Effects of fosfomycin on biofilm of a clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolated from osteoarticular infection by transcriptomal approach
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ABSTRACT: The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanisms by which fosfomycin restrains biofilm formation and affects a 24h-old biofilm of S. aureus. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) technology was used to compare the transcriptomes of S. aureus biofilms formed or treated with sublethal concentrations of fosfomycin.
Project description:Staphylococcus aureus is a highly adaptable human pathogen; therefore a constant search for new effective antibiotic compounds is being preformed. Gene expression profiling can be used to determine potential targets and mechanisms of action (MOA) of known or potential drugs. The goal of our study was a development of a focused transcriptome platform to be used for confirming the MOA of new chemical entities which are designed as inhibitors of Mur ligases. A model transcriptional profile was set up for well described inhibitor of MurA ligase, fosfomycin. Moreover, we wanted to identify the pathways and processes primarily affected by this compound. S. aureus ATCC 29213 cells were treated with low concentrations of fosfomycin (1 and 4 µg/ml, respectively) and harvested at 10, 20 and 40 minutes after treatment, respectively. RNA was isolated, transcribed, labeled and hybridized to S. aureus GeneChips, representing approximately 3000 S. aureus genes. Using meta-analysis of our results and the results in the S. aureus microarray database, we have confirmed that fosfomycin induces âcell wall stimulonâ genes and were able to identify genes and pathways specifically modulated by fosfomycin. Time course, different fosfomycin concentration
Project description:Staphylococcus aureus is a highly adaptable human pathogen; therefore a constant search for new effective antibiotic compounds is being preformed. Gene expression profiling can be used to determine potential targets and mechanisms of action (MOA) of known or potential drugs. The goal of our study was a development of a focused transcriptome platform to be used for confirming the MOA of new chemical entities which are designed as inhibitors of Mur ligases. A model transcriptional profile was set up for well described inhibitor of MurA ligase, fosfomycin. Moreover, we wanted to identify the pathways and processes primarily affected by this compound. S. aureus ATCC 29213 cells were treated with low concentrations of fosfomycin (1 and 4 µg/ml, respectively) and harvested at 10, 20 and 40 minutes after treatment, respectively. RNA was isolated, transcribed, labeled and hybridized to S. aureus GeneChips, representing approximately 3000 S. aureus genes. Using meta-analysis of our results and the results in the S. aureus microarray database, we have confirmed that fosfomycin induces “cell wall stimulon” genes and were able to identify genes and pathways specifically modulated by fosfomycin.
Project description:Is there a universal genetically programmed defense providing tolerance to antibiotics when bacteria grow as biofilms? A comparison between biofilms of three different bacterial species by transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches uncovered no evidence of one. Single-species biofilms of three bacterial species (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Acinetobacter baumannii) were grown in vitro for three days then challenged with respective antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, daptomycin, tigecycline) for an additional 24 h. All three microorganisms displayed reduced susceptibility in biofilms compared to planktonic cultures. Global transcriptomic profiling of gene expression comparing biofilm to planktonic and antibiotic-treated biofilm to untreated biofilm was performed. Extracellular metabolites including 18 amino acids, glucose, lactate, acetate, formate, and ethanol were measured to characterize the utilization of carbon sources between biofilms, treated biofilms, and planktonic cells. While all three bacteria exhibited a species-specific signature of stationary phase, no conserved gene, gene set, or common functional pathway could be identified that changed consistently across the three microorganisms. Across the three species, glucose consumption was increased in biofilms compared to planktonic cells and alanine and aspartic acid utilization were decreased in biofilms compared to planktonic cells. The reasons for these changes were not readily apparent in the transcriptomes. No common shift in the utilization pattern of carbon sources was discerned when comparing untreated to antibiotic-exposed biofilms. Overall, our measurements do not support the existence of a common genetic or biochemical basis for biofilm tolerance against antibiotics. Rather, there are likely myriad genes, proteins, and metabolic pathways that influence the physiological state of microorganisms in biofilms contributing to antibiotic tolerance. The Staphylococcus aureus microarray data from the study described above is deposited here.
Project description:Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic pathogen capable of causing various infections ranging from superficial skin infections to life-threatening severe diseases, including pneumonia and sepsis. This bacterium is attached to biotic and abiotic surfaces and forms biofilms that are resistant to conventional antimicrobial agents and clearance by host defenses. Infections associated with biofilms may result in longer hospitalizations, a need for surgery, and may even result in death. Agents that inhibit the formation of biofilms and virulence without affecting bacterial growth to avoid the development of drug resistance could be useful for therapeutic purposes. In this regard, we identified and isolated a small cyclic peptide, gurmarin, from a plant source that inhibited the formation of S. aureus biofilm without affecting the growth rate of the bacterium. We determined the gene expression of S. aureus biofilm treated with gurmarin and compared it to the untreated control biofilms. Differentially expressed genes were identified and their roles in the inhibition of S. aureus biofilms by gurmarin were analyzed.
