Substrate specificity of bacterial endoribonuclease toxins

Bacterial endoribonuclease toxins belong to a protein family that inhibits bacterial growth by degrading mRNA or rRNA sequences. The toxin genes are organized in pairs with its cognate antitoxins in the chromosome and thus the activities of the toxins are antagonized by antitoxin proteins or RNAs during active translation. In response to a variety of cellular stresses, the endoribonuclease toxins appear to be released from antitoxin molecules via proteolytic cleavage of antitoxin proteins or preferential degradation of antitoxin RNAs and cleave a diverse range of mRNA or rRNA sequences in a sequence-specific or codon-specific manner, resulting in various biological phenomena such as antibiotic tolerance and persister cell formation. Given that substrate specificity of each endoribonuclease toxin is determined by its structure and the composition of active site residues, we summarize the biology, structure, and substrate specificity of the updated bacterial endoribonuclease toxins.     

Controlling persister cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PDO300 by (Z)-4-bromo-5-(bromomethylene)-3-methylfuran-2(5H)-one

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major pathogen causing chronic pulmonary infections; for example, 80% of cystic fibrosis patients get infected by this bacterium as the disease progresses. Such chronic infections are challenging because P. aeruginosa exhibits high-level tolerance to antibiotics by forming biofilms (multicellular structures attached to surfaces), by entering dormancy and forming antibiotic tolerant persister cells, and by conversion to the mucoid phenotype. Recently, we reported that a synthetic quorum sensing inhibitor, (Z)-4-bromo-5-(bromomethylene)-3-methylfuran-2(5H)-one (BF8), can sensitize both planktonic and biofilm-associated persister cells of P. aeruginosa PAO1 to antibiotics at the concentrations non-inhibitory to its growth. In this study, we further characterized the effects of this compound on the mucoid strain P. aeruginosa PDO300. BF8 was found to reduce persistence during the growth of PDO300 and effectively kill the persister cells isolated from PDO300 cultures. In addition to planktonic cells, BF8 was also found to inhibit biofilm formation of PDO300 and reduce associated persistence. These findings broaden the activities of this class of compounds and indicate that BF8 also has other targets in P. aeruginosa in addition to quorum sensing.     

金黄色葡萄球菌sdhCAB操纵子影响持留菌形成机制的研究

持留菌是细菌群体中的一小部分细菌,可耐受致死浓度抗生素的处理,是引起慢性感染的重要原因。金黄色葡萄球菌(Staphylococcus aureus,S. aureus)作为常见致病菌,有重要临床意义。分别敲除sdhA和sdhB后,金黄色葡萄球菌持留菌形成水平下降,但sdhCAB操纵子对持留菌形成的作用及机制尚不明确。本研究敲除sdh操纵子,通过酸压力、氧化压力、热压力及抗生素压力实验检测敲除株的持留菌水平,转录组测序检测敲除株的代谢通路变化,高通量微生物细胞表型检测评估敲除株的代谢水平变化。结果显示,敲除sdhCAB或sdhAB后,金黄色葡萄球菌对酸压力、氧化压力的耐受能力均下降;而在抗生素压力、热压力条件下,分别仅sdhCAB敲除株、sdhAB敲除株耐受能力下降。转录组测序发现,sdhCAB敲除后三羧酸循环、甲烷代谢通路及聚合酶Ⅳ等基因表达上调,耐药相关基因、氨基酸代谢基因、糖类代谢基因、卟啉代谢基因及一些转运体基因等表达下调,提示这些通路的基因参与sdhCAB影响持留菌形成的过程。此外,高通量微生物细胞表型检测发现,敲除sdhCAB可降低金黄色葡萄球菌对琥珀酸、柠檬酸、糖原、L-天冬氨酸等64种碳源的代谢。结果提示,sdhCAB操纵子对金黄色葡萄球菌持留菌形成水平有重要影响。本研究初步阐明了sdhCAB操纵子影响持留菌形成的可能机制,为研究和治疗金黄色葡萄球菌慢性感染提供了新的思路。     

Structural effects on persister control by brominated furanones

Bacterial persister cells are a small population of dormant cells that are tolerant to essentially all antibiotics. Recently, we reported that a quorum sensing (QS) inhibitor, (Z)-4-bromo-5-(bromomethylene)-3-methylfuran-2(5H)-one (BF8), can revert antibiotic tolerance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa persister cells. To better understand this phenomenon, several synthetic brominated furanones with similar structures were compared for their activities in persister control and inhibition of acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) mediated QS. The results show that some other furanones in addition to BF8 are also AHL QS inhibitors and can revert antibiotic tolerance of P. aeruginosa PAO1 persister cells. However, not all QS inhibiting BFs can revert persistence at growth non-inhibitory concentrations, suggesting that QS inhibition itself is not sufficient for persister control.     

Failure of antibiotic treatment in microbial populations

The tolerance of bacterial populations to biocidal or antibiotic treatment has been well documented in both biofilm and planktonic settings. However, there is still very little known about the mechanisms that produce this tolerance. Evidence that small, non-mutant subpopulations of bacteria are not affected by an antibiotic challenge has been accumulating and provides an attractive explanation for the failure of typical dosing protocols. Although a dosing challenge can kill the susceptible bacteria, the remaining persister cells can serve as a source of population regrowth. We give a condition for the failure of a periodic dosing protocol for a general chemostat model, which supports the simulations of an earlier, more specialized batch model. Our condition implies that the treatment protocol fails globally, in the sense that a mixed bacterial population will ultimately persist above a level that is independent of the initial composition of the population. We also give a sufficient condition for treatment success, at least for initial population compositions near the steady state of interest, corresponding to bacterial washout. Finally, we investigate how the speed at which the bacteria are wiped out depends on the duration of administration of the antibiotic. We find that this dependence is not necessarily monotone, implying that optimal dosing does not necessarily correspond to continuous administration of the antibiotic. Thus, genuine periodic protocols can be more advantageous in treating a wide variety of bacterial infections.      

