Mycobacterium leprae phenolglycolipid-1 expressed by engineered M. bovis BCG modulates early interaction with human phagocytes

The species-specific phenolic glycolipid 1 (PGL-1) is suspected to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of leprosy, a chronic disease of the skin and peripheral nerves caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Based on studies using the purified compound, PGL-1 was proposed to mediate the tropism of M. leprae for the nervous system and to modulate host immune responses. However, deciphering the biological function of this glycolipid has been hampered by the inability to grow M. leprae in vitro and to genetically engineer this bacterium. Here, we identified the M. leprae genes required for the biosynthesis of the species-specific saccharidic domain of PGL-1 and reprogrammed seven enzymatic steps in M. bovis BCG to make it synthesize and display PGL-1 in the context of an M. leprae-like cell envelope. This recombinant strain provides us with a unique tool to address the key questions of the contribution of PGL-1 in the infection process and to study the underlying molecular mechanisms. We found that PGL-1 production endowed recombinant BCG with an increased capacity to exploit complement receptor 3 (CR3) for efficient invasion of human macrophages and evasion of inflammatory responses. PGL-1 production also promoted bacterial uptake by human dendritic cells and dampened their infection-induced maturation. Our results therefore suggest that M. leprae produces PGL-1 for immune-silent invasion of host phagocytic cells.     

Synthesis of two purple-membrane glycolipids and the glycolipid sulfate O-(β-d-glucopyranosyl 3-sulfate)-(1→6)-O-α-d-mannopyranosyl-(1→2)-O-α-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→1)-2, 3-di-O-phytanyl-sn-glycerol

The two purple-membrane glycolipids O-β-d-glucopyranosyl- and O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-(1→6)-O-α-d-mannopyranosyl-(1→2)-O-α-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→1)-2, 3-di-O-phytanyl-sn-glycerol were prepared by coupling O-(2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-α-d-mannopyranosyl)-(1→2)-O-(3,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-α-d-glucopyranosyl)-(1→1)-2, 3-di-O-phytanyl-sn-glycerol (9) with 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-α-d-glucopyranosyl bromide or 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-α-d-mannopyranosyl bromide, respectively, followed by deacetylation. The glycolipid sulfate O-(β-d-glucopyranosyl 3-sulfate)-(1→6)-O-α-d-mannopyranosyl-(1→2)-O-α-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→1)-2,3-di-O-phytanyl-sn-glycerol was prepared by coupling of 9 with 2,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-3-O-trichloroethyloxycarbonyl-α-d-glucopyranosyl bromide in the presence of Hg(CN)₂/HgBr₂ followed by selective removal of the 3?-trichloroethyloxycarbonyl group, sulfation of HO-3?, and deacetylation. The suitably protected key-intermediate 9 could be prepared by two distinct approaches.     

Effects of climate warming on Sphagnum photosynthesis in peatlands depend on peat moisture and species‐specific anatomical traits

Climate change will influence plant photosynthesis by altering patterns of temperature and precipitation, including their variability and seasonality. Both effects may be important for peatlands as the carbon (C) sink potential of these ecosystems depends on the balance between plant C uptake through photosynthesis and microbial decomposition. Here, we show that the effect of climate warming on Sphagnum community photosynthesis toggles from positive to negative as the peatland goes from rainy to dry periods during summer. More particularly, we show that mechanisms of compensation among the dominant Sphagnum species (Sphagnum fallax and Sphagnum medium) stabilize the average photosynthesis and productivity of the Sphagnum community during summer despite rising temperatures and frequent droughts. While warming had a negligible effect on S. medium photosynthetic capacity (A_max) during rainy periods, A_max of S. fallax increased by 40%. On the opposite, warming exacerbated the negative effects of droughts on S. fallax with an even sharper decrease of its A_max while S. medium A_max remained unchanged. S. medium showed a remarkable resistance to droughts due to anatomical traits favouring its water holding capacity. Our results show that different phenotypic plasticity among dominant Sphagnum species allow the community to cope with rising temperatures and repeated droughts, maintaining similar photosynthesis and productivity over summer in warmed and control conditions. These results are important because they provide information on how soil water content may modulate the effects of climate warming on Sphagnum productivity in boreal peatlands. It further confirms the transitory nature of warming‐induced photosynthesis benefits in boreal systems and highlights the vulnerability of the ecosystem to excess warming and drying.     

