Project description:Using Nanopore sequencing, our study has revealed a close correlation between genomic methylation levels and antibiotic resistance rates in Acinetobacter Baumannii. Specifically, the combined genome-wide DNA methylome and transcriptome analysis revealed the first epigenetic-based antibiotic-resistance mechanism in A. baumannii. Our findings suggest that the precise location of methylation sites along the chromosome could provide new diagnostic markers and drug targets to improve the management of multidrug-resistant A. baumannii infections.
Project description:This in-vitro study suggests the inflammatory environment of naive epithelial cells can induce epigenetic modulation of innate immune responses at the level of histone methylation and potentially lead to long-term impacts on anti-viral immunity.
Project description:Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a pandemic spread across multiple infectious disease microbes. To provide a new tool to study AMR, here we develop a Klebsiella pneumoniae cell-free gene expression (CFE) system. To characterise the system, we use proteomics to compare this to a Escherichia coli MG1655 CFE model, to identify relative differences and unique proteins. Then we use this native CFE system to profile antimicrobial activity in comparison to whole cell inhibition, to reveal host differences in IC50/MIC50 values. Finally, we use the CFE tool to study AMR variants, at a proof-of-concept level. As an exemplar, we show that RpoB H526L confers a 58-fold increase in CFE resistance to rifampicin – a common genotype frequently observed in rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates. In summary, we provide a cell-free synthetic biology strategy for the profiling of antibiotic sensitivity and resistance from K. pneumoniae. While initial processing requires Biosafety Level 2, the final extracts are non-living and suitable for long-term storage, and potentially transfer to a Biosafety Level 1 lab. This bioassay has potential uses for early-stage host-specific antimicrobial development and the testing of AMR variants for structure-activity relationship studies. The data reposited is label-free high-resolution LC-MS proteomics data performed to characterise the proteins in cell-free extract of K. pneumoniae ATCC 13882 and compare to that of E. coli MG1655 to identify common and unique proteins. We also characterised the proteins of K. pneumoniae clinically resistant isolates ST258-T1b and NJST258-1, and compared them to K. pneumoniae ATCC 13882 laboratory strain.
Project description:Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a pandemic spread across multiple infectious disease microbes. To provide a new tool to study AMR, here we develop a Klebsiella pneumoniae cell-free gene expression (CFE) system. To characterise the system, we use proteomics to compare this to a Escherichia coli MG1655 CFE model, to identify relative differences and unique proteins. Then we use this native CFE system to profile antimicrobial activity in comparison to whole cell inhibition, to reveal host differences in IC50/MIC50 values. Finally, we use the CFE tool to study AMR variants, at a proof-of-concept level. As an exemplar, we show that RpoB H526L confers a 58-fold increase in CFE resistance to rifampicin – a common genotype frequently observed in rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates. In summary, we provide a cell-free synthetic biology strategy for the profiling of antibiotic sensitivity and resistance from K. pneumoniae. While initial processing requires Biosafety Level 2, the final extracts are non-living and suitable for long-term storage, and potentially transfer to a Biosafety Level 1 lab. This bioassay has potential uses for early-stage host-specific antimicrobial development and the testing of AMR variants for structure-activity relationship studies. The data reposited is label-free high-resolution LC-MS proteomics data performed to characterise the proteins in cell-free extract of K. pneumoniae ATCC 13882 and compare to that of E. coli MG1655 to identify common and unique proteins. We also characterised the proteins of K. pneumoniae clinically resistant isolates ST258-T1b and NJST258-1, and compared them to K. pneumoniae ATCC 13882 laboratory strain.
Project description:The rapid global rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) that increasingly invalidates conventional antibiotics has become a huge threat to human health. Although nanosized antibacterial agents have been extensively explored, they cannot sufficiently discriminate between microbes and mammals, which necessitates the exploration of other antibiotic-like candidates for clinical uses. Herein, two-dimensional boron nitride (BN) nanosheets are reported to exhibit antibiotic-like activity to AMR bacteria. Interestingly, BN nanosheets had AMR-independent antibacterial activity without triggering secondary resistance in their long-term use and displayed excellent biocompatibility in mammals. Surface proteome analysis coupled with molecular dynamic simulations and Bio-Layer Interferometry revealed that BN nanosheets could rapidly interact with the key surface proteins of cell division including FtsP, EnvC, and TolB, resulting in a specific antibacterial mechanism by impairment of Z-ring constriction in cell division. Notably, BN nanosheets had a potent antibacterial effect in a lung infection model by P. aeruginosa (AMR), displaying a two-fold increment of survival rate. Overall, these results suggested that BN nanosheets could be a promising nano-antibiotic to combat resistant bacteria and prevent AMR evolution.