Project description:Interactions between human keratinocytes and secreted factors from Staphylococcus aureus biofilm were investigated using microarray analysis. Relative to control cells, biofilm-secreted factors upregulated cytokine and chemokine genes in keratinocytes. Genes associated with DNA damage and oxidative stress were also induced in keratinocytes treated with secreted factors from S. aureus. Here we show that secreted factors from S. aureus biofilm cultures differentially impact several aspects of wound healing processes. Human keratinocytes were grown in co-culture with mature S. aureus biofilms for 24 hours. Keratinocytes exposed to S. aureus biofilm were analyzed in quadruplicate. Control cells were also analyzed in quadruplicate. Dye-swaps were performed.
Project description:The SaeRS two-component regulatory system of Staphylococcus aureus is known to affect the expression of many genes. The SaeS protein is the histidine kinase responsible for phosphorylation of the response regulator SaeR. In S. aureus Newman, the sae system is constitutively expressed due to a point mutation in saeS, relative to other S. aureus strains, which results in substitution of proline for leucine at amino acid 18. Strain Newman is unable to form a robust biofilm and we report here that the biofilm-deficient phenotype is due to the saeSP allele. Replacement of the Newman saeSP with saeSL, or deletion of saeRS, resulted in a biofilm-proficient phenotype. Newman culture supernatants were observed to inhibit biofilm formation by other S. aureus strains, but did not affect biofilm formation by S. epidermidis. Culture supernatants of Newman saeSL or Newman ΔsaeRS had no significant effect on biofilm formation. The inhibitory factor was inactivated by incubation with proteinase K, but survived heating, indicating that the inhibitory protein is heat-stable. The inhibitory protein was found to affect the attachment step in biofilm formation, but had no effect on preformed biofilms. Replacement of saeSL with saeSP in the biofilm-proficient S. aureus USA300 FPR3757 resulted in the loss of biofilm formation. Culture supernatants of USA300 FPR3757 saeSP, did not inhibit biofilm formation by other staphylococci, suggesting that the inhibitory factor is produced but not secreted in the mutant strain. A number of biochemical methods were utilized to isolate the inhibitory protein. Although a number of candidate proteins were identified, none were found to be the actual inhibitor. In an effort to reduce the number of potential inhibitory genes, RNA-Seq analyses were done with wild-type strain Newman and the saeSL and ΔsaeRS mutants. RNA-Seq results indicated that sae regulates many genes that may affect biofilm formation by Newman.
Project description:Nosocomial infections resulting from growing biofilms on the surface of indwelling medical devices represent a major therapeutic challenge in an aging population. In this context, current models have so far not addressed the synergy between a developing biofilm and the host’s immune response. Here we employed a mouse model for implant-associated infection from Staphylococcus aureus biofilms and, through functional assays, next generation single cell sequencing and spectral flow cytometry, observed a direct influence of the developing biofilms in the phenotype of tissue infiltrating neutrophils over the course of infection. Our results allowed us to differentiate neutrophil subpopulations, identifying some which may be protective of the biofilm and which could be the target for future therapies.
Project description:Staphylococcus aureus is a notorious biofilm-producing pathogen that is frequently isolated from implantable medical device infections. As biofilm ages, it becomes more tolerant to antimicrobial treatment leading to treatment failure and necessitating the costly removal of infected devices. In this study, we investigated what changes occur in the proteome of S. aureus biofilm grown for 3-days and 12-days in comparison with 24 h planktonic showed that proteins associated with bi-osynthetic processes, ABC transporter pathway, virulence proteins, and shikimate kinase pathway were significantly upregulated in 3-day biofilm, while proteins associated with sugar transporter, degradation, and stress response were downregulated. In 12-day biofilms, proteins associated with peptidoglycan biosynthesis, sugar transporters, and stress responses were upregulated, whereas proteins associated with ABC transporters, DNA replication, and adhesion proteins were down-regulated. Furthermore, we observed significant variations in the formation of biofilms result from changes in the level of metabolic activity in the different growth mode of biofilms that could be a significant factor of S. aureus biofilm maturation and persistence. Collectively, potential marker proteins were identified and further characterized to understand their exact role in S. aureus biofilm development which may shed light on possible new therapeutic regimes in the treatment of biofilm-related implant-associated infections.
Project description:Staphylococcus aureus produces the cyclic dipeptides tyrvalin and phevalin (aureusimine A and B, respectively). A previous study reported that S. aureus mutants not capable of producing these compounds were less virulent in vivo through the deranged regulation of virulence factor genes. These findings, however, have been questioned as an unknown mutation in an operon that regulates virulence was discovered in the mutant strain. Here, we report that S. aureus biofilms produce greater amounts of phevalin than their planktonic counterparts. When administered to human keratinocytes, phevalin had no substantial effect on gene expression. Phevalin had no obvious impact on the extracellular metabolome of S. aureus. However, conditioned medium from S. aureus spiked with phevalin resulted in significant differences in keratinocyte gene expression compared to conditioned medium alone. A role for phevalin in manipulating host responses is apparent. Additionally, phevalin is a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target for chronic, biofilm-based infections. Secreted factors from S. aureus biofilm and planktonic cultures with equivalent population sizes were placed in contact with human HaCaT keratinocytes for 4 hours. Keratinocytes were grown to ~90% confluency.
Project description:S. aureus biofilms are associated with the organism's ability to cause disease. Biofilm associated bacteria must cope with the host's innate immune system. We used commercially available Affymetrix S. aureus GeneChips to compare the gene expression properties of 4 and 6 day established biofilms following short (1 hr)- and long (24 hr)- term exposure to macrophages and neutrophils.