CYP6 P450 Enzymes and ACE-1 Duplication Produce Extreme and Multiple Insecticide Resistance in the Malaria Mosquito Anopheles gambiae

Malaria control relies heavily on pyrethroid insecticides, to which susceptibility is declining in Anopheles mosquitoes. To combat pyrethroid resistance, application of alternative insecticides is advocated for indoor residual spraying (IRS), and carbamates are increasingly important. Emergence of a very strong carbamate resistance phenotype in Anopheles gambiae from Tiassalé, Côte d''Ivoire, West Africa, is therefore a potentially major operational challenge, particularly because these malaria vectors now exhibit resistance to multiple insecticide classes. We investigated the genetic basis of resistance to the most commonly-applied carbamate, bendiocarb, in An. gambiae from Tiassalé. Geographically-replicated whole genome microarray experiments identified elevated P450 enzyme expression as associated with bendiocarb resistance, most notably genes from the CYP6 subfamily. P450s were further implicated in resistance phenotypes by induction of significantly elevated mortality to bendiocarb by the synergist piperonyl butoxide (PBO), which also enhanced the action of pyrethroids and an organophosphate. CYP6P3 and especially CYP6M2 produced bendiocarb resistance via transgenic expression in Drosophila in addition to pyrethroid resistance for both genes, and DDT resistance for CYP6M2 expression. CYP6M2 can thus cause resistance to three distinct classes of insecticide although the biochemical mechanism for carbamates is unclear because, in contrast to CYP6P3, recombinant CYP6M2 did not metabolise bendiocarb in vitro. Strongly bendiocarb resistant mosquitoes also displayed elevated expression of the acetylcholinesterase ACE-1 gene, arising at least in part from gene duplication, which confers a survival advantage to carriers of additional copies of resistant ACE-1 G119S alleles. Our results are alarming for vector-based malaria control. Extreme carbamate resistance in Tiassalé An. gambiae results from coupling of over-expressed target site allelic variants with heightened CYP6 P450 expression, which also provides resistance across contrasting insecticides. Mosquito populations displaying such a diverse basis of extreme and cross-resistance are likely to be unresponsive to standard insecticide resistance management practices.     

Iota-carrageenan extracted from red algae is a potent inhibitor of SARS‐CoV-2 infection in reconstituted human airway epithelia

Iota-carrageenan (IC) nasal spray, a medical device approved for treating respiratory viral infections, has previously been shown to inhibit the ability of a variety of respiratory viruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), to enter and replicate in the cell by interfering with the virus binding to the cell surface. The aim of this study was to further investigate the efficacy and safety of IC in SARS-CoV-2 infection in advanced in vitro models of the human respiratory epithelium, the primary target and entry port for SARS-CoV-2. We extended the in vitro safety assessment of nebulized IC in a 3-dimensional model of reconstituted human bronchial epithelium, and we demonstrated the efficacy of IC in protecting reconstituted nasal epithelium against viral infection and replication of a patient-derived SARS-CoV-2 strain. The results obtained from these two advanced models of human respiratory tract epithelia confirm previous findings from in vitro SARS-CoV-2 infection assays and demonstrate that topically applied IC can effectively prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication. Moreover, the absence of toxicity and functional and structural impairment of the mucociliary epithelium demonstrates that the nebulized IC is well tolerated.     

In vitro Toxic Effects of Certain Antibiotics on the Fibroblasts of Two Children with I-Cell Disease

Six antibiotics, pefloxacin (Peflacine), fosfomycin (Fosfocine), teicoplanin (Targocid), vancomycin (Vancocine), ceftazidime (Fortum), piperacillin (Piperilline), that may be used as a systematic coverage during bone marrow transplantation have been tested on dermal fibroblasts of one control subject and two I-cell disease patients, along with five subcultures, corresponding to 5 weeks of culture. The possible toxicity of these molecules was assessed. The evaluation of lysosomal enzyme sphingomyelinase activity, detection of free intracellular cholesterol and the light- and electron-microscopic examination of treated cells were used as measures of metabolic interference and cytotoxicity. Our study shows that despite a lack of any metabolic sign of interference (no modification in enzyme activity, no increase in free intracellular cholesterol), all the antibiotics tested induced a cytotoxic effect which was notably amplified in the I-cell populations. This may be due to the lysosomal lipid storage of these cells which modifies the relationship between the antibiotic and the cell by inducing a different kind of lipid–antibiotic interference.