged lag times for resuscitation during the stationary phase. ∆pspA exhibited a higher persister ratio compared to the wild type when challenged with various antibiotics. Microscopic images revealed that ∆pspA showed accelerated formation of protein aggresomes, which were collections of endogenous protein aggregates. Time-lapse imaging established the positive correlation between protein aggregation and antibiotic persistence of ∆pspA at the single-cell level. To investigate the molecular mechanism underlying accelerated protein aggregation, we performed transcriptome profiling and found the increased abundance of chaperons and a general metabolic slowdown in the absence of pspA. Consistent with the transcriptomic results, the ∆pspA strain showed a decreased cellular ATP level, which could be rescued by glucose supplementation. Then, we verified that replenishment of cellular ATP levels by adding glucose could inhibit protein aggregation and reduce persister formation in ∆pspA. This study highlights the novel role of pspA in maintaining proteostasis, regulating dormancy depth, and affecting antibiotic persistence during stationary phase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingxing Li
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Biomedical Engineering Facility of National Infrastructures for Translational Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Xiao Chen
- Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Centre (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Weili Zhang
- Center for Infectious Disease Research, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Kefan Fang
- Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Centre (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jingjing Tian
- Biomedical Engineering Facility of National Infrastructures for Translational Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Fangyuan Li
- Clinical Biobank, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Mingfei Han
- National Center for Protein Sciences (Beijing), Beijing Proteome Research Center, Beijing Institute of Lifeomics, Beijing, China
| | - Jingjing Huang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Affiliated Huai'an No. 1 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Huai'an, China
| | - Tianshu Sun
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- Clinical Biobank, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Fan Bai
- Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Centre (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Mei Cheng
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research & the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yingchun Xu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
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8
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Kumar TA, Birua S, SharathChandra M, Mukherjee P, Singh S, Kaul G, Akhir A, Chopra S, Hirschi J, Singh A, Chakrapani H. An Arm-to-Disarm Strategy to Overcome Phenotypic AMR in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. bioRxiv 2024:2023.03.23.533925. [PMID: 38260651 PMCID: PMC10802243 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.23.533925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Most front-line tuberculosis drugs are ineffective against hypoxic non-replicating drug-tolerant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) contributing to phenotypic antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This is largely due to the poor permeability in the thick and waxy cell wall of persister cells, leading to diminished drug accumulation and reduced drug-target engagement. Here, using an "arm-to-disarm" prodrug approach, we demonstrate that non-replicating Mtb persisters can be sensitized to Moxifloxacin (MXF), a front-line TB drug. We design and develop a series of nitroheteroaryl MXF prodrugs that are substrates for bacterial nitroreductases (NTR), a class of enzymes that are over-expressed in hypoxic Mtb. Enzymatic activation involves electron-transfer to the nitroheteroaryl compound followed by protonation via water that contributes to the rapid cleavage rate of the protective group by NTR to produce the active drug. Phenotypic and genotypic data are fully consistent with MXF-driven lethality of the prodrug in Mtb with the protective group being a relatively innocuous bystander. The prodrug increased intracellular concentrations of MXF than MXF alone and is more lethal than MXF in non-replicating persisters. Hence, arming drugs to improve permeability, accumulation and drug-target engagement is a new therapeutic paradigm to disarm phenotypic AMR.
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Affiliation(s)
- T. Anand Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, India
| | - Shalini Birua
- Division of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | | | - Piyali Mukherjee
- Division of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Samsher Singh
- Division of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Grace Kaul
- Division of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Janakipuram Extension, Sitapur Road, Lucknow-226031, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
| | - Abdul Akhir
- Division of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Janakipuram Extension, Sitapur Road, Lucknow-226031, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Sidharth Chopra
- Division of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Janakipuram Extension, Sitapur Road, Lucknow-226031, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
| | | | - Amit Singh
- Division of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Harinath Chakrapani
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, India
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9
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Bouhrour N, van der Reijden TJK, Voet MM, Schonkeren-Ravensbergen B, Cordfunke RA, Drijfhout JW, Bendali F, Nibbering PH. Novel Antibacterial Agents SAAP-148 and Halicin Combat Gram-Negative Bacteria Colonizing Catheters. Antibiotics (Basel) 2023; 12:1743. [PMID: 38136778 PMCID: PMC10741160 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12121743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2023] [Revised: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The antibiotic management of catheter-related infections (CRIs) often fails owing to the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant strains and/or biofilm/persister apparitions. Thus, we investigated the efficacy of two novel antimicrobial agents, i.e., the synthetic peptide SAAP-148 and the novel antibiotic halicin, against Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) colonizing catheters. The antibacterial, anti-biofilm, and anti-persister activities of both agents were evaluated against Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains. The enrolled strains were isolated from catheters and selected based on their resistance to at least three antibiotic classes and biofilm formation potential. Furthermore, the hemolysis and endotoxin neutralization abilities of these agents were explored. The bactericidal activity of both agents was reduced in urine and plasma as compared to buffered saline. In a dose-dependent manner, SAAP-148 and halicin reduced bacterial counts in 24 h preformed biofilms on silicone elastomer discs and eliminated persisters originating from antibiotic-exposed mature 7-day biofilms, with halicin being less effective than SAAP-148. Importantly, SAAP-148 and halicin acted synergistically on E. coli and K. pneumoniae biofilms but not on A. baumannii biofilms. The peptide, but not halicin, decreased the production of IL-12p40 upon exposure to UV-killed bacteria. This preliminary study showed that SAAP-148 and halicin alone/in combination are promising candidates to fight GNB colonizing catheters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nesrine Bouhrour
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie Appliquée, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université de Bejaia, Bejaia 06000, Algeria
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands; (T.J.K.v.d.R.); (M.M.V.); (B.S.-R.); (P.H.N.)
| | - Tanny J. K. van der Reijden
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands; (T.J.K.v.d.R.); (M.M.V.); (B.S.-R.); (P.H.N.)
| | - Michella M. Voet
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands; (T.J.K.v.d.R.); (M.M.V.); (B.S.-R.); (P.H.N.)
| | - Bep Schonkeren-Ravensbergen
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands; (T.J.K.v.d.R.); (M.M.V.); (B.S.-R.); (P.H.N.)
| | - Robert A. Cordfunke
- Department of Immunology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands; (R.A.C.); (J.W.D.)
| | - Jan Wouter Drijfhout
- Department of Immunology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands; (R.A.C.); (J.W.D.)
| | - Farida Bendali
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie Appliquée, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université de Bejaia, Bejaia 06000, Algeria
| | - Peter H. Nibbering
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands; (T.J.K.v.d.R.); (M.M.V.); (B.S.-R.); (P.H.N.)
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10
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Wang X, Ma W, Shan J, Chen K, Xu W, Lu Z, Ju Z, Dong Z, Li B, Zhang Y. The phosphotransferase system gene ptsH affects persister formation in Klebsiella pneumoniae by regulating cyclic adenosine monophosphate levels. Int J Antimicrob Agents 2023; 62:106925. [PMID: 37451649 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2023.106925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/09/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the most common opportunistic pathogens causing hospital- and community-acquired infections. Antibiotic resistance in K. pneumoniae has emerged as a major clinical and public health threat. Persisters are specific antibiotic-tolerant bacterial cells. Studies on the mechanism underlying their formation mechanism and growth status are scarce. Therefore, it is urgent to explore the key genes and signalling pathways involved in the formation and recovery process of K. pneumoniae persisters to enhance the understanding and develop relevant treatment strategies. In this study, we treated K. pneumoniae with a lethal concentration of levofloxacin. It resulted in a distinct plateau of surviving levofloxacin-tolerant persisters. Subsequently, we obtained bacterial samples at five different time points during the formation and recovery of K. pneumoniae persisters to perform transcriptome analysis. ptsH gene was observed to be upregulated during the formation of persisters, and down-regulated during the recovery of the persisters. Further, we used CRISPR-Cas9 to construct ΔptsH, the ptsH-knockout K. pneumoniae strain, and to investigate the effect of ptsH on the persister formation. We observed that ptsH can promote the formation of persisters, reduce accumulation of reactive oxygen species, and enhance antioxidant capacity by reducing cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report that ptsH plays a vital role in forming K. pneumoniae persisters. This study provided important insights to further explore the mechanism underlying the formation of K. pneumoniae persisters and provided a potential target for treating infection with K. pneumoniae persisters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Wang
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Wenru Ma
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Jiangfan Shan
- The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Kexu Chen
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Weihao Xu
- Inspection Center of Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
| | - Zixuan Lu
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Zhuofei Ju
- The First School of Clinical Medicine, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Zhouyan Dong
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
| | - Boqing Li
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China.
| | - Yumei Zhang
- Department of Pathogenic Biology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China.
