肠外致病性大肠杆菌致病机制及公共卫生学意义

致病性大肠杆菌包括肠致病性大肠杆菌(intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli, IPEC)和肠外致病性大肠杆菌(extraintestinalpathogenicE.coli,ExPEC),可引起人和动物多种感染性疾病。ExPEC主要在肠道外其他组织脏器定殖并导致感染,包括尿道致病性大肠杆菌(uropathogenicE.coli, UPEC)、新生儿脑膜炎大肠杆菌(newborn meningitis E. coli, NMEC)和禽致病性大肠杆菌(avian pathogenic E. coli, APEC)。人源ExPEC (UPEC和NMEC)主要引起人尿道感染、肾盂肾炎和新生儿脑膜炎,而APEC可导致禽类的大肠杆菌病,造成家禽业的巨大经济损失。另外,乳腺致病性大肠杆菌(mammary pathogenic E. coli, MPEC)和猪源ExPEC可导致奶牛乳房炎、猪的肺炎及急性败血症等病症。研究发现,ExPEC类菌株在基因组结构上很相似,与IPEC本质区别在于致病机制不同,ExPEC具有很多相同的毒力基因和耐药基因,而且动物源ExPEC...     

致犊牛脑膜炎大肠杆菌新疆分离株ibeB基因的特性分析北大核心CSCD

【目的】分析致犊牛脑膜炎大肠杆菌分离株ibeB基因的分子生物学信息。【方法】以自脑炎死亡犊牛脑组织、肝组织分离鉴定的O161-K99-STa致病性大肠杆菌牛-EN株和牛-EG分离株为材料。根据GenBank中公布的脑膜炎大肠杆菌K1株RS218 ibeB基因序列设计1对引物,采用PCR方法,从分离株中成功克隆ibe B基因,比较分离株ibeB基因与不同来源大肠杆菌ibeB基因的部分生物信息学特性。【结果】分离株ibeB基因序列全长1500 bp,包含1371 bp开放阅读框,共编码457个氨基酸;生物信息学分析显示,牛-EN株与致人脑膜炎大肠杆菌K1 RS218的核苷酸和氨基酸同源性分别为90.5%和96.9%,牛-EG株与大肠杆菌K12的核苷酸和氨基酸同源性分别为99.4%和100.0%;ibeB蛋白为亲水性蛋白,分子质量为50.26 kDa,理论等电点为6.05;该蛋白无跨膜区,但具有信号肽序列;亚细胞定位显示,分泌信号通路位点(SP)占比例为0.939,说明该蛋白属于分泌型蛋白。【结论】从致脑膜炎大肠杆菌分离株中成功克隆ibeB基因,该基因与致人脑膜炎大肠杆菌K1 RS218 ibeB基因有较高的同源性,均有相似的生物学特性,属肠外致病性大肠杆菌。     

河蟹螺原体非编码RNA及其毒力靶标的多组学系统挖掘*

我国是世界最大水产养殖国,每年甲壳动物因病害造成的经济损失约为70亿元。其中,螺原体(Spiroplasma)是甲壳动物重要的致病菌之一,可造成虾蟹大面积死亡,已列入农业农村部三类疫病。非编码RNA(ncRNA)广泛存在于细菌中,其主要通过碱基配对识别靶标mRNA在转录后水平调节基因的表达,部分ncRNAs通过与蛋白质相互作用而影响蛋白质功能。近年研究表明,细菌ncRNAs在毒力调控中扮演极为重要的角色。为了研究河蟹螺原体ncRNAs在甲壳动物致病中的分子调控作用,需系统筛选鉴定螺原体感染相关的ncRNAs和毒力靶标。通过比较基因组、差异转录组、定量蛋白质组、系统生物学和分子相互作用联合研究得到:整合基因组和转录组挖掘得到河蟹螺原体ncRNAs 共54个;在体内感染和体外培养的不同时期,利用数字基因表达谱分析分别得到11个和28个差异显著ncRNAs;利用4款生物软件预测ncRNAs靶标,取交集得到423个;利用定量蛋白质组检测,鉴定出68个差异毒力蛋白,这些差异毒力蛋白与ncRNAs的30个毒力靶标中的21个相同;利用网络生物学分析得到主要的节点Hub-ncRNA共有6个;利用RNA pull-down、原核链特异性测序和LC-MS/MS综合分析,得到重要节点ncRNA SR05的互作RNA 53个、互作蛋白质120个。相关研究成果,可为诠释河蟹螺原体致病机制及其与宿主相互作用机制奠定基础,为虾蟹该疾病的综合防治提供科学依据。     

