Virulence strategies of the dominant USA300 lineage of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA)

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) poses a serious threat to worldwide health. Historically, MRSA clones have strictly been associated with hospital settings, and most hospital-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) disease resulted from a limited number of virulent clones. Recently, MRSA has spread into the community causing disease in otherwise healthy people with no discernible contact with healthcare environments. These community-associated MRSA clones (CA-MRSA) are phylogenetically distinct from traditional HA-MRSA clones, and CA-MRSA strains seem to exhibit hypervirulence and more efficient host : host transmission. Consequently, CA-MRSA clones belonging to the USA300 lineage have become dominant sources of MRSA infections in North America. The rise of this successful USA300 lineage represents an important step in the evolution of emerging pathogens and a great deal of effort has been exerted to understand how these clones evolved. Here, we review much of the recent literature aimed at illuminating the source of USA300 success and broadly categorize these findings into three main categories: newly acquired virulence genes, altered expression of common virulence determinants and alterations in protein sequence that increase fitness. We argue that none of these evolutionary events alone account for the success of USA300, but rather their combination may be responsible for the rise and spread of CA-MRSA.     

Pfcrt haplotypes and the evolutionary history of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum

Mutations in the Pfcrt gene that change the resulting amino acids and form different haplotypes are common and correlate with the prevalence of chloroquine resistant (CQR) field isolates of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. This correlation provides opportunities to infer the global evolutionary history of CQ resistance by analysing CQR Pfcrt haplotype data. We collated data on the Pfcrt haplotypes from different global studies and performed evolutionary genetic analysis to present comprehensive and comparative information on the global distribution of five major CQR-Pfcrt haplotypes and evolutionary inter-relationships among 38 different countries. Using the haplotype diversity data, inter-continental genetic differentiation was also ascertained.     

Impact of Azotobacter exopolysaccharides on sustainable agriculture

Recently, increasing attention have lead to search other avenue of biofertilizers with multipurpose activities as a manner of sustainable soil health to improve the plant productivity. Azotobacter have been universally accepted as a major inoculum used in biofertilizer to restore the nitrogen level into cultivated field. Azotobacter is well characterized for their profuse production of exopolysaccharides (EPS). Several reviews on biogenesis and multifunctional role of Azotobacter EPS have been documented with special emphasis on industrial applications. But the impact of Azotobacter EPS in plant growth promotion has not received adequate attention. This review outlines the evidence that demonstrates not only the contribution of Azotobacter EPS in global nutrient cycle but also help to compete successfully in different adverse ecological and edaphic conditions. This also focuses on new insights and concepts of Azotobacter EPS which have positive effects caused by the biofilm formation on overall plant growth promotion with other PGPRs. In addition, their potentials in agricultural improvement are also discussed. Recent data realized that Azotobacter EPS have an immense agro-economical importance including the survivability and maintenance of microbial community in their habitat. This leads us to confirm that the next generation Azotobacter inoculum with high yielding EPS and high nitrogen fixing ability can be utilized to satisfy the future demand of augmented crop production attributed to increase plant growth promoting agents.     

Downregulation of vitamin C transporter SVCT-2 in doxorubicin-induced cardiomyocyte injury

Vitamin C (Vit C) has been shown to be protective against doxorubicin (Dox)-induced cardiotoxicity. However, Vit C uptake into cardiomyocytes is poorly understood. Furthermore, whether the antioxidant enzyme reserve is enhanced by Vit C is also not known. The present study investigated an influence of Dox on Vit C transporters, expression of endogenous antioxidant reserve as well as enzymes, oxidative stress, and apoptosis in isolated cardiomyocytes. Cardiomyocytes isolated from adult Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to control (culture medium 199 alone), Dox (10 μM), Vit C (25 μM), and Vit C + Dox for 24 h. Vit C transporter expression and localization, oxidative stress, antioxidant enzymes, and apoptosis were studied. Expression and localization of sodium-dependent vitamin C transporter-2 (SVCT-2) in the sarcolemma was reduced by Dox, but Vit C supplementation was able to blunt this change. There was a decrease in the expression of antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase, and Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) due to Dox, but only GPx expression was completely prevented and Cu/Zn SOD was partially rescued by Vit C. Dox-induced decrease in antioxidant reserve and increase in oxidative stress were partially mitigated by Vit C. Dox-induced apoptosis was ameliorated by Vit C. It is suggested that cardioprotection offered by Vit C in Dox-induced cardiomyopathy may involve an upregulation of SVCT-2 transporter followed by a reduction in oxidative stress as well as blunting of cardiomyocyte injury.     

