结核分枝杆菌硫醇乙酰基转移酶基因敲除株的构建及其生物学特性分析

为探索硫醇乙酰基转移酶(mycothiol acetyltransferase,MshD)在结核分枝杆菌中的生物学特性,本实验利用噬菌体为载体的同源重组技术,构建结核分枝杆菌mshD基因敲除株、mshD基因回补株,用实时定量聚合酶链反应(real time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, RT-qPCR)对所构建的菌株进行验证。分别收集H37Ra野生株、mshD基因敲除株、mshD基因回补株对数生长期菌液各5 mL, 离心收集菌体并培养,以观察菌落形态、生物膜形成及生长曲线测定;用5 mmol/L H₂O₂、0.05% SDS,50 ℃热激及低氧条件下分别处理基因敲出菌株和野生菌株,将菌液进行10倍梯度稀释,培养4～6周后检测抗胁迫能力并计算存活率。结果显示, 与野生株H37Ra相比,mshD基因敲除株菌落褶皱减少且菌落偏小,生长趋势较为缓慢;生物膜形成所需时间增长且褶皱明显减少;抗逆能力下降,存活率略低于野生株和回补株。揭示了mshD基因对结核分枝杆菌的生长具有重要作用,为进一步揭示该基因的功能和作用机制奠定了基础。     

结核分枝杆菌生物膜形成相关基因的筛选与鉴定

目的:通过菌落表型变化并结合生物膜生长缺陷筛选并鉴定可能与生物膜形成相关基因.方法:利用带有Himarl转座子的MycoMarT7转座子系统建立结核分枝杆菌H37Ra随机插入突变库;筛选细菌表面结构发生变化和生物膜形成有变化的突变菌株;运用T-A克隆法并结合抗性标记挽救法获得突变菌株的随机插入基因侧翼序列从而鉴定突变基因,并运用生物信息学方法分析预测突变基因的功能.结果:通过菌落形态变化及生物膜缺陷表型筛选出39株突变株,成功鉴定其中16株突变株,涉及16个基因发生突变,其中5个与脂质代谢相关,4个与细胞壁合成相关、2个与中间代谢和呼吸作用相关、1个调节蛋白相关基因,1个毒力相关基因,1个PE/PPE家族基因,还有2个功能未知基因.结合生物膜形成缺陷分析,其中8个基因可能与H37Ra体外生物膜的形成相关.结论:成功构建库容量约为l×104结核分枝杆菌转座子随机插入突变文库,筛选获得生物膜生长受损突变株及可能与结核分枝杆菌生物膜形成相关的基因信息,为后续深入开展生物膜形成机制研究奠定基础.     

抗结核活性化合物HY-152E的作用靶点分析

抗结核活性化合物HY-152E是本实验室前期获得的具有良好抗结核活性并拥有授权专利（ZL201210088290.0）的小分子化合物（最低抑菌浓度≤0.09 μg/mL）。为深入探索HY-152E的抗结核机制,本研究利用药物亲和反应靶标稳定性（drug affinity responsive target stability,DARTS）技术并结合蛋白质谱技术,分析可能与HY-152E相互作用的结核分枝杆菌潜在靶标蛋白。将结核分枝杆菌H37Ra的菌体蛋白裂解液与HY-152E共同孵育互作,用不同浓度的链霉菌蛋白酶消化30、45、60 min后,十二烷基硫酸钠-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳（sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis,SDS-PAGE）分离并比较与HY-152E互作前后菌体蛋白耐受蛋白酶消化的差异条带,分别在相对分子质量70 000和45 000~55 000处观察到差异蛋白条带。利用蛋白质谱技术分析差异条带的蛋白信息,共获得86个蛋白信息。结合结核分枝杆菌数据库及蛋白功能信息,最终筛选到9个蛋白可能是HY-152E的抗结核作用潜在靶标。这些潜在靶点的确定,为后续研究HY-152E的抗结核分子机制奠定了基础。     