非编码蛋白RNA的遗传调控

大规模cDNA文库的测序和Tiling基因芯片研究结果表明, 人类基因组中大约50%的DNA可以转录为RNA, 其中只有2%能够翻译蛋白质(即mRNA), 其余98%为非编码蛋白RNAs(ncRNAs). 最近研究初步显示, 这些ncRNAs可以通过多种遗传机理调控DNA的结构、RNA的表达及蛋白质的翻译和功能, 进而在细胞、组织或个体水平上影响生物体的正常生长发育. 迄今, 人们仍对这占转录RNA 95%以上的ncRNA的功能了解甚少, 但弄清这些ncRNAs在遗传信息传递过程中的作用机理和个体发育过程中的生物功能, 是揭示生命奥妙不可缺少的环节. 为促进当今生命科学中这个最活跃研究领域的进展, 特综述ncRNA的历史和现状、作用机理及功能、发现和鉴定方法, 以及功能研究手段和应用理论、方法与实例.     

肌动蛋白亚型在巨噬细胞吞噬脑膜炎大肠杆菌中的作用

该研究利用诱导后的THP-1单核细胞系作为巨噬细胞的模式细胞,鉴定了在巨噬细胞中表达的肌动蛋白亚型,发现β-肌动蛋白和γ-肌动蛋白在巨噬细胞中表达;接着利用共聚焦显微成像发现,β-肌动蛋白和γ-肌动蛋白在巨噬细胞受到脑膜炎大肠杆菌感染时均出现了不同程度的聚集;进一步利用RNA干扰技术实现了对巨噬细胞中的β-肌动蛋白和γ-肌动蛋白的特异性下调,并发现单独下调β-肌动蛋白和γ-肌动蛋白以及联合下调β-和γ-肌动蛋白都使得巨噬细胞吞噬脑膜炎大肠杆菌的能力呈明显下降。这些结果表明,不同亚型的肌动蛋白在巨噬细胞吞噬脑膜炎大肠杆菌过程中发挥着重要作用。     

禽致病性大肠杆菌IMT5155 疑似毒力基因在人源及动物源大肠杆菌中的分布

[目的]检测禽致病性大肠杆菌IMT5155自分泌黏附素基因等具有代表性的疑似毒力基因在不同来源大肠杆菌中的分布,为进一步研究其致病机理提供依据.[方法]采用PCR和Dot blot,检测疑似毒力基因在不同地区(101株大肠杆菌中国分离株和121株大肠杆菌德国分离株)、不同来源(人源、禽源及猪源)大肠杆菌中的分布,并分析其和大肠杆菌系统进化分群的关系.[结果]自分泌黏附素基因B11等11个疑似毒力基因在禽致病性大肠杆菌中分布率较高,阳性率分别为:A1 36.4%(32/88)、A8 53.4%(47/88)、A1063.6%(56/88)、B1137.5%(33/88)、F3 59.1%(52/88)等,且疑似毒力基因主要存在于大肠杆菌B2进化群中.值得注意的是,D1、E9和F11基因片段在新生儿脑膜炎大肠杆菌中有较高的分布率,分别为60%(6/10)、80%(8/10)和90%(9/10),而在新生儿脑膜炎大肠杆菌中未检测到B11基因.[结论]自分泌黏附素B11等疑似毒力基因与禽致病性大肠杆菌关系密切,但疑似毒力基因D1、E9和F11与新生儿脑膜炎大肠杆菌密切相关,提示禽致病性大肠杆菌可能是新生儿脑膜炎大肠杆菌的毒力基因储库.     

ncRNA 研究技术进展

ncRNA通过多种机制调控着基因的表达,生物信息学、基因组SELEX技术及微阵列分析等方法在ncRNA的研究中发挥了重要作用,导致在最近5年发现了大量的新ncRNA,本文就研究ncRNA的各种方法作一简要介绍。     

