P-113D, an antimicrobial peptide active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, retains activity in the presence of sputum from cystic fibrosis patients

Antimicrobial peptides are a source of novel agents that could be useful for treatment of the chronic lung infections that afflict cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Efficacy depends on antimicrobial activity against the major pathogens of CF patients, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Haemophilus influenzae, in the environment of the CF patient's airway. We describe the in vitro efficacies of derivatives of histatins, which are histidine-rich peptides produced by the salivary glands of humans and higher primates. P-113, a peptide containing 12 of the 24 amino acid residues of the parent molecule, histatin 5, retained full antibacterial activity and had a good spectrum of activity in vitro against the prominent pathogens of CF patients. However, P-113 was not active in the presence of purulent sputum from CF patients. In contrast, P-113D, the mirror-image peptide with the amino acid residues in the D configuration, was stable in sputum, was as active as P-113 against pathogens of CF patients in the absence of sputum and retained significant activity in the presence of sputum from CF patients. Recombinant human DNase, which effectively liquefies sputum, enhanced the activity of P-113D in undiluted sputum against both exogenous (added) bacteria and endogenous bacteria. Because of its properties, P-113D shows potential as an inhalant in chronic suppressive therapy for CF patients.

Cable-piliated Burkholderia cepacia binds to cytokeratin 13 of epithelial cells

Although the Burkholderia cepacia complex consists of several genomovars, one highly transmissible strain of B. cepacia has been isolated from the sputa of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients throughout the United Kingdom and Canada. This strain expresses surface cable (Cbl) pili and is thought to be the major strain associated with the fatal "cepacia syndrome." In the present report we characterize the specific 55-kDa buccal epithelial cell (BEC) protein that binds cable pilus-positive B. cepacia. N-terminal sequences of CNBr-generated internal peptides identified the protein as cytokeratin 13 (CK13). Western blots of BEC extracts probed with a specific monoclonal antibody to CK13 confirmed the identification. Mixed epidermal cytokeratins (which contain CK13), cytokeratin extract from BEC (which consists essentially of CK13 and CK4), and a polyclonal antibody to mixed cytokeratins inhibited B. cepacia binding to CK13 blots and to normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells. Preabsorption of the antikeratin antibody with the BEC cytokeratin fraction reversed the inhibitory effect of the antibody. A cytokeratin mixture lacking CK13 was ineffective as an inhibitor of binding. Colocalization of CK13 and B. cepacia by confocal microscopy demonstrated that intact nonpermeabilized NHBE cells express small amounts of surface CK13 and bind Cbl-positive B. cepacia in the same location. Binding to intact NHBE cells was dependent on bacterial concentration and was saturable, whereas a Cbl-negative isolate exhibited negligible binding. These findings raise the possibility that surface-accessible CK13 in respiratory epithelia may be a biologically relevant target for the binding of cable piliated B. cepacia.

Burkholderia (basonym Pseudomonas) cepacia binding to lipid receptors

Piliated Burkholderia (formerly Pseudomonas) cepacia from sputa of cys tic fibrosis patients in Toronto, Canada, were shown earlier to bind to purified mucins and to a protein receptor on epithelial cells via a 22-kDa adhesin located on unique cable pili. However, a second receptor, thought to be lipid in nature, was also identified on cells and appeared to serve as the major cell receptor for poorly piliated or nonpiliated isolates. In the present study in vitro approaches were used to identify putative lipid receptors for B. cepacia and to explore the nature of the binding interaction. As judged by thin-layer chromatography overlay assays, the best receptors were digalactosylceramide and globotriosylceramide (Gb(3)). Both contain and unsubstituted terminal Gal alpha 1-4Gal sequence. B cepacia also bound moderately to galactosylceramide, gangliotriosylceramide, and gangliotetraosylceramide. Binding to glycolipids was not affected by tetramethylurea, a hydrophobic-bond-breaking adhesin for GB(3). Binding to glycolipids was not affected by tetramethylurea, a hydrophobic-bond-breaking agent. Binding was influenced by the structure of the ceramide, which probably affects the presentation of the agent. Binding was influenced by the structure of the ceramide, which probably affects the presentation of the carbohydrate epitope to the bacteria. Gb(3) was also the major receptor in lipid extracts of human erythrocytes, human buccal epithelial cells and HEp-2 laryngeal epithelial cells. In a receptor-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, binding to Gb(3) within a phospholipid-cholesterol mixture (a membrane-like environment) increased and then approached saturation as a direct function of increasing bacterial concentration. The calculated value of K(a) (3.06 X 10(-8) ml/CFU), the affinity constant, was almost identical to the K(a) calculated earlier for B. cepacia binding to a set of lipid receptors in buccal epithelial cells (1.5 X 10(-8) to 2.0 X 10(-8) ml/CFU). Our findings suggest that within cell membranes, galactose-containing glycolipids, particularly Gb(3) are good candidates for receptors for B. cepacia, particularly for isolates in which cable pili are poorly expressed.