抗结核海洋放线菌的筛选及菌株HY286生物活性研究

海洋放线菌是研究抗结核药物及其先导化合物的重要来源。以耻垢分枝杆菌(Mycobacterium smegmatis,Msm)作为指示菌,采用平板对峙法,从漳州浅滩泥土分离的77株放线菌中筛选出9株对Msm具有抑制作用的抗性放线菌,其中1株对Msm具有高效抑制作用的拮抗放线菌HY286。通过对菌株HY286的菌落形态观察、生理生化鉴定及16S r DNA序列分析,初步鉴定其为一株马杜拉属放线菌。通过测定菌株HY286发酵产物的抗耻垢分枝杆菌MIC值、抗菌活性和细胞毒活性。结果表明,该菌株产生化合物的抗耻垢分枝杆菌MIC值为200μg/m L,具有较好的抗结核分枝杆菌的潜力,且对枯草芽孢杆菌、短小芽孢杆菌也具有较好的抑制作用,对He La和Hep G2的抑制率分别为89.3%和94.2%。     

耐药结核分枝杆菌感染动物模型所用菌株的筛选

本研究通过小鼠体内实验检测我国部分地区结核分枝杆菌耐药菌株的毒力,以筛选耐药结核分枝杆菌感染动物模型所用菌株。收集从我国部分省份98例结核病患者痰培养液中分离出的结核分枝杆菌,用比例法药敏试验进行结核分枝杆菌一线和二线药物的药敏试验,筛选出对二线药物敏感而对一线药物利福平或异烟肼耐药或敏感的菌株,然后进行小鼠体内毒力实验,对异烟肼耐药相关基因katG和利福平耐药相关基因rpoB测序并进行基因突变分析。从98株菌中筛选出药物敏感谱清晰的40株,进行小鼠体内毒力实验。结果显示,共35株半数死亡时间≤H37Rv的半数死亡时间,其中18株耐利福平合并耐异烟肼、5株单耐利福平,7株单耐异烟肼、5株对利福平和异烟肼均敏感。通过小鼠毒力研究,分别筛选出基因背景清晰,半数死亡时间≤7d的耐利福平合并耐异烟肼的菌株1株、半数死亡时间≤7d单耐利福平和异烟肼的菌株各1株,作为耐药结核分枝杆菌感染小鼠模型所用菌株及进一步进行豚鼠等其他动物模型感染用候选菌株。     

耻垢分枝杆菌ClpC和ClpX敲低表达菌株的构建及表型分析*

蛋白质平衡稳定对细菌的生长繁殖以及应对宿主免疫压力十分重要。Clp蛋白酶复合体在结核分枝杆菌的蛋白质降解和平衡稳定中发挥重要作用。Clp蛋白酶中负责识别底物蛋白并将其解折叠的蛋白质有两种:ClpC和ClpX。为初步探究分枝杆菌中ClpC和ClpX各自的功能特点,运用CRISPRi的方法成功构建了耻垢分枝杆菌的ClpC和ClpX诱导型敲低表达菌株,并对其生长相关表型进行分析。结果显示:与野生菌株相比,ClpC和ClpX的低表达均能严重影响耻垢分枝杆菌的生长。ClpC低表达可导致菌株丧失生物膜的形成能力,而ClpX低表达则导致菌株无法维持正常细胞形态,电镜显示细胞壁不完整且细胞呈丝状化,提示ClpC和ClpX可能在分枝杆菌中具有不同的生理功能。可为后期深入开展ClpC和ClpX对分枝杆菌生理调控功能研究及新型抗结核药物筛选提供基础。     

变异链球菌alr缺失突变株的构建及初步观察

已知右旋氨基酸参与了细菌细胞壁肽聚糖的形成,但尚未有实验对其如何影响致龋菌变异链球菌进行研究。本实验成功构建了变异链球菌丙氨酸消旋酶alr缺失型突变菌IFD140Δalr。表型观察突变株菌落外观和生长情况与野生株无明显差异,但生长曲线提示对数生长期之后比野生株生长快,且饱和浓度较高。扫描电镜显示突变株相较野生株形成了更厚更致密的生物膜。通过变异链球菌alr缺失突变菌株的构建成功,提示右旋氨基酸可能对维持变异链球菌的正常生长和形成生物膜有重要作用。     