致病性鸡大肠杆菌pilA基因和外膜蛋白C基因的克隆、表达及其免疫原性

根据GenBank公布的致病性鸡大肠杆菌的Ⅰ型菌毛pilA基因和外膜蛋白C基因序列,分别设计了两对引物,并以分离的致病性鸡大肠杆菌基因组为模板,经PCR特异性扩增出pilA基因和ompC基因,基因产物大小为别为549 bp和1104 bp,与GenBank报道的参考菌株的两个基因序列的同源性为高达98.18%和97.28%.将扩增得到的两个基因分别定向克隆到原核表达载体pET-28a中,得到两个重组质粒pETpilA和pETompC.转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)中,得到重组菌株BL21(pETpilA)和BL21(pETompC),经IPTG诱导后,SDS-PAGE分析分别可见表达的20 kD和40.9 kD的特异条带;Western blotting结果表明,两种蛋白可与抗体发生特异性结合,说明其具有良好的免疫原性.将表达的菌毛蛋白和外膜蛋白的菌株分别制成基因工程疫苗,免疫小鼠后,具有很好的保护能力.表明这两株基因工程菌株有望作为鸡致病性大肠杆菌基因工程疫苗的候选生产菌株.     

毒力岛基因ibeT有助于大肠杆菌抵抗人脑微血管内皮细胞溶酶体的降解

大肠杆菌是导致新生儿细菌性脑膜炎最常见的革兰氏阴性致病菌.为探讨毒力岛基因ibeT在大肠杆菌K1株致病过程中的作用,构建了ibeT基因缺失的大肠杆菌K1株,细菌在细胞内存活试验结果显示,ibeT基因缺失抑制了大肠杆菌K1株在人脑微血管内皮细胞中的生长.利用激光共聚焦扫描显微镜观察到,在细菌侵袭进入人脑微血管内皮细胞后,与野生型相比,ibeT基因缺失突变株较多地滞留在溶酶体内;透射电镜结果进一步显示,ibeT基因缺失使大肠杆菌K1株逃逸ECV(含有大肠杆茼的囊泡)的能力发生了下降,继而使其在细胞浆内的复制减少.利用体外模拟的弱酸性环境,检测大肠杆菌菌体胞内的缓冲容量,发现ibeT基因缺失突变株菌体胞内的缓冲能力较野生型低.这些结果提示,在大肠杆茼K1株侵袭进入人脑微血管内皮细胞后,ibeT基因有利于大肠杆菌降解ECV膜,避免与溶酶体融合,进而促使大肠杆菌逃逸进入细胞浆并进行复制.     

大肠杆菌K99噬菌体的分离鉴定及在小鼠上的防治效果

【背景】产肠毒素大肠杆菌K99是引起仔猪腹泻的主要致病菌之一,目前对该病的治疗主要依赖于抗生素,但大量抗生素的长期使用造成了病原菌耐药性的增强,亟待寻求一种新的产品来解决这一问题。【目的】以一株产肠毒素大肠杆菌K99为宿主菌,从畜禽粪水中分离噬菌体并对其基本生物学特性进行研究,同时在小鼠上检验噬菌体对小鼠大肠杆菌感染的防治效果。【方法】双层平板法分离筛选烈性噬菌体并观察噬菌斑形态;纯化后进行电镜观察、核酸类型鉴定;测定噬菌体热稳定性、p H稳定性、最佳感染复数及一步生长曲线;通过小鼠体内实验检测噬菌体对小鼠大肠杆菌感染的防治效果。【结果】从畜禽粪水中分离出1株产肠毒素大肠杆菌K99强裂解性噬菌体,命名为ФK99-1,经电镜观察及核酸类型鉴定,应属于肌尾噬菌体科(Myoviridae)。噬菌体能耐受50°C左右的高温,在p H 3.0-10.0范围内效价稳定。最佳感染复数为0.000 01,暴发量为108 333 PFU/cell;运用噬菌体ФK99-1预防和治疗小鼠产肠毒素大肠杆菌K99感染,结果显示小鼠发病症状较阳性对照组明显减轻,小鼠血液内大肠杆菌K99含量也显著低于阳性对照组,通过病理切片观察显示脏器发病情况也较阳性对照组减轻。【结论】ФK99-1是一株在不同温度、不同酸碱性环境中有较强适应能力,且在小鼠大肠杆菌感染上表现出良好防治效果的裂解性肌尾科大肠杆菌噬菌体。     

Effect of rpoS mutations on stress-resistance and invasion of brain microvascular endothelial cells in Escherichia coli K1