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11
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Jara M, Arevalo J, Llanos-Cuentas A, den Broeck FV, Domagalska MA, Dujardin JC. Unveiling drug-tolerant and persister-like cells in Leishmania braziliensis lines derived from patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1253033. [PMID: 37790908 PMCID: PMC10543814 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1253033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Resistance against anti-Leishmania drugs (DR) has been studied for years, giving important insights into long-term adaptations of these parasites to drugs, through genetic modifications. However, microorganisms can also survive lethal drug exposure by entering into temporary quiescence, a phenomenon called drug tolerance (DT), which is rather unexplored in Leishmania. Methods We studied a panel of nine Leishmania braziliensis strains highly susceptible to potassium antimonyl tartrate (PAT), exposed promastigotes to lethal PAT pressure, and compared several cellular and molecular parameters distinguishing DT from DR. Results and discussion We demonstrated in vitro that a variable proportion of cells remained viable, showing all the criteria of DT and not of DR: i) signatures of quiescence, under drug pressure: reduced proliferation and significant decrease of rDNA transcription; ii) reversibility of the phenotype: return to low IC50 after removal of drug pressure; and iii) absence of significant genetic differences between exposed and unexposed lineages of each strain and absence of reported markers of DR. We found different levels of quiescence and DT among the different L. braziliensis strains. We provide here a new in-vitro model of drug-induced quiescence and DT in Leishmania. Research should be extended in vivo, but the current model could be further exploited to support R&D, for instance, to guide the screening of compounds to overcome the quiescence resilience of the parasite, thereby improving the therapy of leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlene Jara
- Molecular Parasitology Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Jorge Arevalo
- Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Alexander von Humboldt”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
| | - Alejandro Llanos-Cuentas
- Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Alexander von Humboldt”, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
| | - Frederik Van den Broeck
- Molecular Parasitology Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Jean-Claude Dujardin
- Molecular Parasitology Unit, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
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12
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Wang Y, Liang B, Song Z, Chen W, Niu H, Xing D, Zhang Y. High antipersister activity of a promising new quinolone drug candidate in eradicating uropathogenic Escherichia coli persisters and persistent infection in mice. J Appl Microbiol 2023; 134:lxad193. [PMID: 37667517 DOI: 10.1093/jambio/lxad193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2023] [Revised: 07/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
AIMS To develop more potent drugs that eradicate persister bacteria and cure persistent urinary tract infections (rUTIs). METHODS AND RESULTS We synthesized eight novel clinifloxacin analogs and measured minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), the time-kill curves in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) UTI89, and applied the candidate drugs and combinations against biofilm bacteria in vitro and in mice. Transcriptomic analysis was performed for UPEC after candidate drug treatment to shed light on potential mechanism of action. We identified Compound 2, named Qingdafloxacin (QDF), which was more potent than clinafloxacin and clinically used levofloxacin and moxifloxacin, with an MIC of < 0.04 μg ml-1 and an MBC of 0.08∼0.16 μg ml-1. In drug combination studies, QDF + gentamicin + nitrofuran combination but not single drugs completely eradicated all stationary phase bacteria containing persisters and biofilm bacteria, and all bacteria in a persistent UTI mouse model. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the unique antipersister activity of QDF was associated with downregulation of genes involved in bacterial stress response, DNA repair, protein misfolding repair, pyrimidine metabolism, glutamate, and glutathione metabolism, and efflux. CONCLUSIONS QDF has high antipersister activity and its drug combinations proved highly effective against biofilm bacteria in vitro and persistent UTIs in mice, which may have implications for treating rUTIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanyan Wang
- Qingdao Cancer Institute, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, School of Basic Medicine of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China
| | - Bing Liang
- Qingdao Cancer Institute, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, School of Basic Medicine of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China
| | - Zhengming Song
- Qingdao Cancer Institute, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, School of Basic Medicine of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China
| | - Wujun Chen
- Qingdao Cancer Institute, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, School of Basic Medicine of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China
| | - Hongxia Niu
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, School of Basic Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Dongming Xing
- Qingdao Cancer Institute, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, School of Basic Medicine of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China
- School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Ying Zhang
- Qingdao Cancer Institute, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, School of Basic Medicine of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China
- State Key Laboratory for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310003, China
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13
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Ji L, Jiang T, Zhao X, Cai D, Hua K, Du P, Chen Y, Xie J. Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv0494 Protein Contributes to Mycobacterial Persistence. Infect Drug Resist 2023; 16:4755-4762. [PMID: 37501888 PMCID: PMC10370413 DOI: 10.2147/idr.s419914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose Fatty acid metabolism plays an important role in the survival and pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. During dormancy, lipids are considered to be the main source of energy. A previous study found that Rv0494 is a starvation-inducible, lipid-responsive transcriptional regulator. However, the role of Rv0494 in bacterial persister survival has not been studied. Methods We constructed a Rv0494 deletion mutant strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and evaluated the susceptibility of the mutant strain to antibiotics using a persistence test. Results We found that mutations in Rv0494 lead to survival defects of persisters, which reflected in increased sensitivity to isoniazid. Conclusion We conclude that Rv0494 is important for persister survival and may serve as a good target for developing new antibiotics that kill persister bacteria for improved treatment of persistent bacterial infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Ji
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Tingting Jiang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xin Zhao
- Department of International Registration, Ustar Biotechnologies (Hangzhou) Ltd, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Damin Cai
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Kouzhen Hua
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Peng Du
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yuanyuan Chen
- Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Jianping Xie
- Institute of Modern Biopharmaceuticals, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Eco-Environment and Bio-Resource of the Three Gorges Area, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education Eco-Environment of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Municipal Key Laboratory of Karst Environment, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China
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14
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Lanni A, Iacobino A, Fattorini L, Giannoni F. Eradication of Drug-Tolerant Mycobacterium tuberculosis 2022: Where We Stand. Microorganisms 2023; 11:1511. [PMID: 37375013 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11061511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/03/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The lungs of tuberculosis (TB) patients contain a spectrum of granulomatous lesions, ranging from solid and well-vascularized cellular granulomas to avascular caseous granulomas. In solid granulomas, current therapy kills actively replicating (AR) intracellular bacilli, while in low-vascularized caseous granulomas the low-oxygen tension stimulates aerobic and microaerophilic AR bacilli to transit into non-replicating (NR), drug-tolerant and extracellular stages. These stages, which do not have genetic mutations and are often referred to as persisters, are difficult to eradicate due to low drug penetration inside the caseum and mycobacterial cell walls. The sputum of TB patients also contains viable bacilli called differentially detectable (DD) cells that, unlike persisters, grow in liquid, but not in solid media. This review provides a comprehensive update on drug combinations killing in vitro AR and drug-tolerant bacilli (persisters and DD cells), and sterilizing Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected BALB/c and caseum-forming C3HeB/FeJ mice. These observations have been important for testing new drug combinations in noninferiority clinical trials, in order to shorten the duration of current regimens against TB. In 2022, the World Health Organization, following the results of one of these trials, supported the use of a 4-month regimen for the treatment of drug-susceptible TB as a possible alternative to the current 6-month regimen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Lanni
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Via Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Angelo Iacobino
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Via Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Lanfranco Fattorini
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Via Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Federico Giannoni
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Via Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy
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15
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Kalia NP, Singh S, Hards K, Cheung CY, Sviriaeva E, Banaei-Esfahani A, Aebersold R, Berney M, Cook GM, Pethe K. M. tuberculosis relies on trace oxygen to maintain energy homeostasis and survive in hypoxic environments. Cell Rep 2023; 42:112444. [PMID: 37115669 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The bioenergetic mechanisms by which Mycobacterium tuberculosis survives hypoxia are poorly understood. Current models assume that the bacterium shifts to an alternate electron acceptor or fermentation to maintain membrane potential and ATP synthesis. Counterintuitively, we find here that oxygen itself is the principal terminal electron acceptor during hypoxic dormancy. M. tuberculosis can metabolize oxygen efficiently at least two orders of magnitude below the concentration predicted to occur in hypoxic lung granulomas. Despite a difference in apparent affinity for oxygen, both the cytochrome bcc:aa3 and cytochrome bd oxidase respiratory branches are required for hypoxic respiration. Simultaneous inhibition of both oxidases blocks oxygen consumption, reduces ATP levels, and kills M. tuberculosis under hypoxia. The capacity of mycobacteria to scavenge trace levels of oxygen, coupled with the absence of complex regulatory mechanisms to achieve hierarchal control of the terminal oxidases, may be a key determinant of long-term M. tuberculosis survival in hypoxic lung granulomas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nitin Pal Kalia
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 636921, Singapore; Department of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER-H) Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Telangana 500037, India
| | - Samsher Singh
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 636921, Singapore
| | - Kiel Hards
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, University of Auckland, Auckland 92019, New Zealand
| | - Chen-Yi Cheung
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
| | - Ekaterina Sviriaeva
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 636921, Singapore
| | - Amir Banaei-Esfahani
- Department of Biology, Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ruedi Aebersold
- Department of Biology, Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Faculty of Science, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Michael Berney
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
| | - Gregory M Cook
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, University of Auckland, Auckland 92019, New Zealand.
| | - Kevin Pethe
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 636921, Singapore; Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637551, Singapore; National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore 308442, Singapore.