古尼拟青霉表型多样性及其与活性成分的关系

目的研究表型多样性与活性成分之间的联系。方法研究10株古尼拟青霉菌株的培养特性,观察菌落形态,测定其产孢量和粗蛋白、多糖、甘露醇、麦角甾醇、腺苷等主要活性成分含量。结果A类菌株菌落背面褶皱不平,中央为棕色环状,周边为淡黄色,是生长性状优良、活性成分含量高,适于大规模工业化生产的优质菌株。结论不同菌株具有不同的形态特征,且形态特征与其产孢量及主要活性成分存在一定内在联系。     

结核分枝杆菌EF4敲除菌株的构建

EF4是一个由 lepA 基因编码的与蛋白质翻译密切相关的延伸因子,在细菌中高度保守,但其确切功能和分子机制尚不清楚,在结核分枝杆菌中的功能至今未见报道。为探索EF4在结核分枝杆菌中的功能,需构建一株结核分枝杆菌 lepA 基因敲除株。本研究以结核分枝杆菌H37Ra全基因组DNA为模板,设计并通过聚合酶链反应(polymerase chain reaction,PCR)扩增 lepA 基因左、右臂,连接到p0004S质粒,构建同源重组质粒p0004S-Δ lepA 。然后,通过噬菌体体外包装,将p0004S-Δ lepA 质粒连接到phAE159质粒,构建phAE159-Δ lepA 噬菌体包装质粒。在耻垢分枝杆菌mc 2155中大量扩增噬菌体并受结核分枝杆菌侵染进行同源重组,筛选阳性克隆,从基因组和蛋白质表达水平检测该突变株中 lepA 基因及EF4蛋白表达。PCR结果显示,敲除株基因组中 lepA 基因已被潮霉素抗性基因成功替换,蛋白免疫印迹结果显示该敲除株中无EF4表达,表明其为成功构建的Ra Δ lepA 。生长曲线分析显示,正常培养条件下,结核分枝杆菌野生株与敲除株生长趋势一致。敲除株与野生株在菌落形态上有一定差异,相比于野生株,Ra Δ lepA 菌落颜色发黄,凸起偏厚,生长过程中生物膜皱褶较少。耐胁迫能力分析显示,与野生株相比,Ra Δ lepA 耐热、抗去垢剂、抗氧化能力无显著差异,但耐酸性环境能力明显增强。本研究利用噬菌体介导的重组法成功构建了结核分枝杆菌 lepA 基因敲除株,为后续研究结核分枝杆菌EF4的功能提供了重要基础。     

结核分枝杆菌核糖体蛋白丙氨酸乙酰转移酶过表达菌株的构建及分析

rimI基因编码的核糖体蛋白丙氨酸乙酰转移酶(ribosomal-protein-alanine acetyltransferase,RimI)为结核分枝杆菌GCN5相关N-乙酰转移酶家族成员,其在结核分枝杆菌中的生物学功能尚不十分清楚。为探索RimI的生物学特性及其对结核分枝杆菌致病性的影响,本研究以耻垢分枝杆菌为模式菌,构建过表达结核分枝杆菌rimI基因的重组菌株Msm∷pMV261-rimI。分别培养 Msm∷pMV261-rimI菌株和对照Msm∷pMV261菌株,分析两者生长速率、菌落形态和生物膜形成的差异,以及耐受低氧、低pH值、H₂O₂、二硫苏糖醇(dithiothreitol,DTT)和0.05%～1%十二烷基硫酸钠(sodium dodecyl sulfate,SDS)等逆环境的能力;并将两种菌株分别接种于鼠巨噬细胞RAW264.7,观察两者在巨噬细胞内的存活能力。结果表明,相较于对照菌株,过表达rimI的菌株在生长前中期速率降低,生物膜早期成膜变缓,但不影响生物膜的后期成熟。同时,过表达rimI的菌株抵抗低氧、低pH值、H₂O₂等逆环境的能力增强,在巨噬细胞内的存活能力增强。结果提示,rimI基因对分枝杆菌的生物膜形成、抗逆性及细胞内生存具有重要作用,可能与结核分枝杆菌的毒力密切相关。     

Survival of virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis involves preventing apoptosis induced by Bcl-2 upregulation and release resulting from necrosis in J774 macrophages