Escherichia coli K1 strains are predominant in causing neonatal meningitis. We have shown that invasion of brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMEC) is a prerequisite for E. coli K1 crossing of the blood-brain barrier. BMEC invasion by E. coli K1 strain RS218, however, has been shown to be significantly greater with stationary-phase cultures than with exponential-phase cultures. Since RpoS participates in regulating stationary-phase gene expression, the present study examined a possible involvement of RpoS in E. coli K1 invasion of BMEC. We found that the cerebrospinal fluid isolates of E. coli K1 strains RS218 and IHE3034 have a nonsense mutation in their rpoS gene. Complementation with the E. coli K12 rpoS gene significantly increased the BMEC invasion of E. coli K1 strain IHE3034, but failed to significantly increase the invasion of another E. coli K1 strain RS218. Of interest, the recovery of E. coli K1 strains following environmental insults was 10-100-fold greater on Columbia blood agar than on LB agar, indicating that growing medium is important for viability of rpoS mutants after environmental insults. Taken together, our data suggest that the growth-phase-dependent E. coli K1 invasion of BMEC is affected by RpoS and other growth-phase-dependent regulatory mechanisms.     

Escherichia coli K1 induces IL-8 expression in human brain microvascular endothelial cells

Microbial penetration of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) into the central nervous system is essential for the development of meningitis. Considerable progress has been achieved in understanding the pathophysiology of meningitis, however, relatively little is known about the early inflammatory events occurring at the time of bacterial crossing of the BBB. We investigated, using real-time quantitative PCR, the expression of the neutrophil chemoattractants alpha-chemokines CXCL1 (Groalpha) and CXCL8 (IL-8), and of the monocyte chemoattractant beta-chemokine CCL2 (MCP-1) by human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMEC) in response to the meningitis-causing E. coli K1 strain RS218 or its isogenic mutants lacking the ability to bind to and invade HBMEC. A nonpathogenic, laboratory E. coli strain HB101 was used as a negative control. CXCL8 was shown to be significantly expressed in HBMEC 4 hours after infection with E. coli K1, while no significant alterations were noted for CXCL1 and CCL2 expression. This upregulation of CXCL8 was induced by E. coli K1 strain RS218 and its derivatives lacking the ability to bind and invade HBMEC, but was not induced by the laboratory strain HB101. In contrast, no upregulation of CXCL8 was observed in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) after stimulation with E. coli RS218. These findings indicate that the CXCL8 expression is the result of the specific response of HBMEC to meningitis-causing E. coli K1.     

Vaccination of mice with bacteria carrying a cloned herpesvirus genome reconstituted in vivo

Bacterial delivery systems are gaining increasing interest as potential vaccination vectors to deliver either proteins or nucleic acids for gene expression in the recipient. Bacterial delivery systems for gene expression in vivo usually contain small multicopy plasmids. We have shown before that bacteria containing a herpesvirus bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) can reconstitute the virus replication cycle after cocultivation with fibroblasts in vitro. In this study we addressed the question of whether bacteria containing a single plasmid with a complete viral genome can also reconstitute the viral replication process in vivo. We used a natural mouse pathogen, the murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), whose genome has previously been cloned as a BAC in Escherichia coli. In this study, we tested a new application for BAC-cloned herpesvirus genomes. We show that the MCMV BAC can be stably maintained in certain strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium as well and that both serovar Typhimurium and E. coli harboring the single-copy MCMV BAC can reconstitute a virus infection upon injection into mice. By this procedure, a productive virus infection is regenerated only in immunocompromised mice. Virus reconstitution in vivo causes elevated titers of specific anti-MCMV antibodies, protection against lethal MCMV challenge, and strong expression of additional genes introduced into the viral genome. Thus, the reconstitution of infectious virus from live attenuated bacteria presents a novel concept for multivalent virus vaccines launched from bacterial vectors.     

The Hek outer membrane protein of Escherichia coli is an auto-aggregating adhesin and invasin

Escherichia coli is the principal gram-negative causative agent of sepsis and meningitis in neonates. The pathogenesis of meningitis due to E. coli K1 involves mucosal colonization, transcytosis of epithelial cells, survival in the blood stream and eventually invasion of the meninges. The latter two aspects have been well characterized at a molecular level in the last decade. Less is known about the early stages of pathogenesis, i.e. adhesion to and invasion of gastrointestinal cells. Here, the characterization of the Hek protein is reported, which is expressed by neonatal meningitic E. coli (NMEC) and is localized to the outer membrane. It is demonstrated that this protein can cause agglutination of red blood cells and can mediate autoaggregation. Escherichia coli expressing this protein can adhere to and invade epithelial cells. So far, this is the first outer membrane protein in NMEC to be directly implicated in epithelial cell invasion.     