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16
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Zhang Y, Kepiro I, Ryadnov MG, Pagliara S. Single Cell Killing Kinetics Differentiate Phenotypic Bacterial Responses to Different Antibacterial Classes. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0366722. [PMID: 36651776 PMCID: PMC9927147 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03667-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
With the spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria, there has been an increasing focus on molecular classes that have not yet yielded an antibiotic. A key capability for assessing and prescribing new antibacterial treatments is to compare the effects antibacterial agents have on bacterial growth at a phenotypic, single-cell level. Here, we combined time-lapse microscopy with microfluidics to investigate the concentration-dependent killing kinetics of stationary-phase Escherichia coli cells. We used antibacterial agents from three different molecular classes, β-lactams and fluoroquinolones, with the known antibiotics ampicillin and ciprofloxacin, respectively, and a new experimental class, protein Ψ-capsids. We found that bacterial cells elongated when treated with ampicillin and ciprofloxacin used at their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). This was in contrast to Ψ-capsids, which arrested bacterial elongation within the first two hours of treatment. At concentrations exceeding the MIC, all the antibacterial agents tested arrested bacterial growth within the first 2 h of treatment. Further, our single-cell experiments revealed differences in the modes of action of three different agents. At the MIC, ampicillin and ciprofloxacin caused the lysis of bacterial cells, whereas at higher concentrations, the mode of action shifted toward membrane disruption. The Ψ-capsids killed cells by disrupting their membranes at all concentrations tested. Finally, at increasing concentrations, ampicillin and Ψ-capsids reduced the fraction of the population that survived treatment in a viable but nonculturable state, whereas ciprofloxacin increased this fraction. This study introduces an effective capability to differentiate the killing kinetics of antibacterial agents from different molecular classes and offers a high content analysis of antibacterial mechanisms at the single-cell level. IMPORTANCE Antibiotics act against bacterial pathogens by inhibiting their growth or killing them directly. Different modes of action determine different antibacterial responses, whereas phenotypic differences in bacteria can challenge the efficacy of antibiotics. Therefore, it is important to be able to differentiate the concentration-dependent killing kinetics of antibacterial agents at a single-cell level, in particular for molecular classes which have not yielded an antibiotic before. Here, we measured single-cell responses using microfluidics-enabled imaging, revealing that a novel class of antibacterial agents, protein Ψ-capsids, arrests bacterial elongation at the onset of treatment, whereas elongation continues for cells treated with β-lactam and fluoroquinolone antibiotics. The study advances our current understanding of antibacterial function and offers an effective strategy for the comparative design of new antibacterial therapies, as well as clinical antibiotic susceptibility testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuewen Zhang
- Living Systems Institute and Biosciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
- National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, United Kingdom
| | - Ibolya Kepiro
- National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, United Kingdom
| | - Maxim G. Ryadnov
- National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, United Kingdom
- Department of Physics, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Stefano Pagliara
- Living Systems Institute and Biosciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
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17
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Dorman CJ. Variable DNA topology is an epigenetic generator of physiological heterogeneity in bacterial populations. Mol Microbiol 2023; 119:19-28. [PMID: 36565252 PMCID: PMC10108321 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.15014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Revised: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Transcription is a noisy and stochastic process that produces sibling-to-sibling variations in physiology across a population of genetically identical cells. This pattern of diversity reflects, in part, the burst-like nature of transcription. Transcription bursting has many causes and a failure to remove the supercoils that accumulate in DNA during transcription elongation is an important contributor. Positive supercoiling of the DNA ahead of the transcription elongation complex can result in RNA polymerase stalling if this DNA topological roadblock is not removed. The relaxation of these positive supercoils is performed by the ATP-dependent type II topoisomerases DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV. Interference with the action of these topoisomerases involving, inter alia, topoisomerase poisons, fluctuations in the [ATP]/[ADP] ratio, and/or the intervention of nucleoid-associated proteins with GapR-like or YejK-like activities, may have consequences for the smooth operation of the transcriptional machinery. Antibiotic-tolerant (but not resistant) persister cells are among the phenotypic outliers that may emerge. However, interference with type II topoisomerase activity can have much broader consequences, making it an important epigenetic driver of physiological diversity in the bacterial population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles J Dorman
- Department of Microbiology, Moyne Institute of Preventive Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
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18
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Song S, Semenova E, Severinov K, Fernández-García L, Benedik MJ, Maeda T, Wood TK. CRISPR-Cas Controls Cryptic Prophages. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:16195. [PMID: 36555835 PMCID: PMC9782134 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232416195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The bacterial archetypal adaptive immune system, CRISPR-Cas, is thought to be repressed in the best-studied bacterium, Escherichia coli K-12. We show here that the E. coli CRISPR-Cas system is active and serves to inhibit its nine defective (i.e., cryptic) prophages. Specifically, compared to the wild-type strain, reducing the amounts of specific interfering RNAs (crRNA) decreases growth by 40%, increases cell death by 700%, and prevents persister cell resuscitation. Similar results were obtained by inactivating CRISPR-Cas by deleting the entire 13 spacer region (CRISPR array); hence, CRISPR-Cas serves to inhibit the remaining deleterious effects of these cryptic prophages, most likely through CRISPR array-derived crRNA binding to cryptic prophage mRNA rather than through cleavage of cryptic prophage DNA, i.e., self-targeting. Consistently, four of the 13 E. coli spacers contain complementary regions to the mRNA sequences of seven cryptic prophages, and inactivation of CRISPR-Cas increases the level of mRNA for lysis protein YdfD of cryptic prophage Qin and lysis protein RzoD of cryptic prophage DLP-12. In addition, lysis is clearly seen via transmission electron microscopy when the whole CRISPR-Cas array is deleted, and eliminating spacer #12, which encodes crRNA with complementary regions for DLP-12 (including rzoD), Rac, Qin (including ydfD), and CP4-57 cryptic prophages, also results in growth inhibition and cell lysis. Therefore, we report the novel results that (i) CRISPR-Cas is active in E. coli and (ii) CRISPR-Cas is used to tame cryptic prophages, likely through RNAi, i.e., unlike with active lysogens, active CRISPR-Cas and cryptic prophages may stably co-exist.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sooyeon Song
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
- Department of Animal Science, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju-Si 54896, Republic of Korea
- Agricultural Convergence Technology, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju-Si 54896, Republic of Korea
| | - Ekaterina Semenova
- Waksman Institute of Microbiology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Konstantin Severinov
- Waksman Institute of Microbiology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Laura Fernández-García
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Michael J. Benedik
- Office of the Provost, Hamad bin Khalifa University, Education City, Doha P.O. Box 34110, Qatar
| | - Toshinari Maeda
- Department of Biological Functions Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu 808-0196, Japan
| | - Thomas K. Wood
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
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19
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Parbhoo T, Schurz H, Mouton JM, Sampson SL. Persistence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in response to infection burden and host-induced stressors. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:981827. [PMID: 36530432 PMCID: PMC9755487 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.981827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction As infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis progresses, the bacilli experience various degrees of host stressors in the macrophage phagosome such as low pH, nutrient deprivation, or exposure to toxic agents, which promotes cell-to-cell phenotypic variation. This includes a physiologically viable but non- or slowly replicating persister subpopulation, which is characterised by a loss of growth on solid media, while remaining metabolically active. Persisters additionally evade the host immune response and macrophage antimicrobial processes by adapting their metabolic pathways to maintain survival and persistence in the host. Methods A flow cytometry-based dual-fluorescent replication reporter assay, termed fluorescence dilution, provided a culture-independent method to characterize the single-cell replication dynamics of M. tuberculosis persisters following macrophage infection. Fluorescence dilution in combination with reference counting beads and a metabolic esterase reactive probe, calcein violet AM, provided an effective approach to enumerate and characterize the phenotypic heterogeneity within M. tuberculosis following macrophage infection. Results Persister formation appeared dependent on the initial infection burden and intracellular bacterial burden. However, inhibition of phagocytosis by cytochalasin D treatment resulted in a significantly higher median percentage of persisters compared to inhibition of phagosome acidification by bafilomycin A1 treatment. Discussion Our results suggest that different host factors differentially impact the intracellular bacterial burden, adaptive mechanisms and entry into persistence in macrophages.
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Tetz G, Tetz V. Overcoming Antibiotic Resistance with Novel Paradigms of Antibiotic Selection. Microorganisms 2022; 10. [PMID: 36557636 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10122383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2022] [Revised: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Conventional antimicrobial susceptibility tests, including phenotypic and genotypic methods, are insufficiently accurate and frequently fail to identify effective antibiotics. These methods predominantly select therapies based on the antibiotic response of only the lead bacterial pathogen within pure bacterial culture. However, this neglects the fact that, in the majority of human infections, the lead bacterial pathogens are present as a part of multispecies communities that modulate the response of these lead pathogens to antibiotics and that multiple pathogens can contribute to the infection simultaneously. This discrepancy is a major cause of the failure of antimicrobial susceptibility tests to detect antibiotics that are effective in vivo. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of the factors that are missed by conventional antimicrobial susceptibility tests and it explains how accounting for these methods can aid the development of novel diagnostic approaches.
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González JF, Hitt R, Laipply B, Gunn JS. The Effect of the Gallbladder Environment during Chronic Infection on Salmonella Persister Cell Formation. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10112276. [PMID: 36422346 PMCID: PMC9698170 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10112276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi). Around 3-5% of individuals infected become chronic carriers, with the gallbladder (GB) as the predominant site of persistence. Gallstones (GS) aid in the development and maintenance of GB carriage, serving as a substrate to which Salmonellae attach and form a biofilm. This biofilm matrix protects bacteria from the host immune system and environmental stress. This shielded environment is an ideal place for the development of persister cells, a transient phenotype of a subset of cells within a population that allows survival after antibiotic treatment. Persisters can also arise in response to harsh environments such as the GB. Here we investigate if GB conditions affect the number of persisters in a Salmonella population. To simulate the chronic GB environment, we cultured biofilms in cholesterol-coated 96-well plates in the presence of ox or human bile. We then treated planktonic or biofilm Salmonella cultures with high concentrations of different antibiotics. This study suggests that biofilms provide a niche for persister cells, but GB conditions either play no role or have a negative influence on persister formation, especially after kanamycin treatment. The antibiotic target was important, as antimicrobials directed against DNA replication or the cell wall had no effect on persister cell formation. Interestingly, repeated treatment with ciprofloxacin increased the percentage of S. Typhimurium persisters in a biofilm, but this increase was abolished by GB conditions. On the other hand, repeated ciprofloxacin treatment of S. Typhi biofilms in GB conditions slightly increased the fraction of persisters. Thus, while the harsh conditions in the GB would be thought to give rise to increased persisters, therefore contributing to the development of chronic carriage, these data suggest persister cell formation is dampened in this environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan F. González
- Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Infectious Diseases Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Regan Hitt
- Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Infectious Diseases Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Baileigh Laipply
- Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Infectious Diseases Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - John S. Gunn
- Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43215, USA
- Infectious Diseases Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-(614)-355-3403
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22
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Witzany C, Regoes RR, Igler C. Assessing the relative importance of bacterial resistance, persistence and hyper-mutation for antibiotic treatment failure. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221300. [PMID: 36350213 PMCID: PMC9653239 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
