Project description:Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of hospital-associated infections. In addition, highly virulent strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) are currently spreading outside health care settings. Survival in the human host is largely defined by the ability of S. aureus to resist mechanisms of innate host defense, of which antimicrobial peptides form a key part especially on epithelia and in neutrophil phagosomes. Here we demonstrate that the antimicrobial-peptide sensing system aps of the standard community-associated MRSA strain MW2 controls resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides. The core of aps-controlled resistance mechanisms comprised the D-alanylation of teichoic acids (dlt operon), the incorporation of cationic lysyl-phosphatidylglycerol (L-PG) in the bacterial membrane (mprF), and the vraF/vraG putative antimicrobial peptide transporter. Further, the observed increased production of L-PG under the influence of cationic antimicrobial peptides was accompanied by the up-regulation of lysine biosynthesis. In noticeable difference to the aps system of S. epidermidis, only selected antimicrobial peptides strongly induced the aps response. Heterologous complementation with the S. epidermidis apsS gene indicated that this is likely caused by differences in the short extracellular loop of ApsS that interacts with the inducing antimicrobial peptide. Our study shows that the antimicrobial peptide sensor system aps is functional in the important human pathogen S. aureus, significant interspecies differences exist in the induction of the aps gene regulatory response, and aps inducibility is clearly distinguishable from effectiveness towards a given antimicrobial peptide. Keywords: Wild type control vs treated vs mutant Wild type untreated in triplicate is compared to wild type treated in triplicate along with three mutants in triplicate with and without treatment of indolicidin, totalling 30 samples
Project description:Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of hospital-associated infections. In addition, highly virulent strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) are currently spreading outside health care settings. Survival in the human host is largely defined by the ability of S. aureus to resist mechanisms of innate host defense, of which antimicrobial peptides form a key part especially on epithelia and in neutrophil phagosomes. Here we demonstrate that the antimicrobial-peptide sensing system aps of the standard community-associated MRSA strain MW2 controls resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides. The core of aps-controlled resistance mechanisms comprised the D-alanylation of teichoic acids (dlt operon), the incorporation of cationic lysyl-phosphatidylglycerol (L-PG) in the bacterial membrane (mprF), and the vraF/vraG putative antimicrobial peptide transporter. Further, the observed increased production of L-PG under the influence of cationic antimicrobial peptides was accompanied by the up-regulation of lysine biosynthesis. In noticeable difference to the aps system of S. epidermidis, only selected antimicrobial peptides strongly induced the aps response. Heterologous complementation with the S. epidermidis apsS gene indicated that this is likely caused by differences in the short extracellular loop of ApsS that interacts with the inducing antimicrobial peptide. Our study shows that the antimicrobial peptide sensor system aps is functional in the important human pathogen S. aureus, significant interspecies differences exist in the induction of the aps gene regulatory response, and aps inducibility is clearly distinguishable from effectiveness towards a given antimicrobial peptide. Keywords: Wild type control vs treated vs mutant
Project description:Understanding how pathogens respond to antimicrobial peptides, and how this compares to currently available antibiotics, is crucial to optimizing antibiotic therapy. Staphylococcus aureus has several known resistance mechanisms against human cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs). We aim to determine how S. aureus responds to sheep and frog CAMPs, and whether this response is associated with resistance. Gene expression changes in Staphylococcus aureus Newman cells exposed to linear CAMPs were analyzed by DNA microarray. Three antimicrobial peptides were used in the analysis, two of them are derived from frog, temporin L and dermaseptin K4-S4(1-16), one is from sheep, ovispirin-1. The peptides induced the VraSR cell-wall regulon and several other genes which are also upregulated in cells treated with vancomycin and other cell wall-active antibiotics. In addition to this similarity, three genes/operons were particularly strongly induced by the peptides: vraDE, SA0205 and SAS016, encoding an ABC transporter, a putative membrane-bound lysostaphin-like peptidase and a small functionally unknown protein, respectively. Ovispirin-1 and dermaseptin K4-S4(1-16), which disrupt lipid bilayers by the carpet mechanism, were strong inducers of the vraDE operon. We show that high level induction by ovispirin-1 was dependent on the amide modification of the peptide C-terminus. This suggests that the amide group has a crucial role in the activation of the Aps sensory system, the regulator of vraDE. In contrast, temporin L, which disrupts lipid bilayers by forming pores, was clearly a weaker inducer of vraDE despite the C-terminal amide modification. Sensitivity testing with CAMPs and other antimicrobials suggested that VraDE is a transporter dedicated to resist bacitracin. We also showed that SA0205 belongs to the VraSR regulon. Furthermore, VraSR was shown to be important for resistance against a wide range of cell wall-active antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents including the amide-modified ovispirin-1, bacitracin, teicoplanin, cefotaxime and 10 other β-lactam antibiotics, chlorpromazine, thioridazine and EGTA. The effects of the three different antimicrobial peptides on gene expression of S. aureus Newman were studied by using whole genome oligo-DNA microarrays. Bacteria were grown in BHI medium to the early exponential phase (OD600=0.6) and antimicrobial peptides were added at sublethal concentrations. Samples were taken for RNA isolations after treating the cultures with the peptides for 10 minutes. Control cultures without peptide additions were treated similarly and in parallel.