Crystal structure of the Bacillus anthracis nucleoside diphosphate kinase and its characterization reveals an enzyme adapted to perform under stress conditions

Nucleoside diphosphate kinases (Ndks) play an important role in a plethora of regulatory and metabolic functions. Inhibition of the B. anthracis Ndk mRNA results in the formation of nonviable aberrant spores. We report the characterization and crystal structure of the enzyme from B. anthracis nucleoside diphosphate kinase (BaNdk), the first from sporulating bacteria. The enzyme, although from a mesophilic source, is active at extremes of pH (3.5–10.5), temperature (10–95°C) and ionic strength (0.25–4.0M NaCl). It exists as a hexamer that is composed of two SDS‐stable trimers interacting in a back‐to‐back association; mutational analysis confirms that the enzyme is a histidine kinase. The high‐resolution crystal structure reported here reveals an unanticipated change in the conformation of residues between 43 and 63 that also regulates substrate entry in other Ndks. A comparative structural analysis involving Ndks from seven mesophiles and three thermophiles has resulted in the delineation of the structure into relatively rigid and flexible regions. The analysis suggests that the larger number of intramolecular hydrogen bonds and to a lesser extent ionic interactions in BaNdk contributes to its high thermostability. Mutational analysis and Molecular Dynamics simulations were used to probe the role of a highly conserved Gly19 (present at the oligomeric interface in most of the Ndks). The results suggest that the mutation leads to a rigidification of those residues that facilitate substrate entry and consequently leads to a large reduction in the kinase activity. Overall, the enzyme characterization helps to understand its apparent adaptation to perform under stress conditions. Proteins 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A New Mixed-Backbone Oligonucleotide against Glucosylceramide Synthase Sensitizes Multidrug-Resistant Tumors to Apoptosis

Enhanced ceramide glycosylation catalyzed by glucosylceramide synthase (GCS) limits therapeutic efficiencies of antineoplastic agents including doxorubicin in drug-resistant cancer cells. Aimed to determine the role of GCS in tumor response to chemotherapy, a new mixed-backbone oligonucleotide (MBO-asGCS) with higher stability and efficiency has been generated to silence human GCS gene. MBO-asGCS was taken up efficiently in both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cells, but it selectively suppressed GCS overexpression, and sensitized drug-resistant cells. MBO-asGCS increased doxorubicin sensitivity by 83-fold in human NCI/ADR-RES, and 43-fold in murine EMT6/AR1 breast cancer cells, respectively. In tumor-bearing mice, MBO-asGCS treatment dramatically inhibited the growth of multidrug-resistant NCI/ADR-RE tumors, decreasing tumor volume to 37%, as compared with scrambled control. Furthermore, MBO-asGCS sensitized multidrug-resistant tumors to chemotherapy, increasing doxorubicin efficiency greater than 2-fold. The sensitization effects of MBO-asGCS relied on the decreases of gene expression and enzyme activity of GCS, and on the increases of C₁₈-ceramide and of caspase-executed apoptosis. MBO-asGCS was accumulation in tumor xenografts was greater in other tissues, excepting liver and kidneys; but MBO-asGCS did not exert significant toxic effects on liver and kidneys. This study, for the first time in vivo, has demonstrated that GCS is a promising therapeutic target for cancer drug resistance, and MBO-asGCS has the potential to be developed as an antineoplastic agent.     

Triple combination antibiotic therapy for carbapenemase-producing <Emphasis Type="Italic">Klebsiella pneumoniae</Emphasis>: a systematic review

Background

The spread of carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae (CPKP) has become a significant problem worldwide. Combination therapy for CPKP is encouraging, but polymyxin resistance to many antibiotics is hampering effective treatment. Combination therapy with three or more antibiotics is being increasingly reported, therefore we performed a systematic review of triple combination cases in an effort to evaluate their clinical effectiveness for CPKP infections.

Methods

The PubMed database was searched to identify all published clinical outcomes of CPKP infections treated with triple combination therapy. Articles were stratified into two tiers depending on the level of clinical detail provided. A tier 1 study included: antibiotic regimen, regimen-specific outcome, patient status at onset of infection, and source of infection. Articles not reaching these criteria were considered tier 2.

Results

Thirty-three studies were eligible, 23 tier 1 and ten tier 2. Among tier 1 studies, 53 cases were included in this analysis. The most common infection was pneumonia (31%) followed by primary or catheter-related bacteremia (21%) and urinary tract infection (17%). Different combinations of antibiotic classes were utilized in triple combinations, the most common being a polymyxin (colistin or polymyxin B, 86.8%), tigecycline (73.6%), aminoglycoside (43.4%), or carbapenem (43.4%). Clinical and microbiological failure occurred in 14/39 patients (35.9%) and 22/42 patients (52.4%), respectively. Overall mortality for patients treated with triple combination therapy was 35.8% (19/53 patients).

Conclusions

Triple combination therapy is being considered as a treatment option for CPKP. Polymyxin-based therapy is the backbone antibiotic in these regimens, but its effectiveness needs establishing in prospective clinical trials.