Combination of colistin and tobramycin inhibits persistence of Acinetobacter baumannii by membrane hyperpolarization and down-regulation of efflux pumps

Acinetobacter baumannii, a leading cause of nosocomial infections, is a serious health threat. Limited therapeutic options due to multi-drug resistance and tolerance due to persister cells have urged the scientific community to develop new strategies to combat infections caused by this pathogen effectively. Since combination antibiotic therapy is an attractive strategy, the effect of combinations of antibiotics, belonging to four classes, was investigated on eradication of persister cells in A. baumannii. Among the antibiotics included in the study, tobramycin-based combinations were found to be the most effective. Tobramycin, in combination with colistin or ciprofloxacin, eradicated persister cells in A. baumannii in late exponential and stationary phases of growth. Mechanistically, colistin facilitated the entry of tobramycin into cells by increasing membrane permeability and inducing hyperpolarization of the inner membrane accompanied by increase in ROS production. Expression of the genes encoding universal stress protein and efflux pumps was down-regulated in response to tobramycin and colistin, suggesting increased lethality of their combination that might be responsible for eradication of persister cells. Thus, a combination of tobramycin and colistin could be explored as a promising option for preventing the relapse of A. baumannii infections due to persister cells.     

金黄色葡萄球菌持留菌形成机制的研究进展

金黄色葡萄球菌(Staphylococcus aureus)是一种重要的院内感染致病菌,是导致人类各类感染最重要的病原体之一。金黄色葡萄球菌耐药问题一直是临床慢性感染治疗的最大障碍。随着细菌耐药机制研究的不断深入,研究者发现持留菌可能是导致疾病的持续性和复发性感染的真正原因。近年来持留菌的存在引起的耐药问题被高度重视,金黄色葡萄球菌持留菌的基本特征和形成机制的研究对临床上更好地控制耐药及感染问题具有重要的意义。为此,本文将从金黄色葡萄球菌持留菌的特性、生物膜、能量代谢、基因调控等多方面对金黄色葡萄球菌持留菌进行系统全面的综述。     

Effects of persister formation on bacterial response to dosing

Almost all moist surfaces are colonized by microbial biofilms. Biofilms are implicated in cross-contamination of food products, biofouling and various human infections such as dental cavities, ulcerative colitis and chronic respiratory infections. The recalcitrance of biofilms to typical antibiotic and antimicrobial treatments is one focus of current investigations. Neither reaction-diffusion limitation nor heterogeneities in growth-rate explain the observed tolerance. Another hypothesis is that specialized 'persister' cells, which are extremely tolerant of antimicrobials, are the source of resistance. In this investigation, we describe the formation of 'persister' cells which neither grow nor die in the presence of antibiotics. We propose that these cells are of a different phenotype whose expression is regulated by the growth rate and the antibiotic concentration. Based on several experiments describing the dynamics of persister cells, we introduce a mathematical model that is used to describes the effect of a periodic dosing regiment. Results from our analysis indicate that the relative dose/withdrawal times are important in determining the effectiveness of such a treatment. A reduced model is also introduced and the similar behavior is demonstrated analytically.     

表皮葡萄球菌PhoU同源物(SERP0316)的抗体制备及免疫鉴定

表皮葡萄球菌可在植入性医疗材料表面形成生物膜,对多种抗生素耐受,而持留菌的形成是导致细菌生物膜耐药的原因之一。研究发现,大肠埃希菌中PhoU可影响持留菌的形成,与细菌对多种抗生素及压力条件的耐受相关,但表皮葡萄球菌中PhoU的功能仍不清楚。生物信息学分析显示,在表皮葡萄球菌中存在2个phoU同源基因,其中serp0956位于pst操纵子中,命名为phoU1;另一个编码功能未知蛋白的phoU基因同源物(serp0316)命名为phoU2。前期研究显示,敲除phoU1并不影响表皮葡萄球菌生长、生物膜形成等生物学特性,为此本研究对PhoU2进行了初步探讨。利用实时荧光定量反转录-聚合酶链反应(RT-PCR)检测phoU2基因在表皮葡萄球菌SE1457不同生长时期的转录水平,发现其在细菌生长不同时间点持续表达,其中对数期(6h)表达量相对较高。为进一步研究表皮葡萄球菌中PhoU2的表达情况,对PhoU2蛋白进行原核表达和纯化,并用纯化的重组PhoU2蛋白免疫小鼠制备PhoU2多克隆抗体。在此基础上,利用蛋白免疫印迹法检测PhoU2在SE1457菌株不同生长时间点的表达水平,结果显示PhoU2在细菌生长对数期和平台期均有表达。另外,在不同的表皮葡萄球菌临床分离株中均检测到PhoU2蛋白表达,表明PhoU2具有一定的保守性。以上研究提示,PhoU2可能作为PhoU的功能同源物发挥一定的作用,为进一步研究表皮葡萄球菌PhoU2的生物学功能及其在生物膜和持留菌形成中的作用奠定了基础。