Project description:Polymyxin B is considered as a last-resort antibiotic for multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant gram-negative bacterial infections. Addressing Salmonella resistance to polymyxin B is crucial for global public health. In this study, transcriptomic detection and analysis were used to clarify the mechanisms by which CpxA-deleted S.typhimurium is involved in resistance to polymyxin B stress, which may be related to processes such as increased assembly of bacterial flagella.
Project description:Colistin sulfate (polymixin E) is an antibiotic prescribed with resurging frequency for multidrug resistant gram negative bacterial infections. It is associated with nephrotoxicity in humans in up to 33% of cases. Little is known regarding genes involved in colistin nephrotoxicity. A murine model of colistin-mediated kidney injury was developed. C57/BL6 mice were administered saline or colistin at a dose of 16mg/kg/day in 2 divided doses. An Illumina gene expression array was performed on kidney RNA harvested 72 hours after first colistin dose to identify differentially expressed genes early in drug treatment. Array platform was MouseWG-6, 48,000 probes. Drug given intraperitoneal.
Project description:The bacterial pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii, is a leading cause of drug-resistant infections. Here, we investigated the potential of developing nanobodies that specifically recognize A. baumannii over other Gram-negative bacteria. Through generation and panning of a synthetic nanobody library, we identified several potential lead candidates. We demonstrate how incorporation of next generation sequencing analysis can aid in selection of lead candidates for further characterization. Using monoclonal phage display, we validated the binding of several lead nanobodies to A. baumannii. Subsequent purification and biochemical characterization revealed one particularly robust nanobody that broadly and specifically bound A. baumannii compared to other common drug resistant pathogens. These findings support the potentially for nanobodies to selectively target A. baumannii and the identification of lead candidates for possible future diagnostic and therapeutic development.
Project description:<p>The discovery of antibiotics has led to the effective treatment of bacterial infections that were otherwise fatal and has had a transformative effect on modern medicine. Teixobactin is an unusual depsipeptide natural product that was recently discovered from a previously unculturable soil bacterium which is active against several Gram-positive pathogens, including methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci. One of the key attractive features of teixobactin as an antibiotic lead is that resistance could not be generated in a laboratory setting against S. aureus. This is proposed to be a result of the mechanism of action that involves binding to essential bacterial cell wall synthesis building blocks lipid II and lipid III.</p><p>In the present study, metabolomics was used to investigate the potential metabolic pathways and mode of action involved in mechanisms of antibacterial activity and bacterial killing of the synthetic teixobactin analog Leu10-teixobactin against an MRSA strain, S. aureus ATCC700699. The metabolomes of S. aureus ATCC700699 cells were compared at 1, 3 and 6 h following treatment with Leu10-teixobactin (0.5 µg/ml, i.e. 0.5x MIC) and the untreated controls. Leu10-teixobactin significantly perturbed bacterial membrane lipids (glycerophospholipids and fatty acids), peptidoglycan (lipid I and II) metabolism and cell wall teichoic acid (lipid III) biosynthesis as early as after 1 h of treatment reflecting an initial activity on the cell envelope. Concordant with its time-dependent antibacterial killing action, Leu10-teixobactin caused more perturbations in the levels of key intermediates in pathways of amino-sugar and nucleotide-sugar metabolism and their downstream peptidoglycan and teichoic acid biosynthesis at 3 and 6 h. Significant perturbations in arginine metabolism and interrelated tricarboxylic acid cycle, histidine metabolism, pantothenate and Coenzyme A biosynthesis were also observed at 3 and 6 h.</p><p>To conclude, this is the first study to provide novel metabolomics mechanistic information which lends to support the development of teixobactin as an antibacterial drug for the treatment of multi-drug resistant Gram-positive infections.</p>
Project description:Current therapeutic strategies against bacterial infections focus on reduction of pathogen load using antibiotics; however, stimulation of host tolerance to infection in the presence of pathogens might offer an alternative approach. We used computational transcriptomics and Xenopus laevis embryos to discover infection response pathways, identify potential tolerance inducer drugs, and validate their ability to induce broad tolerance. Xenopus exhibits natural tolerance to Acinetobacter baumanii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, whereas Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas aeruginosa produce lethal infections. Transcriptional profiling led to definition of a 20-gene signature that discriminates between tolerant and susceptible states, as well as identification of a more active tolerance response to gram negative compared to gram positive bacteria. Gene pathways associated with active tolerance in Xenopus, including some involved in metal ion binding and hypoxia, were found to be conserved across species, including mammals, and administration of a metal chelator (deferoxamine) or a HIF-1 agonist (1,4-DPCA) in embryos infected with lethal A. hydrophila increased survival despite high pathogen load. These data demonstrate the value of combining the Xenopus embryo infection model with computational multi-omics analyses for mechanistic discovery and drug repurposing to induce host tolerance to bacterial infections.
Project description:Current therapeutic strategies against bacterial infections focus on reduction of pathogen load using antibiotics; however, stimulation of host tolerance to infection in the presence of pathogens might offer an alternative approach. We used computational transcriptomics and Xenopus laevis embryos to discover infection response pathways, identify potential tolerance inducer drugs, and validate their ability to induce broad tolerance. Xenopus exhibits natural tolerance to Acinetobacter baumanii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, whereas Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas aeruginosa produce lethal infections. Transcriptional profiling led to definition of a 20-gene signature that discriminates between tolerant and susceptible states, as well as identification of a more active tolerance response to gram negative compared to gram positive bacteria. Gene pathways associated with active tolerance in Xenopus, including some involved in metal ion binding and hypoxia, were found to be conserved across species, including mammals, and administration of a metal chelator (deferoxamine) or a HIF-1 agonist (1,4-DPCA) in embryos infected with lethal A. hydrophila increased survival despite high pathogen load. These data demonstrate the value of combining the Xenopus embryo infection model with computational multi-omics analyses for mechanistic discovery and drug repurposing to induce host tolerance to bacterial infections.
Project description:Colistin sulfate (polymixin E) is an antibiotic prescribed with resurging frequency for multidrug resistant gram negative bacterial infections. It is associated with nephrotoxicity in humans in up to 33% of cases. Little is known regarding genes involved in colistin nephrotoxicity. A murine model of colistin-mediated kidney injury was developed. C57/BL6 mice were administered saline or colistin at a dose of 16mg/kg/day in 2 divided doses. An Illumina gene expression array was performed on kidney RNA harvested 72 hours after first colistin dose to identify differentially expressed genes early in drug treatment. Array platform was MouseWG-6, 48,000 probes. Drug given intraperitoneal. Total RNA was isolated from mouse kidneys which were harvested upon sacrifice. 12 total 10 week old C57 bl6 mice were analyzed. Six mice were administered 0.1% saline twice daily, six mice were given colistin at 16 mg/kg/day in 2 divided doses. The 2 groups were randomized to 2 different MouseWG-6_V2_0_R2_11278593 and groups were compared.