Macrophage apoptosis plays a role in mycobacterial infection. To define the mechanism by which virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis escapes apoptosis and killing in macrophages, J774 macrophages were infected with virulent M. tuberculosis H37Rv and attenuated H37Ra strains. H37Rv induced less apoptosis than H37Ra, and caspase 3 was activated in H37Ra- and H37Rv-infected macrophages. Intracellular H37Rv bacilli were released at a higher rate into the supernatant than were H37Ra by the sixth day of infection, and this was simultaneously accompanied by the increased necrosis of infected cells showing lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. Fas mRNA expression was downregulated and FasL was upregulated in H37Ra- and H37Rv-infected macrophages, while Bcl-2 was upregulated in H37Rv-infected macrophages but downregulated in H37Ra-infected macrophages as seen by real-time PCR. These results indicate that M. tuberculosis H37Ra and H37Rv proliferate in macrophages by preventing them from inducing apoptosis during the early phase of infection, and that M. tuberculosis H37Rv-infected macrophages are found to express Bcl-2 mRNA, which leads to anti-apoptotic activity, and that relatively distinct necrosis might occur during the later phase of infection.     

DNA restriction endonuclease analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis BCG

DNA preparations from two reference (H37Ra and H37Rv) and two wild strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and one re-isolated strain of Mycobacterium bovis BCG were analysed using 17 restriction endonucleases. The enzyme BstEII revealed the greatest differences between strains. Electrophoretic DNA patterns from the wild M. tuberculosis strains differed from each other and from the reference strains at relatively few positions. At the highest resolution attained, patterns from the two reference strains remained indistinguishable from each other. The pattern of the M. bovis BCG strain was substantially different from, but had many bands in common with, the M. tuberculosis patterns.     

Virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains evade apoptosis of infected alveolar macrophages

Human alveolar macrophages (AMphi) undergo apoptosis following infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vitro. Apoptosis of cells infected with intracellular pathogens may benefit the host by eliminating a supportive environment for bacterial growth. The present study compared AMphi apoptosis following infection by M. tuberculosis complex strains of differing virulence and by Mycobacterium kansasii. Avirulent or attenuated bacilli (M. tuberculosis H37Ra, Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin, and M. kansasii) induced significantly more AMphi apoptosis than virulent strains (M. tuberculosis H37Rv, Erdman, M. tuberculosis clinical isolate BMC 96.1, and M. bovis wild type). Increased apoptosis was not due to greater intracellular bacterial replication because virulent strains grew more rapidly in AMphi than attenuated strains despite causing less apoptosis. These findings suggest the existence of mycobacterial virulence determinants that modulate the apoptotic response of AMphi to intracellular infection and support the hypothesis that macrophage apoptosis contributes to innate host defense in tuberculosis.     

Comparative proteome analysis of culture supernatant proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and H37Ra

To examine the virulence factors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, the proteome was used to characterize the differences in protein expression between virulent M. tuberculosis H37Rv and attenuated M. tuberculosis H37Ra. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was performed to separate culture supernatant proteins extracted from M. tuberculosis H37Rv and M. tuberculosis H37Ra. The protein spots of interest were identified by mass spectrometry, and then the genes encoding the identified proteins were cloned and sequenced. Comparison of silver-stained gels showed that three well-resolved protein spots were present in M. tuberculosis H37Rv but absent from M. tuberculosis H37Ra. Protein spot no. 1 was identified as Rv2346c. Protein spot no. 2 was identified as Rv2347c, Rv1197, Rv1038c, and Rv3620c, which shared significant homology and had the same peptide fingerprinting using tryptic digestion. No M. tuberculosis protein matched protein spot no. 3. Rv2346c, Rv2347c, Rv1038c, and Rv3620c of M. tuberculosis H37Rv were located on the M. tuberculosis H37Ra chromosome, and multiple mutations were observed in the corresponding areas of M. tuberculosis H37Ra. Codon 59 (CAG, Gln) of Rv2347c and Rv3620c was replaced by termination codon (TAG) in M. tuberculosis H37Ra, which probably terminated the polypeptide elongation. These results demonstrate the importance of studying the gene products of M. tuberculosis and show that subtle differences in isogenic mutant strains might play an important role in identifying the attenuating mutations.     