To curb the rising threat of antimicrobial resistance, we need to understand the routes to antimicrobial treatment failure. Bacteria can survive treatment by using both genetic and phenotypic mechanisms to diminish the effect of antimicrobials. We assemble empirical data showing that, for example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections frequently contain persisters, transiently non-growing cells unaffected by antibiotics (AB) and hyper-mutators, mutants with elevated mutation rates, and thus higher probability of genetic resistance emergence. Resistance, persistence and hyper-mutation dynamics are difficult to disentangle experimentally. Hence, we use stochastic population modelling and deterministic fitness calculations to investigate the relative importance of genetic and phenotypic mechanisms for immediate treatment failure and establishment of prolonged, chronic infections. We find that persistence causes 'hidden' treatment failure with very low cell numbers if antimicrobial concentrations prevent growth of genetically resistant cells. Persister cells can regrow after treatment is discontinued and allow for resistance evolution in the absence of AB. This leads to different mutational routes during treatment and relapse of an infection. By contrast, hyper-mutation facilitates resistance evolution during treatment, but rarely contributes to treatment failure. Our findings highlight the time and concentration dependence of different bacterial mechanisms to escape AB killing, which should be considered when designing 'failure-proof' treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Roland R. Regoes
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Claudia Igler
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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23
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Abstract
Tuberculosis is difficult to treat due to dormant cells formed in response to immune stress and stochastically formed persisters, both of which are tolerant of antibiotics. Bactericidal antibiotics kill by corrupting their energy-dependent targets. We reasoned that stochastic variation, or noise, in the expression of an energy-generating component will produce rare persister cells. In sorted M. tuberculosis cells grown on acetate, there is considerable cell-to-cell variation in the level of mRNA coding for AckA, the acetate kinase. Quenching the noise by overexpressing ackA sharply decreases persisters, showing that it acts as the main persister gene under these conditions. This demonstrates that a low energy mechanism is responsible for the formation of M. tuberculosis persisters. Entrance into a low-energy state driven by noise in expression of energy-producing enzymes is likely a general mechanism by which bacteria produce persisters. IMPORTANCE M. tuberculosis infection requires the administration of multiple antibiotics for a prolonged period of time. Treatment difficulty is generally attributed to M. tuberculosis entrance into a nonreplicative, antibiotic-tolerant state. M. tuberculosis enters this nonreplicative state in response to immune stress. However, a small population of cells enter a nonreplicative, multidrug-tolerant state under normal growth conditions, absent any stress. These cells are termed persisters. The mechanisms by which persisters enter a nonreplicative state are largely unknown. Here, we show that, as with other bacteria, M. tuberculosis persisters are low-energy cells formed stochastically during normal growth. Additionally, we identify the natural variation in the expression of energy producing genes as a source of the stochastic entrance of M. tuberculosis into the low-energy persister state. These findings have important implications for understanding the heterogeneous nature of M. tuberculosis infection and will aid in designing better treatment regimens against this important human pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey Quigley
- Antimicrobial Discovery Center, Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Kim Lewis
- Antimicrobial Discovery Center, Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Wiradiputra MRD, Khuntayaporn P, Thirapanmethee K, Chomnawang MT. Toxin-Antitoxin Systems: A Key Role on Persister Formation in Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium. Infect Drug Resist 2022; 15:5813-5829. [PMID: 36213766 PMCID: PMC9541301 DOI: 10.2147/idr.s378157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The toxin and antitoxin modules in bacteria consist of a toxin molecule that has activity to inhibit various cellular processes and its cognate antitoxin that neutralizes the toxin. This system is considered taking part in the formation of persister cells, which are a subpopulation of recalcitrant cells able to survive antimicrobial treatment without any resistance mechanisms. Importantly, persisters have been associated with long-term infections and treatment failures in healthcare settings. It is a public health concern since persisters can be involved in the evolution and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance amidst the aggravating spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria and insufficient novel antimicrobial therapy to tackle this issue. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is one of the most prevalent Salmonella serotypes in the world and is a leading cause of food-borne salmonellosis. S. Typhimurium has been known to cause persistent infection and a wealth of investigations on Salmonella persisters indicates that toxin and antitoxin modules play a role in mediating the phenotypic switch of persisters, rendering its survival ability in the presence of antimicrobial agents. In this review, we discuss findings regarding mechanisms that underly persistence in S. Typhimurium, especially the involvement of toxin and antitoxin modules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Made Rai Dwitya Wiradiputra
- Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Group (AmRIG), Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand,Biopharmaceutical Sciences Program, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Piyatip Khuntayaporn
- Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Group (AmRIG), Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand,Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Krit Thirapanmethee
- Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Group (AmRIG), Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand,Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Mullika Traidej Chomnawang
- Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Group (AmRIG), Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand,Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand,Correspondence: Mullika Traidej Chomnawang, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand, Tel +66 2 644 8692, Email
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25
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Grandy S, Raudonis R, Cheng Z. The identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa persisters using flow cytometry. Microbiology (Reading) 2022; 168. [PMID: 36287586 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.001252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa persisters are a rare and poorly characterized subpopulation of cells that are responsible for many recurrent infections. The lack of knowledge on the mechanisms that lead to persister cell development is mainly a result of the difficulty in isolating and characterizing this rare population. Flow cytometry is an ideal method for identifying such subpopulations because it allows for high-content single-cell analysis. However, there are fewer established protocols for bacterial flow cytometry compared to mammalian cell work. Herein, we describe and propose a flow cytometry protocol to identify and isolate P. aeruginosa persister cells. Additionally, we show that the percentage of potential persister cells increases with increasing antibiotic concentrations above the MIC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannen Grandy
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Renee Raudonis
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Zhenyu Cheng
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada
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Kang M, Choi TR, Ahn S, Heo HY, Kim H, Lee HS, Lee YK, Joo HS, Yune PS, Kim W, Yang YH. Arctic Psychrotolerant Pseudomonas sp. B14-6 Exhibits Temperature-Dependent Susceptibility to Aminoglycosides. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11. [PMID: 36009888 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11081019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacteria can evade antibiotics by acquiring resistance genes, as well as switching to a non-growing dormant state without accompanying genetic modification. Bacteria in this quiescent state are called persisters, and this non-inheritable ability to withstand multiple antibiotics is referred to as antibiotic tolerance. Although all bacteria are considered to be able to form antibiotic-tolerant persisters, the antibiotic tolerance of extremophilic bacteria is poorly understood. Previously, we identified the psychrotolerant bacterium Pseudomonas sp. B14-6 from the glacier foreland of Midtre Lovénbreen in High Arctic Svalbard. Herein, we investigated the resistance and tolerance of Pseudomonas sp. B14-6 against aminoglycosides at various temperatures. This bacterium was resistant to streptomycin and susceptible to apramycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, and tobramycin. The two putative aminoglycoside phosphotransferase genes aph1 and aph2 were the most likely contributors to streptomycin resistance. Notably, unlike the mesophilic Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14, this cold-adapted bacterium demonstrated reduced susceptibility to all tested aminoglycosides in a temperature-dependent manner. Pseudomonas sp. B14-6 at a lower temperature formed the persister cells that shows tolerance to the 100-fold minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of gentamicin, as well as the partially tolerant cells that withstand 25-fold MIC gentamicin. The temperature-dependent gentamicin tolerance appears to result from reduced metabolic activity. Lastly, the partially tolerant Pseudomonas sp. B14-6 cells could slowly proliferate under the bactericidal concentrations of aminoglycosides. Our results demonstrate that Pseudomonas sp. B14-6 has a characteristic ability to form cells with a range of tolerance, which appears to be inversely proportional to its growth rate.
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Lanni A, Borroni E, Iacobino A, Russo C, Gentile L, Fattorini L, Giannoni F. Activity of Drug Combinations against Mycobacterium abscessus Grown in Aerobic and Hypoxic Conditions. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10071421. [PMID: 35889140 PMCID: PMC9316547 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10071421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Infections caused by Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab), an environmental non-tuberculous mycobacterium, are difficult to eradicate from patients with pulmonary diseases such as cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis even after years of antibiotic treatments. In these people, the low oxygen pressure in mucus and biofilm may restrict Mab growth from actively replicating aerobic (A) to non-replicating hypoxic (H) stages, which are known to be extremely drug-tolerant. After the exposure of Mab A and H cells to drugs, killing was monitored by measuring colony-forming units (CFU) and regrowth in liquid medium (MGIT 960) of 1-day-old A cells (A1) and 5-day-old H cells (H5). Mab killing was defined as a lack of regrowth of drug-exposed cells in MGIT tubes after >50 days of incubation. Out of 18 drugs tested, 14-day treatments with bedaquiline-amikacin (BDQ-AMK)-containing three-drug combinations were very active against A1 + H5 cells. However, drug-tolerant cells (persisters) were not killed, as shown by CFU curves with typical bimodal trends. Instead, 56-day treatments with the nitrocompounds containing combinations BDQ-AMK-rifabutin-clarithromycin-nimorazole and BDQ-AMK-rifabutin-clarithromycin-metronidazole-colistin killed all A1 + H5 Mab cells in 42 and 56 days, respectively, as shown by lack of regrowth in agar and MGIT medium. Overall, these data indicated that Mab persisters may be killed by appropriate drug combinations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Lanni
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; (A.L.); (A.I.); (L.F.)
| | - Emanuele Borroni
- Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy;
| | - Angelo Iacobino
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; (A.L.); (A.I.); (L.F.)
| | - Cristina Russo
- Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, 00165 Rome, Italy; (C.R.); (L.G.)
| | - Leonarda Gentile
- Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, 00165 Rome, Italy; (C.R.); (L.G.)
| | - Lanfranco Fattorini
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; (A.L.); (A.I.); (L.F.)
| | - Federico Giannoni
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; (A.L.); (A.I.); (L.F.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-06-49902318; Fax: +39-06-49387112
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Xie M, Chen K, Chan EW, Chen S. Synergistic Antimicrobial Effect of Colistin in Combination with Econazole against Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Its Persisters. Microbiol Spectr 2022; 10:e0093722. [PMID: 35467374 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00937-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Colistin is a last-line antibiotic which acts by causing membrane permeabilization in Gram-negative bacteria. However, its clinical value has been limited by its toxicity and the emergence of resistant organisms. In this study, we showed that econazole and colistin can act synergistically to produce a strong antimicrobial effect sufficient for eradication of starvation-induced tolerant and multidrug-resistant populations of Acinetobacter baumannii, a notorious pathogen causing recalcitrant infections, both in vitro and in mouse infection models. Investigation of the underlying mechanism showed that, while colistin disrupts the membrane structure, econazole causes the dissipation of proton motive force, eliciting a vicious cycle of membrane structural damages and disruption of membrane protein functions, and eventually cell death. This drug combination therefore achieves our goal of using a much smaller dosage of colistin to produce a much stronger antimicrobial effect to tackle the problems of toxicity and resistance associated with colistin usage. IMPORTANCE Findings described in this study constitute concrete evidence that it is possible to significantly enhance the antimicrobial activity of colistin by using an antifungal drug, econazole, as a colistin adjuvant. We showed that this drug combination can kill not only multidrug-resistant A. baumannii but also the tolerant subpopulation of such strains known as persisters, which may cause chronic and recurrent infections in clinical settings. The synergistic killing effect of the econazole and colistin combination was also observable in mouse infection models at a very low concentration, suggesting that such a drug combination has high potential to be used clinically. Findings in this study therefore have important implications for enhancing its clinical application potential as well as developing new approaches to enhance treatment effectiveness and reduce suffering in patients.