Pertussis Toxin Exploits Specific Host Cell Signaling Pathways for Promoting Invasion and Translocation of Escherichia coli K1 RS218 in Human Brain-derived Microvascular Endothelial Cells

Pertussis toxin (PTx), an AB5 toxin and major virulence factor of the whooping cough-causing pathogen Bordetella pertussis, has been shown to affect the blood-brain barrier. Dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier may facilitate penetration of bacterial pathogens into the brain, such as Escherichia coli K1 (RS218). In this study, we investigated the influence of PTx on blood-brain barrier permissiveness to E. coli infection using human brain-derived endothelial HBMEC and TY10 cells as in vitro models. Our results indicate that PTx acts at several key points of host cell intracellular signaling pathways, which are also affected by E. coli K1 RS218 infection. Application of PTx increased the expression of the pathogen binding receptor gp96. Further, we found an activation of STAT3 and of the small GTPase Rac1, which have been described as being essential for bacterial invasion involving host cell actin cytoskeleton rearrangements at the bacterial entry site. In addition, we showed that PTx induces a remarkable relocation of VE-cadherin and β-catenin from intercellular junctions. The observed changes in host cell signaling molecules were accompanied by differences in intracellular calcium levels, which might act as a second messenger system for PTx. In summary, PTx not only facilitates invasion of E. coli K1 RS218 by activating essential signaling cascades; it also affects intercellular barriers to increase paracellular translocation.     

Role of Capsule and O Antigen in the Virulence of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections in humans, with uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) the leading causative organism. UPEC has a number of virulence factors that enable it to overcome host defenses within the urinary tract and establish infection. The O antigen and the capsular polysaccharide are two such factors that provide a survival advantage to UPEC. Here we describe the application of the rpsL counter selection system to construct capsule (kpsD) and O antigen (waaL) mutants and complemented derivatives of three reference UPEC strains: CFT073 (O6:K2:H1), RS218 (O18:K1:H7) and 1177 (O1:K1:H7). We observed that while the O1, O6 and O18 antigens were required for survival in human serum, the role of the capsule was less clear and linked to O antigen type. In contrast, both the K1 and K2 capsular antigens provided a survival advantage to UPEC in whole blood. In the mouse urinary tract, mutation of the O6 antigen significantly attenuated CFT073 bladder colonization. Overall, this study contrasts the role of capsule and O antigen in three common UPEC serotypes using defined mutant and complemented strains. The combined mutagenesis-complementation strategy can be applied to study other virulence factors with complex functions both in vitro and in vivo.     

细菌非编码RNA及其分子伴侣Hfq

细菌在生存过程中要面对复杂多样的环境,在长期进化过程中,细菌逐渐形成不同的应答机制来感应环境信号的变化,并通过精确的基因表达来调控生理生化反应。基因表达调控可分为转录水平和转录后水平两个方面,对于细菌来说,非编码RNA在转录后调控上发挥着重要的作用,而大多数非编码RNA与靶标m RNA的相互作用过程又离不开Hfq蛋白的辅助。本文综述了非编码RNA的分类、调控特点,伴侣蛋白Hfq的结构、功能以及两者相互作用的机制,以期深入了解非编码RNA及其伴侣蛋白Hfq在转录后调控中发挥的作用。     

Genotypic and phenotypic traits that distinguish neonatal meningitis-associated Escherichia coli from fecal E. coli isolates of healthy human hosts

Neonatal meningitis Escherichia coli (NMEC) is one of the top causes of neonatal meningitis worldwide. Here, 85 NMEC and 204 fecal E. coli isolates from healthy humans (HFEC) were compared for possession of traits related to virulence, antimicrobial resistance, and plasmid content. This comparison was done to identify traits that typify NMEC and distinguish it from commensal strains to refine the definition of the NMEC subpathotype, identify traits that might contribute to NMEC pathogenesis, and facilitate choices of NMEC strains for future study. A large number of E. coli strains from both groups were untypeable, with the most common serogroups occurring among NMEC being O18, followed by O83, O7, O12, and O1. NMEC strains were more likely than HFEC strains to be assigned to the B2 phylogenetic group. Few NMEC or HFEC strains were resistant to antimicrobials. Genes that best discriminated between NMEC and HFEC strains and that were present in more than 50% of NMEC isolates were mainly from extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli genomic and plasmid pathogenicity islands. Several of these defining traits had not previously been associated with NMEC pathogenesis, are of unknown function, and are plasmid located. Several genes that had been previously associated with NMEC virulence did not dominate among the NMEC isolates. These data suggest that there is much about NMEC virulence that is unknown and that there are pitfalls to studying single NMEC isolates to represent the entire subpathotype.