Control of M. tuberculosis ESAT-6 secretion and specific T cell recognition by PhoP

Analysis of mycobacterial strains that have lost their ability to cause disease is a powerful approach to identify yet unknown virulence determinants and pathways involved in tuberculosis pathogenesis. Two of the most widely used attenuated strains in the history of tuberculosis research are Mycobacterium bovis BCG (BCG) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra (H37Ra), which both lost their virulence during in vitro serial passage. Whereas the attenuation of BCG is due mainly to loss of the ESAT-6 secretion system, ESX-1, the reason why H37Ra is attenuated remained unknown. However, here we show that a point mutation (S219L) in the predicted DNA binding region of the regulator PhoP is involved in the attenuation of H37Ra via a mechanism that impacts on the secretion of the major T cell antigen ESAT-6. Only H37Ra "knock-ins" that carried an integrated cosmid with the wild-type phoP gene from M. tuberculosis H37Rv showed changes in colony morphology, increased virulence, ESAT-6 secretion, and induction of specific T cell responses, whereas other H37Ra constructs did not. This finding established a link between the PhoP regulator and ESAT-6 secretion that opens exciting new perspectives for elucidating virulence regulation in M. tuberculosis.     

Differential expression of NF-kappaB in mycobacteria infected THP-1 affects apoptosis

The present study was conducted to see the role of NF-kappaB in virulent (Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv) and avirulent (M. tuberculosis H37Ra) mycobacterial infection in THP-1 cells. To inactivate NF-kappaB, pCMV-IkappaBalphaM dn containing THP-1 cell line was generated which showed marked increase in apoptosis with M. tuberculosis H37Rv and M. tuberculosis H37Ra. Infected THP-1-IkappaBalphaM dn cells showed decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential, cytochrome c release, activation of caspase-3 and enhanced TNF-alpha production. Increase in apoptosis of infected THP-1-IkappaBalphaM dn cells resulted in inhibition of intracellular mycobacterial growth. Differential NF-kappaB activation potential was observed with M. tuberculosis H37Rv and M. tuberculosis H37Ra. Both the strains activated NF-kappaB after 4 h in THP-1 cells however after 48 h only M. tuberculosis H37Rv activated NF-kappaB which lead to up-regulation of bcl-2 family anti-apoptotic member, bfl-1/A1. Our results indicated that NF-kappaB activation may be a determinant factor for the success of virulent mycobacteria within macrophages.     

ESX-1 dependent impairment of autophagic flux by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in human dendritic cells

Emerging evidence points to an important role of autophagy in the immune response mediated by dendritic cells (DC) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Since current vaccination based on Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is unable to stop the tuberculosis epidemic, a deeper comprehension of the alterations induced by Mtb in DC is essential for setting new vaccine strategies. Here, we compared the capacity of virulent (H37Rv) and avirulent (H37Ra) Mtb strains as well as BCG to modulate autophagy in human primary DC. We found that Mtb H37Rv impairs autophagy at the step of autophagosome-lysosome fusion. In contrast, neither Mtb H37Ra nor BCG strains were able to hamper autophagosome maturation. Both these attenuated strains have a functional inhibition of the 6kD early secreted antigenic target ESAT-6, an effector protein of the ESAT-6 Secretion System-1(ESX-1)/type VII secretion system. Notably, the ability to inhibit autophagy was fully restored in recombinant BCG and Mtb H37Ra strains in which ESAT-6 secretion was re-established by genetic complementation using either the ESX-1 region from Mtb (BCG::ESX-1) or the PhoP gene (Mtb H37Ra::PhoP), a regulator of ESAT-6 secretion. Importantly, the autophagic block induced by Mtb was overcome by rapamycin treatment leading to an increased interleukin-12 expression and, in turn, to an enhanced capacity to expand a Th1-oriented response. Collectively, our study demonstrated that Mtb alters the autophagic machinery through the ESX-1 system, and thereby opens new exciting perspectives to better understand the relationship between Mtb virulence and its ability to escape the DC-mediated immune response.