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Hare PJ, Englander HE, Mok WWK. Probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 inhibits bacterial persisters that survive fluoroquinolone treatment. J Appl Microbiol 2022; 132:4020-4032. [PMID: 35332984 PMCID: PMC9468890 DOI: 10.1111/jam.15541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Revised: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
AIMS Bacterial persisters are rare phenotypic variants in clonal bacterial cultures that can endure antimicrobial therapy and potentially contribute to infection relapse. Here, we investigate the potential of leveraging microbial interactions to disrupt persisters as they resuscitate during the post-antibiotic treatment recovery period. METHODS AND RESULTS We treated stationary-phase E. coli MG1655 with a DNA-damaging fluoroquinolone and co-cultured the cells with probiotic E. coli Nissle following antibiotic removal. We found that E. coli Nissle reduced the survival of fluoroquinolone persisters and their progeny by over three orders of magnitude within 24 h. Using a bespoke H-diffusion cell apparatus that we developed, we showed that E. coli Nissle antagonized the fluoroquinolone-treated cells in a contact-dependent manner. We further demonstrated that the fluoroquinolone-treated cells can still activate the SOS response as they recover from antibiotic treatment in the presence of E. coli Nissle and that the persisters depend on TolC-associated efflux systems to defend themselves against the action of E. coli Nissle. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrate that probiotic bacteria, such as E. coli Nissle, have the potential to inhibit persisters as they resuscitate following antibiotic treatment. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY Bacterial persisters are thought to underlie chronic infections and they can lead to an increase in antibiotic-resistant mutants in their progenies. Our data suggest that we can leverage the knowledge we gain on the interactions between microbial strains/species that interfere with persister resuscitation, such as those involving probiotic E. coli Nissle and E. coli MG1655 (a K-12 strain), to bolster the activity of our existing antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia J. Hare
- Department of Molecular Biology & Biophysics, UCONN Health, Farmington, Connecticut, USA
- School of Dental Medicine, UCONN Health, Farmington, Connecticut, USA
| | - Hanna E. Englander
- Department of Molecular Biology & Biophysics, UCONN Health, Farmington, Connecticut, USA
- Department of Physiology & Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Wendy W. K. Mok
- Department of Molecular Biology & Biophysics, UCONN Health, Farmington, Connecticut, USA
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Coppa C, Sorrentino L, Civera M, Minneci M, Vasile F, Sattin S. New Chemotypes for the Inhibition of (p)ppGpp Synthesis in the Quest for New Antimicrobial Compounds. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27103097. [PMID: 35630574 PMCID: PMC9143738 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27103097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Revised: 05/07/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a serious threat to our society from both the medical and economic point of view, while the antibiotic discovery pipeline has been dwindling over the last decades. Targeting non-essential bacterial pathways, such as those leading to antibiotic persistence, a bacterial bet-hedging strategy, will lead to new molecular entities displaying low selective pressure, thereby reducing the insurgence of AMR. Here, we describe a way to target (p)ppGpp (guanosine tetra- or penta-phosphate) signaling, a non-essential pathway involved in the formation of persisters, with a structure-based approach. A superfamily of enzymes called RSH (RelA/SpoT Homolog) regulates the intracellular levels of this alarmone. We virtually screened several fragment libraries against the (p)ppGpp synthetase domain of our RSH chosen model RelSeq, selected three main chemotypes, and measured their interaction with RelSeq by thermal shift assay and STD-NMR. Most of the tested fragments are selective for the synthetase domain, allowing us to select the aminobenzoic acid scaffold as a hit for lead development.
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31
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Zhang P, Qiu Y, Wang Y, Xiao L, Yu S, Shi M, Ni Y, Miron RJ, Pu Y, Zhang Y. Nanoparticles Promote Bacterial Antibiotic Tolerance via Inducing Hyperosmotic Stress Response. Small 2022; 18:e2105525. [PMID: 35398987 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202105525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Revised: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
With the rapid development of nanotechnology, nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used in all fields of life. Nowadays, NPs have shown extraordinary antimicrobial activities and become one of the most popular strategies to combat antibiotic resistance. Whether they are equally effective in combating bacterial persistence, another important reason leading to antibiotic treatment failure, remains unknown. Persister cells are a small subgroup of phenotypic drug-tolerant cells in an isogenic bacterial population. Here, various types of NPs are used in combination with different antibiotics to destroy persisters. Strikingly, rather than eradicating persister cells, a wide range of NPs promote the formation of bacterial persistence. It is uncovered by PCR, thermogravimetric analysis, intracellular potassium ion staining, and molecular dynamics simulation that the persister promotion effect is achieved through exerting a hyperosmotic pressure around the cells. Moreover, protein mass spectrometry, fluorescence microscope images, and SDS-PAGE indicate NPs can further hijack cell osmotic regulatory circuits by inducing aggregation of outer membrane protein OmpA and OmpC. These findings question the efficacy of using NPs as antimicrobial agents and raise the possibility that widely used NPs may facilitate the global emergence of bacterial antibiotic tolerance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Zhang
- The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei MOST) & Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
| | - Yun Qiu
- The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei MOST) & Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
| | - Yulan Wang
- The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei MOST) & Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
| | - Leyi Xiao
- The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei MOST) & Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
| | - Shimin Yu
- The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei MOST) & Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
| | - Miusi Shi
- The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei MOST) & Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
| | - Yueqi Ni
- The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei MOST) & Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
| | - Richard J Miron
- The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei MOST) & Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
| | - Yingying Pu
- The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei MOST) & Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
- Medical Research Institute, School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
- Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
| | - Yufeng Zhang
- The State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei MOST) & Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
- Medical Research Institute, School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China
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Morawska LP, Hernandez-Valdes JA, Kuipers OP. Diversity of bet-hedging strategies in microbial communities-Recent cases and insights. WIREs Mech Dis 2022; 14:e1544. [PMID: 35266649 PMCID: PMC9286555 DOI: 10.1002/wsbm.1544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2021] [Revised: 10/05/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Microbial communities are continuously exposed to unpredictable changes in their environment. To thrive in such dynamic habitats, microorganisms have developed the ability to readily switch phenotypes, resulting in a number of differently adapted subpopulations expressing various traits. In evolutionary biology, a particular case of phenotypic heterogeneity that evolved in an unpredictably changing environment has been defined as bet‐hedging. Bet‐hedging is a risk‐spreading strategy where isogenic populations stochastically (randomly) diversify their phenotypes, often resulting in maladapted individuals that suffer lower reproductive success. This fitness trade‐off in a specific environment may have a selective advantage upon the sudden environmental shift. Thus, a bet‐hedging strategy allows populations to persist in very dynamic habitats, but with a particular fitness cost. In recent years, numerous examples of phenotypic heterogeneity in different microorganisms have been observed, some suggesting bet‐hedging. Here, we highlight the latest reports concerning bet‐hedging phenomena in various microorganisms to show how versatile this strategy is within the microbial realms. This article is categorized under:Infectious Diseases > Molecular and Cellular Physiology
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Affiliation(s)
- Luiza P Morawska
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jhonatan A Hernandez-Valdes
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Oscar P Kuipers
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Abstract
Persisters are transiently nongrowing and antibiotic-tolerant phenotypic variants identified in major human pathogens, including intracellular Staphylococcus aureus. Due to their capacity to regrow once the environmental stress is relieved and to promote resistance, persisters possibly contribute to therapeutic failures. While persistence and its related quiescence have been mostly studied under starvation, little is known within host cell environments. Here, we examined how the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in different host cells affects dormancy depth of intracellular S. aureus. Using single-cell approaches, we found that host ROS induce variable dormant states in S. aureus persisters, displaying heterogeneous and increased lag times for resuscitation in liquid medium. Dormant persisters displayed decreased translation and energy metabolism, but remained infectious, exiting from dormancy and resuming growth when reinoculated in low-oxidative-stress cells. In high-oxidative-stress cells, ROS-induced ATP depletion was associated with the formation of visible dark foci similar to those induced by the protein aggregation inducer CCCP (carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone) and with the recruitment of the DnaK-ClpB chaperone system involved in the clearance of protein aggregates. ATP depletion led to higher fractions of dormant persisters than ROS, due to a counterbalancing effect of ROS-induced translational repression, suggesting a pivotal role of translation in the dormant phenotype. Consistently, protein synthesis inhibition limited dormancy to levels similar to those observed in low-oxidative-stress cells. This study supports the hypothesis that intracellular S. aureus persisters can reach heterogeneous dormancy depths and highlights the link between ROS, ATP depletion, dark focus formation, and subsequent dormancy state. IMPORTANCE By their capacity to survive to antibiotic pressure and to regrow and give rise to a susceptible population once this pressure is relieved, intracellular persisters of S. aureus may contribute to explain therapeutic failures and recurrent infections. Here, we show that the level of dormancy and the subsequent capacity to resuscitate from this resting state are dependent on the level of oxidative stress in the host cells where bacteria survive. This observation nourishes the debate as whether the most appropriate strategy to cope with S. aureus intracellular infections would consist of trying to push persisters to a deep dormancy state from which wakening is improbable or, on the contrary, to prevent ROS-induced dormancy and force bacteria to maintain regular metabolism in order to restore their responsiveness to antibiotics. Importantly also, our data highlight the interest in single-cell analyses with conventional enumeration of CFU to quantify persisters and study host-pathogen interactions.
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Abstract
Bacterial persisters are nongrowing cells highly tolerant to bactericidal antibiotics. However, this tolerance is reversible and not mediated by heritable genetic changes. Lon, an ATP-dependent protease, has repeatedly been shown to play a critical role in fluoroquinolone persistence in Escherichia coli. Although lon deletion (Δlon) is thought to eliminate persister cells via accumulation of the cell division inhibitor protein SulA, the exact mechanism underlying this phenomenon is not yet elucidated. Here, we show that Lon is an important regulatory protein for the resuscitation of the fluoroquinolone persisters in E. coli, and lon deletion impairs the ability of persister cells to form colonies during recovery through a sulA- and ftsZ-dependent mechanism. Notably, this observed "viable but nonculturable" state of antibiotic-tolerant Δlon cells is transient, as environmental conditions, such as starvation, can restore their culturability. Our data further indicate that starvation-induced SulA degradation or expression of Lon during recovery facilitates Z-ring formation in Δlon persisters, and Z-ring architecture is important for persister resuscitation in both wild-type and Δlon strains. Our in-depth image analysis clearly shows that the ratio of cell length to number of FtsZ rings for each intact ofloxacin-treated cell predicts the probability of resuscitation and, hence, can be used as a potential biomarker for persisters. IMPORTANCE The ATP-dependent Lon protease is one of the most studied bacterial proteases. Although deletion of lon has been frequently shown to reduce fluoroquinolone persistence, the proposed mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are highly controversial. Here, we have shown that lon deletion in Escherichia coli impairs the ability of persister cells to form colonies during recovery and that this reduction of persister levels in lon-deficient cells can be transient. We also found that altered Z-ring architecture is a key biomarker in both wild-type and lon-deficient persister cells transitioning to a normal cell state. Collectively, our findings highlight the importance of differentiating persister formation mechanisms from resuscitation mechanisms and underscore the critical role of the nonculturable cell state in antibiotic tolerance.