Cable (cbl) type II pili of cystic fibrosis-associated Burkholderia (Pseudomonas) cepacia: nucleotide sequence of the cblA major subunit pilin gene and novel morphology of the assembled appendage fibers

Previous studies have shown that appendage pili of Burkholderia cepacia strains isolated from patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, mediate adherence to mucus glycoproteins and also enhance adherence to epithelial cells. The specific pilin-associated adhesin molecule is a 22-kDa protein. In the present study we purified the major subunit pilin (17 kDa) and immunolocalized it to peritrichously arranged pili. On the basis of their novel morphological appearance as giant intertwined fibers, we refer to them as cable (Cbl) pili. Using an oligonucleotide probe corresponding to regions of the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the pilin subunit, we detected the encoding cblA gene in a chromosomal DNA library. Sequencing revealed this structural gene to be 555 bp in length, encoding a leader sequence of 19 amino acids, a cleavage site between the alanine at position 19 and the valine at position 20, and a mature pilin sequence of 165 amino acids. The calculated molecular mass is 17.3 kDa. Hydrophobic plus apolar amino acids account for 60% of the total residues. The pilin exhibits some similarities in its amino acid sequence to colonization factor antigen I and CS1 fimbriae of Escherichia coli. With the cblA gene used as a probe, hybridization assays of 59 independent isolates, including those from several geographically separated CF centers, plus environmental and clinical (non-CF) strains, gave positive results with all of the 15 CF-associated B. cepacia isolates from Toronto, plus a single strain from one other CF center (Jackson, Mississippi). The cblA gene is the first pilin subunit gene of B. cepacia to be identified.

Role of a 22-kilodalton pilin protein in binding of Pseudomonas cepacia to buccal epithelial cells

Previously we have shown that many isolates of Pseudomonas cepacia obtained from the sputum of patients with cystic fibrosis exhibit specific binding to purified mucins. The binding was mediated by a 22-kDa protein located on peritrichous pili of the bacteria. Nonpiliated bacteria did not bind to mucin. In the present study we found that both piliated and nonpiliated P. cepacia bind to buccal epithelial cells (BECs) obtained from health human volunteers. Scatchard plot analyses of binding data with the LIGAND computer program suggest the presence of at least two classes of cell receptors (A and B) for piliated P. cepacia (isolates PC 5 and PC 7) and a single class of receptors (A) for nonpiliated P. cepacia (isolates PC 45 and PC 61). The affinity constants for receptor A varied from 1.7 x 10(-9) to 4.7 x 10(-8) ml/CFU. Receptor B had a lower affinity constant (2.5 x 10(-10) to 1.2 x 10(-9) ml/CFU) but a greater saturation capacity. Receptor B was similar in affinity to the mucin receptor for piliated P. cepacia (3.3 x 10(-10) to 1.3 x 10(-9) ml/CFU). Purified mucin partially inhibited the binding of piliated bacteria to BECs by competing with BEC receptor site B. The purified 22-kDa pilin adhesin and an antiadhesin antibody also caused partial inhibition. One BEC receptor for piliated isolates of P. cepacia was identified as a 55-kDa protein as shown by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of BEC homogenate supernatants, Western blotting (immunoblotting), and bacterial overlay assays. Preincubation of piliated bacteria with either mucin or the antiadhesin antibody abolished binding to the 55-kDa BEC receptor. In summary, our results indicate that piliated P. cepacia interacts with BECs by using at least two different adhesin-receptor systems. One adhesin (not examined) is common to piliated and nonpiliated P. cepacia, but the other system is the pilus-localized 22-kDa mucin-binding adhesin and its 55-kDa BEC receptor protein. Because it mediates adherence to both mucin and epithelial cells, the 22-kDa adhesin may be an important virulence determinant in cystic fibrosis lung infections in which mucins are abnormally adhesive on mucosal surfaces.

Binding of Pseudomonas cepacia to normal human intestinal mucin and respiratory mucin from patients with cystic fibrosis

Although not as prevalent as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas cepacia is another opportunistic pathogen which colonizes the lungs of at least some patients with cystic fibrosis. A subgroup of these patients exhibits the "cepacia syndrome", i.e., a rapid clinical deterioration and death within one year. To investigate potential early sites of bacterial attachment, we have measured the specific binding of P. cepacia isolates from cystic fibrosis (CF) sputa to both CF and non-CF mucins purified from respiratory and intestinal secretions, respectively. As shown in microtiter binding assays, clinical isolates from 19/22 patients were found to bind to both mucins, with the highest specific binding exhibited by isolates from eight patients, seven of whom later died with the cepacia syndrome. No differences were observed in the binding capacity of the two (CF versus non-CF) mucins. Binding was specific, saturable, and not influenced by tetramethylurea, a disruptor of hydrophobic associations. Individual sugars were ineffective as hapten inhibitors, as were several lectins. Mucins treated by reduction/alkylation or chloroform/methanol extraction showed enhanced bacterial binding, findings which were attributed to exposure of underlying binding sites. Deglycosylation procedures indicated that mucin receptors for P. cepacia include N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylgalactosamine, probably linked together as part of core oligosaccharide structures. P. cepacia isolates also bound to buccal epithelial cells, and mucin partially inhibited the binding of those isolates of P. cepacia that also had the ability to bind to mucin. We speculate that specific binding of P. cepacia to secreted mucins may be an early step in the pathogenesis of the cepacia syndrome.

Human intestinal mucin-like protein (MLP) is homologous with rat MLP in the C-terminal region, and is encoded by a gene on chromosome 11 p 15.5

A cDNA specific for a human intestinal mucin (MLP) was amplified by PCR from cDNA of cultured human colonic adenocarcinoma cells, LS174T. The human cDNA shared high sequence homology with a corresponding rat intestinal mucin (MLP) cDNA in the 3' terminal region, and hybridized to the same mRNA (approximately 9.0 Kb) that was recognized by a probe for the MUC-2 human intestinal mucin gene. The gene encoding our human mucin peptide also mapped to chromosome 11 p 15.5, the known locus of MUC-2. Our findings suggest that human MLP and MUC-2 are encoded by the same gene and that rat and human intestinal mucin share a common C-terminal amino acid structure.