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Photodynamic Inactivation of Human Coronaviruses.

ABSTRACT: Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) employs a photosensitizer, light, and oxygen to create a local burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can inactivate microorganisms. The botanical extract PhytoQuin^TM is a powerful photosensitizer with antimicrobial properties. We previously demonstrated that photoactivated PhytoQuin also has antiviral properties against herpes simplex viruses and adenoviruses in a dose-dependent manner across a broad range of sub-cytotoxic concentrations. Here, we report that human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are also susceptible to photodynamic inactivation. Photoactivated-PhytoQuin inhibited the replication of the alphacoronavirus HCoV-229E and the betacoronavirus HCoV-OC43 in cultured cells across a range of sub-cytotoxic doses. This antiviral effect was light-dependent, as we observed minimal antiviral effect of PhytoQuin in the absence of photoactivation. Using RNase protection assays, we observed that PDI disrupted HCoV particle integrity allowing for the digestion of viral RNA by exogenous ribonucleases. Using lentiviruses pseudotyped with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein, we once again observed a strong, light-dependent antiviral effect of PhytoQuin, which prevented S-mediated entry into human cells. We also observed that PhytoQuin PDI altered S protein electrophoretic mobility. The PhytoQuin constituent emodin displayed equivalent light-dependent antiviral activity to PhytoQuin in matched-dose experiments, indicating that it plays a central role in PhytoQuin PDI against CoVs. Together, these findings demonstrate that HCoV lipid envelopes and proteins are damaged by PhytoQuin PDI and expands the list of susceptible viruses.

SUBMITTER: Duguay BA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8779093 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:A promising alternative to antibiotics for treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections is photodynamic inactivation (PDI), which employs a photosensitizer (PS) that produces cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) when exposed to molecular oxygen and antimicrobial blue light in the spectrum of 400-470 nm. Although the precise mechanistic basis of PDI has not been defined, the formation of ROS and free radicals that oxidize a number of cellular targets, including membrane lipids, damage to proteins and nucleic acids result in inactivation of essential cellular functions and subsequent cell death. Because PDI is non-selective and affects multiple cellular targets, development of resistance or tolerance to PDI has been considered to be unlikely and attempts to induce S. aureus resistance or tolerance upon repeated sub-lethal doses of PDI have not succeeded. However, multiple aspects of PDI suggest that development of tolerance is highly probable, in particular when PDI is used for treatment of infections where the environment at the infection site prevents penetration of PDI at a level sufficient to cause death of all bacteria and with tolerant phenotypes emerging from the surviving bacteria. In this study, we sought to identify the mechanisms that contribute to PDI tolerance in S. aureus. S. aureus HG003 and the isogenic HG003DmutSL strain with defects in DNA mismatch repair were used to evaluate the response of S. aureus and the roles of DNA mismatch repair and gene regulatory networks to repeated sublethal doses of PDI. Global transcriptome and genome analyses were used in an agnostic approach to identify the underlying transcriptional responses and genetic adaptations that occur as a result of repeated PDI and contribute to PDI tolerance. Our results reveal multiple metabolic, transport and cell wall biogenesis pathways that contribute to PDI tolerance, and a S. aureus regulatory gene likely responsible for the adaptive transcriptional response to PDI.

Project description:Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen with a clinical spectrum ranging from asymptomatic skin colonization to invasive infections. While traditional antibiotic therapies can be effective against S. aureus, the increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains results in treatment failures and high mortality rates. Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) is an innovative and promising alternative to antibiotics. While progress has been made in our understanding of the bacterial response to PDI, major gaps remain in our knowledge of PDI tolerance, the global cellular response, and adaptive genomic mutations acquired as a result of PDI. To address these gaps, S. aureus HG003 and isogenic mutants with mutations in agr, mutS, mutL, and mutY exposed to single or multiple doses of PDI were assessed for survival and tolerance and examined by global transcriptome and genome analyses to identify regulatory and genetic adaptations that contribute to tolerance. Pathways in inorganic ion transport, oxidative response, DNA replication recombination and repair, and cell wall and membrane biogenesis were identified in a global cellular response to PDI. Tolerance to PDI was associated with superoxide dismutase and the S. aureus global methylhydroquinone (MHQ)-quinone transcriptome network. Genome analysis of PDI-tolerant HG003 identified a nonsynonymous mutation in the quinone binding domain of the transcriptional repressor QsrR, which mediates quinone sensing and oxidant response. Acquisition of a heritable QsrR mutation through repeated PDI treatment demonstrates selective adaption of S. aureus to PDI. PDI tolerance of a qsrR gene deletion in HG003 confirmed that QsrR regulates the S. aureus response to PDI.IMPORTANCE Staphylococcus aureus can cause disease at most body sites, with illness ranging from asymptomatic infection to death. The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains results in treatment failures and high mortality rates. S. aureus acquires resistance to antibiotics through multiple mechanisms, often by genetic variation that alters antimicrobial targets. Photodynamic inactivation (PDI), which employs a combination of a nontoxic dye and low-intensity visible light, is a promising alternative to antibiotics that effectively eradicates S. aureus in human infections when antibiotics are no longer effective. In this study, we demonstrate that repeated exposure to PDI results in resistance of S. aureus to further PDI treatment and identify the underlying bacterial mechanisms that contribute to resistance. This work supports further analysis of these mechanisms and refinement of this novel technology as an adjunctive treatment for S. aureus infections.

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Photodynamic Inactivation of Human Coronaviruses.

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