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Hamad M, Al-Marzooq F, Srinivasulu V, Omar HA, Sulaiman A, Zaher DM, Orive G, Al-Tel TH. Antibacterial Activity of Small Molecules Which Eradicate Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Persisters. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:823394. [PMID: 35178043 PMCID: PMC8846302 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.823394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The serious challenge posed by multidrug-resistant bacterial infections with concomitant treatment failure and high mortality rates presents an urgent threat to the global health. We herein report the discovery of a new class of potent antimicrobial compounds that are highly effective against Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The compounds were efficiently synthesized in one-pot employing a cascade of Groebke-Blackburn-Bienaymé and aza-Michael addition reactions. Phenotypic screening of the pilot library against various bacterial species including methicillin-sensitive and MRSA strains, has identified potent chemotypes with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 3.125-6.25 μg/ml. The most potent compounds were fast-acting at eradicating exponentially growing MRSA, with killing achieved after 30 min of exposure to the compounds. They were also able to kill MRSA persister cells which are tolerant to most available medications. Microscopic analysis using fluorescence microscope and atomic force microscope indicate that these compounds lead to disruption of bacterial cell envelopes. Most notably, bacterial resistance toward these compounds was not observed after 20 serial passages in stark contrast to the significant resistance developed rapidly upon exposure to a clinically relevant antibiotic. Furthermore, the compounds did not induce significant hemolysis to human red blood cells. In vivo safety studies revealed a high safety profile of these motifs. These small molecules hold a promise for further studies and development as new antibacterial agents against MRSA infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamad Hamad
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.,College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Farah Al-Marzooq
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.,College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
| | - Vunnam Srinivasulu
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Hany A Omar
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.,College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Ashna Sulaiman
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Dana M Zaher
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Gorka Orive
- NanoBioCel Group, Laboratory of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain
| | - Taleb H Al-Tel
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.,College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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Hobbs AM, Kluthe KE, Carlson KA, Nuxoll AS. Interruption of the tricarboxylic acid cycle in Staphylococcus aureus leads to increased tolerance to innate immunity. AIMS Microbiol 2022; 7:513-527. [PMID: 35071946 PMCID: PMC8712538 DOI: 10.3934/microbiol.2021031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus is widely known for its resistance and virulence causing public health concerns. However, antibiotic tolerance is also a contributor to chronic and relapsing infections. Previously, it has been demonstrated that persister formation is dependent on reduced tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle activity. Persisters have been extensively examined in terms of antibiotic tolerance but tolerance to antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) remains largely unexplored. AMPs are a key component of both the human and Drosophila innate immune response. TCA cycle mutants were tested to determine both antibiotic and AMP tolerance. Challenging with multiple classes of antibiotics led to increased persister formation (100- to 1,000-fold). Similarly, TCA mutants exhibited AMP tolerance with a 100- to 1,000-fold increase in persister formation when challenged with LL-37 or human β-defensin 3 (hβD3). The ability of TCA cycle mutants to tolerate the innate immune system was further examined with a D. melanogaster model. Both males and females infected with TCA cycle mutants exhibited increased mortality and had higher bacterial burdens (1.5 log) during the course of the infection. These results suggest increasing the percentage of persister cells leads to increased tolerance to components of the innate immune system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis M Hobbs
- Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, 2401 11th Ave, Kearney, NE 68849, USA
| | - Kennedy E Kluthe
- Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, 2401 11th Ave, Kearney, NE 68849, USA
| | - Kimberly A Carlson
- Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, 2401 11th Ave, Kearney, NE 68849, USA
| | - Austin S Nuxoll
- Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, 2401 11th Ave, Kearney, NE 68849, USA
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37
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Fernandes S, Gomes IB, Sousa SF, Simões M. Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Persister Biofilm Cells of Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas fluorescens. Microorganisms 2022; 10:160. [PMID: 35056610 PMCID: PMC8779418 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10010160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Revised: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The present study evaluates the antimicrobial susceptibility of persister cells of Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas fluorescens after their regrowth in suspension and as biofilms. Two conventional (benzalkonium chloride-BAC and peracetic acid-PAA) and two emerging biocides (glycolic acid-GA and glyoxal-GO) were selected for this study. Persister cells resulted from biofilms subjected to a critical treatment using the selected biocides. All biocide treatments developed B. cereus persister cells, except PAA that effectively reduced the levels of vegetative cells and endospores. P. fluorescens persister cells comprise viable and viable but non-culturable cells. Afterwards, persister cells were regrown in suspension and in biofilms and were subjected to a second biocide treatment. In general, planktonic cultures of regrown persister cells in suspension lost their antimicrobial tolerance, for both bacteria. Regrown biofilms of persister cells had antimicrobial susceptibility close to those regrown biofilms of biocide-untreated cells, except for regrown biofilms of persister P. fluorescens after BAC treatment, which demonstrated increased antimicrobial tolerance. The most active biocide against persister cells was PAA, which did not promote changes in susceptibility after their regrowth. In conclusion, persister cells are ubiquitous within biofilms and survive after critical biocide treatment. The descendant planktonic and biofilms populations showed similar properties as the original ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susana Fernandes
- LEPABE—Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; (S.F.); (I.B.G.)
| | - Inês B. Gomes
- LEPABE—Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; (S.F.); (I.B.G.)
| | - Sérgio F. Sousa
- UCIBIO/REQUIMTE, BioSIM, Departamento de Biomedicina, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal;
| | - Manuel Simões
- LEPABE—Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; (S.F.); (I.B.G.)
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38
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Glenn SM, Turapov O, Makarov V, Kell DB, Mukamolova GV. Dimethyl fumarate eliminates differentially culturable Mycobacterium tuberculosis in an intranasal murine model of tuberculosis. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:957287. [PMID: 36093181 PMCID: PMC9449328 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.957287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) claims nearly 1.5 million lives annually. Current TB treatment requires a combination of several drugs administered for at least 6 months. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of TB, can persist in infected humans and animals for decades. Moreover, during infection, Mtb produces differentially culturable bacteria (DCB) that do not grow in standard media but can be resuscitated in liquid media supplemented with sterile Mtb culture filtrates or recombinant resuscitation-promoting factors (Rpfs). Here, we demonstrate that, in an intranasal murine model of TB, Mtb DCB are detectable in the lungs after 4 weeks of infection, and their loads remain largely unchanged during a further 8 weeks. Treatment of the infected mice with dimethyl fumarate (DMF), a known drug with immunomodulatory properties, for 8 weeks eliminates Mtb DCB from the lungs and spleens. Standard TB treatment consisting of rifampicin, isoniazid, and pyrazinamide for 8 weeks reduces Mtb loads by nearly four orders of magnitude but does not eradicate DCB. Nevertheless, no DCB can be detected in the lungs and spleens after 8 weeks of treatment with DMF, rifampicin, isoniazid, and pyrazinamide. Our data suggest that addition of approved anti-inflammatory drugs to standard treatment regimens may improve TB treatment and reduce treatment duration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M Glenn
- Division of Biomedical Services, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
| | - Obolbek Turapov
- Leicester Tuberculosis Research Group, Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
| | - Vadim Makarov
- Research Center of Biotechnology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Douglas B Kell
- Department of Biochemistry and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.,The Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Galina V Mukamolova
- Leicester Tuberculosis Research Group, Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
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39
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Nazarov PA, Kuznetsova AM, Karakozova MV. Multidrug Resistance Pumps as a Keystone of Bacterial Resistance. Moscow Univ Biol Sci Bull 2022; 77:193-200. [PMID: 36843647 PMCID: PMC9940100 DOI: 10.3103/s009639252204006x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is a global problem of modern medicine. A harbinger of the onset of the postantibiotic era is the complexity and high cost of developing new antibiotics as well as their inefficiency due to the rapidly developing resistance of bacteria. Multidrug resistance (MDR) pumps, involved in the formation of resistance to xenobiotics, the export of toxins, the maintenance of cellular homeostasis, and the formation of biofilms and persistent cells, are the keystone of bacterial protection against antibiotics. MDR pumps are the basis for the nonspecific protection of bacteria, while modification of the drug target, inactivation of the drug, and switching of the target or sequestration of the target is the second specific line of their protection. Thus, the nonspecific protection of bacteria formed by MDR pumps is a barrier that prevents the penetration of antibacterial substances into the cell, which is the main factor determining the resistance of bacteria. Understanding the mechanisms of MDR pumps and a balanced assessment of their contribution to total resistance, as well as to antibiotic sensitivity, will either seriously delay the onset of the postantibiotic era or prevent its onset in the foreseeable future.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. A. Nazarov
- grid.14476.300000 0001 2342 9668Belozersky Institute of Physicochemical Biology, Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | - A. M. Kuznetsova
- grid.14476.300000 0001 2342 9668Department of Biology, Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
| | - M. V. Karakozova
- grid.454320.40000 0004 0555 3608Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, 121205 Moscow, Russia
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40
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Altwiley D, Brignoli T, Edwards A, Recker M, Lee JC, Massey RC. A functional menadione biosynthesis pathway is required for capsule production by Staphylococcus aureus. Microbiology (Reading) 2021; 167. [PMID: 34825882 PMCID: PMC8743628 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.001108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen that utilises a wide array of pathogenic and immune evasion strategies to cause disease. One immune evasion strategy, common to many bacterial pathogens, is the ability of S. aureus to produce a capsule that protects the bacteria from several aspects of the human immune system. To identify novel regulators of capsule production by S. aureus, we applied a genome wide association study (GWAS) to a collection of 300 bacteraemia isolates that represent the two major MRSA clones in UK and Irish hospitals: CC22 and CC30. One of the loci associated with capsule production, the menD gene, encodes an enzyme critical to the biosynthesis of menadione. Mutations in this gene that result in menadione auxotrophy induce the slow growing small-colony variant (SCV) form of S. aureus often associated with chronic infections due to their increased resistance to antibiotics and ability to survive inside phagocytes. Utilising such an SCV, we functionally verified this association between menD and capsule production. Although the clinical isolates with polymorphisms in the menD gene in our collections had no apparent growth defects, they were more resistant to gentamicin when compared to those with the wild-type menD gene. Our work suggests that menadione is involved in the production of the S. aureus capsule, and that amongst clinical isolates polymorphisms exist in the menD gene that confer the characteristic increased gentamicin resistance, but not the major growth defect associated with SCV phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dina Altwiley
- School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK.,University of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Tarcisio Brignoli
- School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK
| | - Andrew Edwards
- MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Mario Recker
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Jean C Lee
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ruth C Massey
- School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK.,Schools of Microbiology and Medicine, and APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Ireland
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41
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Kerkez I, Tulkens PM, Tenson T, Van Bambeke F, Putrinš M. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Shows Antibiotic Tolerance and Growth Heterogeneity in an In Vitro Model of Intracellular Infection. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2021; 65:e0146821. [PMID: 34570646 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.01468-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), the major causative agent of urinary tract infections, can invade different types of host cells. To compare the pharmacodynamic properties of antibiotics against intra- and extracellular UPEC, an in vitro model of intracellular infection was established in J774 mouse macrophages infected by the UPEC strain CFT073. We tested antibiotics commonly prescribed against urinary tract infections (gentamicin, ampicillin, nitrofurantoin, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, and ciprofloxacin) and the investigational fluoroquinolone finafloxacin. The metabolic activity of individual bacteria was assessed by expressing the fluorescent reporter protein TIMERbac within CFT073. Concentration-response experiments revealed that all tested antibiotics were much less effective against intracellular bacteria than extracellular ones. Most antibiotics, except fluoroquinolones, were unable to reach a bactericidal effect intracellularly at clinically achievable concentrations. Ciprofloxacin and finafloxacin killed 99.9% of extracellular bacteria at concentrations around the MIC, while for intracellular bacteria, concentrations more than 100× over the MIC were required to achieve a bactericidal effect. Time-kill curves showed that finafloxacin was more rapidly bactericidal in acidic medium than at neutral pH, while the reverse observation was made for ciprofloxacin. Intracellularly, kill curves showed biphasic kinetics for both fluoroquinolones, suggesting the presence of drug-tolerant subpopulations. Flow cytometry analysis of TIMERbac fluorescence revealed a marked heterogeneity in intracellular growth of individual bacteria, suggesting that the presence of subpopulations reaching a state of metabolic dormancy was the main reason for increased antibiotic tolerance of intracellular UPEC.
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42
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Verstraete L, Van den Bergh B, Verstraeten N, Michiels J. Ecology and evolution of antibiotic persistence. Trends Microbiol 2021; 30:466-479. [PMID: 34753652 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2021.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Revised: 10/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Bacteria have at their disposal a battery of strategies to withstand antibiotic stress. Among these, resistance is a well-known mechanism, yet bacteria can also survive antibiotic attack by adopting a tolerant phenotype. In the case of persistence, only a small fraction within an isogenic population switches to this antibiotic-tolerant state. Persistence depends on the ecological niche and the genetic background of the strains involved. Furthermore, it has been shown to be under direct and indirect evolutionary pressure. Persister cells play a role in chronic infections and the development of resistance, and therefore a better understanding of this phenotype could contribute to the development of effective antibacterial therapies. In the current review, we discuss how ecological and evolutionary forces shape persistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Verstraete
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Center for Microbiology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, Leuven, Belgium
| | - B Van den Bergh
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Center for Microbiology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, Leuven, Belgium
| | - N Verstraeten
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Center for Microbiology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, Leuven, Belgium
| | - J Michiels
- Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Center for Microbiology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, Leuven, Belgium.
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43
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Wang C, Li X, Cheng T, Sun H, Jin L. Eradication of Porphyromonas gingivalis Persisters Through Colloidal Bismuth Subcitrate Synergistically Combined With Metronidazole. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:748121. [PMID: 34745052 PMCID: PMC8565575 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.748121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbial persisters enable the development of certain intrinsic strategies for survival with extreme tolerance to multiple antimicrobials. Porphyromonas gingivalis is considered to be the "keystone" periodontopathogen. Indeed, periodontitis, as a highly common inflammatory disease, is the major cause of severe tooth loss and edentulism in adults globally, and yet it is crucially involved in various systemic comorbidities like diabetes. We have recently revealed P. gingivalis persisters-induced perturbation of immuno-inflammatory responses and effective suppression of this key pathogen by bismuth drugs. This study further explored novel approaches to eradicating P. gingivalis persisters through synergistic combination of colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS) with traditional antibiotics. P. gingivalis (ATCC 33277) cells in planktonic and biofilm states were cultured to stationary phase, and then treated with metronidazole (100 mg/L), amoxicillin (100 mg/L), CBS, (100 μM) and combinations of these medications, respectively. Persister survival rate was calculated by colony-forming unit. Cell viability and cytotoxicity of CBS were assessed in human gingival epithelial cells (HGECs). Notably, CBS combined with metronidazole enabled the effective eradication of P. gingivalis persisters in planktonic mode, and nearly eliminated their existence in biofilm mode. Importantly, CBS exhibited no effects on the viability of HGECs, along with minimal cytotoxicity (<5%) even at a high concentration (400 μM). This pioneering study shows that P. gingivalis persisters could be well eliminated via the synergistic combination of CBS with metronidazole. Our findings may contribute to developing novel approaches to tackling periodontitis and inflammatory systemic comorbidities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuan Wang
- Division of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xuan Li
- Division of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Tianfan Cheng
- Division of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Hongzhe Sun
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Lijian Jin
- Division of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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44
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Martini CL, Coronado AZ, Melo MCN, Gobbi CN, Lopez ÚS, de Mattos MC, Amorim TT, Botelho AMN, Vasconcelos ATR, Almeida LGP, Planet PJ, Zingali RB, Figueiredo AMS, Ferreira-Carvalho BT. Cellular Growth Arrest and Efflux Pumps Are Associated With Antibiotic Persisters in Streptococcus pyogenes Induced in Biofilm-Like Environments. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:716628. [PMID: 34621249 PMCID: PMC8490960 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.716628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus-GAS) is an important pathogen for humans. GAS has been associated with severe and invasive diseases. Despite the fact that these bacteria remain universally susceptible to penicillin, therapeutic failures have been reported in some GAS infections. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain these antibiotic-unresponsive infections; however, none of them have fully elucidated this phenomenon. In this study, we show that GAS strains have the ability to form antimicrobial persisters when inoculated on abiotic surfaces to form a film of bacterial agglomerates (biofilm-like environment). Our data suggest that efflux pumps were possibly involved in this phenomenon. In fact, gene expression assays by real-time qRT-PCR showed upregulation of some genes associated with efflux pumps in persisters arising in the presence of penicillin. Phenotypic reversion assay and whole-genome sequencing indicated that this event was due to non-inherited resistance mechanisms. The persister cells showed downregulation of genes associated with protein biosynthesis and cell growth, as demonstrated by gene expression assays. Moreover, the proteomic analysis revealed that susceptible cells express higher levels of ribosome proteins. It is remarkable that previous studies have reported the recovery of S. pyogenes viable cells from tissue biopsies of patients presented with GAS invasive infections and submitted to therapy with antibiotics. The persistence phenomenon described herein brings new insights into the origin of therapeutic failures in S. pyogenes infections. Multifactorial mechanisms involving protein synthesis inhibition, cell growth impairment and efflux pumps seem to play roles in the formation of antimicrobial persisters in S. pyogenes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Lopes Martini
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Amada Zambrana Coronado
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Maria Celeste Nunes Melo
- Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| | - Clarice Neffa Gobbi
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Úrsula Santos Lopez
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Marcos Correa de Mattos
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Thais Tavares Amorim
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Ana Maria Nunes Botelho
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | | | - Paul J Planet
- Department of Pediatrics, Perelman College of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.,Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, United States.,Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Russolina Benedeta Zingali
- Unidade de Espectrometria de Massas e Proteomica - UEMP, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Agnes Marie Sá Figueiredo
- Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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45
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Xu L, She P, Chen L, Li S, Zhou L, Hussain Z, Liu Y, Wu Y. Repurposing Candesartan Cilexetil as Antibacterial Agent for MRSA Infection. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:688772. [PMID: 34589063 PMCID: PMC8473943 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.688772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen causing hospital-acquired infections. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), biofilms, and persisters are highly tolerant to traditional antibiotics and make it difficult to treat. Therefore, new antimicrobial agents are urgently needed to treat hard-to-eradicate diseases caused by this bacterium. In this study, candesartan cilexetil (CC), an angiotensin hypertension drug, had strong antimicrobial activity against S. aureus with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of 8-16 μg/ml and 16-32 μg/ml. CC exhibited limited cytotoxicity and low potential to induce drug resistance. In addition, it showed a synergistic antibacterial effect when combined with gentamicin and tobramycin. The effective concentrations to inhibit MRSA biofilm formation were 16-64 μg/ml, and intractable persisters were killed at 4-8 × MIC. Through the analysis of its mechanism of action, it was evident that the membrane permeability was disrupted as well as the cell structure was damaged. Furthermore, we demonstrated that CC had antibacterial effects in vivo in MRSA-infected murine skin abscess models. In conclusion, these results imply that CC might be a potential antibacterial agent for the treatment of S. aureus-associated infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lanlan Xu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Pengfei She
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Lihua Chen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Shijia Li
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Linying Zhou
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Zubair Hussain
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Yaqian Liu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Yong Wu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
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46
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Liu S, Brul S, Zaat SAJ. Isolation of Persister Cells of Bacillus subtilis and Determination of Their Susceptibility to Antimicrobial Peptides. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:10059. [PMID: 34576222 PMCID: PMC8470456 DOI: 10.3390/ijms221810059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Persister cells are growth-arrested subpopulations that can survive possible fatal environments and revert to wild types after stress removal. Clinically, persistent pathogens play a key role in antibiotic therapy failure, as well as chronic, recurrent, and antibiotic-resilient infections. In general, molecular and physiological research on persister cells formation and compounds against persister cells are much desired. In this study, we firstly demonstrated that the spore forming Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis can be used to generate persister cells during exposure to antimicrobial compounds. Interestingly, instead of exhibiting a unified antibiotic tolerance profile, different number of persister cells and spores were quantified in various stress conditions. qPCR results also indicated that differential stress responses are related to persister formation in various environmental conditions. We propose, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, an effective method to isolate B. subtilis persister cells from a population using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), which makes analyzing persister populations feasible. Finally, we show that alpha-helical cationic antimicrobial peptides SAAP-148 and TC-19, derived from human cathelicidin LL-37 and human thrombocidin-1, respectively, have high efficiency against both B. subtilis vegetative cells and persisters, causing membrane permeability and fluidity alteration. In addition, we confirm that in contrast to persister cells, dormant B. subtilis spores are not susceptible to the antimicrobial peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiqi Liu
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbial Food Safety, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
| | - Stanley Brul
- Department of Molecular Biology and Microbial Food Safety, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
| | - Sebastian A. J. Zaat
- Centre for Infection and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Centre, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
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47
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Bhattacharjee MK, Bommareddy PK, DePass AL. A Water-Soluble Antibiotic in Rhubarb Stalk Shows an Unusual Pattern of Multiple Zones of Inhibition and Preferentially Kills Slow-Growing Bacteria. Antibiotics (Basel) 2021; 10:951. [PMID: 34439001 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics10080951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Organic extract of Rhubarb (Rheum officinale) roots is known to have several medicinal uses. However, not much research has been done with the rhubarb stalk. The aim of this research is to evaluate the anti-bacterial and anti-proliferative effects of the aqueous extract from rhubarb stalks. The crude aqueous extract was further purified using anion exchange and gel filtration. The purified compound demonstrated broad spectrum antibacterial activity against the Gram-negative bacteria, E. coli and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, and Gram-positive bacteria, S. aureus. A time-kill assay demonstrated that the antibiotic has strong bactericidal activity. It also has anti-proliferative action against the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 with no cytotoxicity, although the crude extract had a significant cytotoxic effect. The antibiotic activity, as measured by the diameter of the zone of inhibition, increased by several fold in low nutrient and/or low salt agar, suggesting that the antibiotic preferentially kills slow-growing bacteria. The antibiotic also gives an unusual pattern of multiple zones of inhibition in which several zones of cell growth are seen within the zone of inhibition. In conclusion, the active component in the aqueous extract of rhubarb stalk has great potential as a strong bactericidal antibiotic and as an anti-proliferative drug.
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48
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Sharma R, Lunge A, Mangla N, Agarwal N. Proteomic Landscape of a Drug-Tolerant Persister Subpopulation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Proteome Res 2021; 20:4415-4426. [PMID: 34343006 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.1c00348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Persisters are a subpopulation of bacteria that resist killing by antibiotics, even though they are genetically similar to their drug-susceptible counterpart. Like in several other bacteria, persisters are also reported in the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Stochastic formation of Mtb persisters with a high level of antimicrobial tolerance set the stage for subsequent multidrug-resistant mutations. Despite significant advancement in our understanding, much remains to be learnt about the biology of this drug-recalcitrant bacterial subpopulation. Most of the information pertaining to the metabolic evolution required for emergence of drug tolerance in tuberculosis (TB) pathogens has come from transcriptional, metabolomic, and mutagenesis studies. Since proteins are the key functional molecules regulating the majority of metabolic activities in the cell, investigation of the whole-cell protein expression profile will further provide valuable insights into the physiology of Mtb persisters. We performed a quantitative proteomic analysis of Mtb H37Rv cultured under an in vitro persistence model to identify the proteomic profile of the phenotypic drug-tolerant bacterial population. Our study reveals that proteins related to intermediary metabolism and respiration, cell-wall and cell processes, lipid metabolism, information pathways, and virulence, detoxification and adaptation functional categories are primarily modulated in the persister subpopulation. Further, we demonstrate that various surface-localized mycobacterial membrane protein large (MmpL) proteins, which exhibit a high level of expression in Mtb persisters, are crucial for the mycobacterial survival during persistent growth state. A drug-induced persister subpopulation of Mtb exhibit various differentially regulated proteins that might be critical in mitigating the antimicrobial effect of drugs and can be further explored to develop novel anti-TB agents. The peptide identifications and tandem mass spectra (MS/MS) have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD013621.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rishabh Sharma
- NCR Biotech Science Cluster, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001 Haryana, India
| | - Ajitesh Lunge
- NCR Biotech Science Cluster, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001 Haryana, India.,Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi, 110067 Delhi, India
| | - Nikita Mangla
- NCR Biotech Science Cluster, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001 Haryana, India.,Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi, 110067 Delhi, India
| | - Nisheeth Agarwal
- NCR Biotech Science Cluster, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad-Gurgaon Expressway, Faridabad, 121001 Haryana, India
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Huemer M, Mairpady Shambat S, Bergada-Pijuan J, Söderholm S, Boumasmoud M, Vulin C, Gómez-Mejia A, Antelo Varela M, Tripathi V, Götschi S, Marques Maggio E, Hasse B, Brugger SD, Bumann D, Schuepbach RA, Zinkernagel AS. Molecular reprogramming and phenotype switching in Staphylococcus aureus lead to high antibiotic persistence and affect therapy success. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2014920118. [PMID: 33574060 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2014920118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus causes invasive infections and easily acquires antibiotic resistance. Even antibiotic-susceptible S. aureus can survive antibiotic therapy and persist, requiring prolonged treatment and surgical interventions. These so-called persisters display an arrested-growth phenotype, tolerate high antibiotic concentrations, and are associated with chronic and recurrent infections. To characterize these persisters, we assessed S. aureus recovered directly from a patient suffering from a persistent infection. We show that host-mediated stress, including acidic pH, abscess environment, and antibiotic exposure promoted persister formation in vitro and in vivo. Multiomics analysis identified molecular changes in S. aureus in response to acid stress leading to an overall virulent population. However, further analysis of a persister-enriched population revealed major molecular reprogramming in persisters, including down-regulation of virulence and cell division and up-regulation of ribosomal proteins, nucleotide-, and amino acid-metabolic pathways, suggesting their requirement to fuel and maintain the persister phenotype and highlighting that persisters are not completely metabolically inactive. Additionally, decreased aconitase activity and ATP levels and accumulation of insoluble proteins involved in transcription, translation, and energy production correlated with persistence in S. aureus, underpinning the molecular mechanisms that drive the persister phenotype. Upon regrowth, these persisters regained their virulence potential and metabolically active phenotype, including reduction of insoluble proteins, exhibiting a reversible state, crucial for recurrent infections. We further show that a targeted antipersister combination therapy using retinoid derivatives and antibiotics significantly reduced lag-phase heterogeneity and persisters in a murine infection model. Our results provide molecular insights into persisters and help explain why persistent S. aureus infections are so difficult to treat.
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50
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Goode O, Smith A, Zarkan A, Cama J, Invergo BM, Belgami D, Caño-Muñiz S, Metz J, O'Neill P, Jeffries A, Norville IH, David J, Summers D, Pagliara S. Persister Escherichia coli Cells Have a Lower Intracellular pH than Susceptible Cells but Maintain Their pH in Response to Antibiotic Treatment. mBio 2021; 12:e0090921. [PMID: 34281389 DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00909-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Persister and viable but non-culturable (VBNC) cells are two clonal subpopulations that can survive multidrug exposure via a plethora of putative molecular mechanisms. Here, we combine microfluidics, time-lapse microscopy, and a plasmid-encoded fluorescent pH reporter to measure the dynamics of the intracellular pH of individual persister, VBNC, and susceptible Escherichia coli cells in response to ampicillin treatment. We found that even before antibiotic exposure, persisters have a lower intracellular pH than those of VBNC and susceptible cells. We then investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the observed differential pH regulation in persister E. coli cells and found that this is linked to the activity of the enzyme tryptophanase, which is encoded by tnaA. In fact, in a ΔtnaA strain, we found no difference in intracellular pH between persister, VBNC, and susceptible E. coli cells. Whole-genome transcriptomic analysis revealed that, besides downregulating tryptophan metabolism, the ΔtnaA strain downregulated key pH homeostasis pathways, including the response to pH, oxidation reduction, and several carboxylic acid catabolism processes, compared to levels of expression in the parental strain. Our study sheds light on pH homeostasis, proving that the regulation of intracellular pH is not homogeneous within a clonal population, with a subset of cells displaying a differential pH regulation to perform dedicated functions, including survival after antibiotic treatment. IMPORTANCE Persister and VBNC cells can phenotypically survive environmental stressors, such as antibiotic treatment, limitation of nutrients, and acid stress, and have been linked to chronic infections and antimicrobial resistance. It has recently been suggested that pH regulation might play a role in an organism's phenotypic survival to antibiotics; however, this hypothesis remains to be tested. Here, we demonstrate that even before antibiotic treatment, cells that will become persisters have a more acidic intracellular pH than clonal cells that will be either susceptible or VBNC upon antibiotic treatment. Moreover, after antibiotic treatment, persisters become more alkaline than VBNC and susceptible E. coli cells. This newly found phenotypic feature is remarkable because it distinguishes persister and VBNC cells that have often been thought to display the same dormant phenotype. We then show that this differential pH regulation is abolished in the absence of the enzyme tryptophanase via a major remodeling of bacterial metabolism and pH homeostasis. These new whole-genome transcriptome data should be taken into account when modeling bacterial metabolism at the crucial transition from exponential to stationary phase. Overall, our findings indicate that the manipulation of the intracellular pH represents a bacterial strategy for surviving antibiotic treatment. In turn, this suggests a strategy for developing persister-targeting antibiotics by interfering with cellular components, such as tryptophanase, that play a major role in pH homeostasis.
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