Project description:Allicin from garlic is an antimicrobial substance that is effective against several ESKAPE pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). However, the antimicrobial mode action of allicin has not been revealed in Gram-positive bacteria. Here, we have studied the changes in the transcriptome by Allicin which revealed a thiol-specific oxidative stress response in S. aureus. Using shotgun proteomics, we identified numerous proteins that were modified by protein S-sulfoallylation in S. aureus. Allicin further caused an oxidative shift in the bacillithiol (BSH) redox potential as revealed by Brx-roGFP2 biosensor measurements. In summary, our results revealed that allicin acts via sulfoallylation of Cys residues in proteins causing an impaired redox state in S. aureus.
Project description:S. aureus and MRSA are susceptible to TTO and are therefore targeted in nascent TTO clinical trails. We now report the alterations in the transcriptome of a S. aureus exposed to a growth inhibitory concentration of TTO. These efforts have uncovered additional mechanisms by which this membrane active antimicrobial substance inhibits bacterial growth.
Project description:It is well appreciated that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are deleterious to mammals, including humans, especially when generated in abnormally large quantities from cellular metabolism. Whereas the mechanisms leading to the production of ROS are rather well delineated, the mechanisms underlying tissue susceptibility or tolerance to oxidant stress remain elusive. Through an experimental selection over many generations, we have previously generated Drosophila melanogaster flies that tolerate tremendous oxidant stress and have shown that the family of antimicrobial peptides (AMP) is over-represented in these tolerant flies. Furthermore, we have also demonstrated that overexpression of even one AMP at a time (e.g. Diptericin) allows wild type flies to survive much better in hyperoxia. In the current study, we used a number of experimental approaches to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying hyperoxia tolerance in flies with antimicrobial peptide overexpression. We demonstrate that flies with Diptericin overexpression resist oxidative stress by increasing antioxidant enzyme activities and preventing an increase in ROS level after hyperoxia. Depleting the GSH pool using buthionine sulfoximine limits fly survival, thus confirming that enhanced survival observed in these flies is related to improved redox homeostasis. We conclude that a) AMPs play an important role in tolerance to oxidant stress; b) overexpression of Diptericin changes the cellular redox balance between oxidant and antioxidant, and c) this change in redox balance plays an important role in survival in hyperoxia. Expression profiles of Drosophila melanogaster with anti-microbial peptide over-expression (experimental sample; n=3) and controls (UAS-AMP alone not crossed to da-GAL4; n=3) were determined using Affymetrix Drosophila Genome 2.0 Arrays.
Project description:It is well appreciated that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are deleterious to mammals, including humans, especially when generated in abnormally large quantities from cellular metabolism. Whereas the mechanisms leading to the production of ROS are rather well delineated, the mechanisms underlying tissue susceptibility or tolerance to oxidant stress remain elusive. Through an experimental selection over many generations, we have previously generated Drosophila melanogaster flies that tolerate tremendous oxidant stress and have shown that the family of antimicrobial peptides (AMP) is over-represented in these tolerant flies. Furthermore, we have also demonstrated that overexpression of even one AMP at a time (e.g. Diptericin) allows wild type flies to survive much better in hyperoxia. In the current study, we used a number of experimental approaches to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying hyperoxia tolerance in flies with antimicrobial peptide overexpression. We demonstrate that flies with Diptericin overexpression resist oxidative stress by increasing antioxidant enzyme activities and preventing an increase in ROS level after hyperoxia. Depleting the GSH pool using buthionine sulfoximine limits fly survival, thus confirming that enhanced survival observed in these flies is related to improved redox homeostasis. We conclude that a) AMPs play an important role in tolerance to oxidant stress; b) overexpression of Diptericin changes the cellular redox balance between oxidant and antioxidant, and c) this change in redox balance plays an important role in survival in hyperoxia.
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:Understanding how pathogens respond to antimicrobial peptides, and how this compares to currently available antibiotics, is crucial to optimizing antibiotic therapy. Staphylococcus aureus has several known resistance mechanisms against human cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs). We aim to determine how S. aureus responds to sheep and frog CAMPs, and whether this response is associated with resistance. Gene expression changes in Staphylococcus aureus Newman cells exposed to linear CAMPs were analyzed by DNA microarray. Three antimicrobial peptides were used in the analysis, two of them are derived from frog, temporin L and dermaseptin K4-S4(1-16), one is from sheep, ovispirin-1. The peptides induced the VraSR cell-wall regulon and several other genes which are also upregulated in cells treated with vancomycin and other cell wall-active antibiotics. In addition to this similarity, three genes/operons were particularly strongly induced by the peptides: vraDE, SA0205 and SAS016, encoding an ABC transporter, a putative membrane-bound lysostaphin-like peptidase and a small functionally unknown protein, respectively. Ovispirin-1 and dermaseptin K4-S4(1-16), which disrupt lipid bilayers by the carpet mechanism, were strong inducers of the vraDE operon. We show that high level induction by ovispirin-1 was dependent on the amide modification of the peptide C-terminus. This suggests that the amide group has a crucial role in the activation of the Aps sensory system, the regulator of vraDE. In contrast, temporin L, which disrupts lipid bilayers by forming pores, was clearly a weaker inducer of vraDE despite the C-terminal amide modification. Sensitivity testing with CAMPs and other antimicrobials suggested that VraDE is a transporter dedicated to resist bacitracin. We also showed that SA0205 belongs to the VraSR regulon. Furthermore, VraSR was shown to be important for resistance against a wide range of cell wall-active antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents including the amide-modified ovispirin-1, bacitracin, teicoplanin, cefotaxime and 10 other β-lactam antibiotics, chlorpromazine, thioridazine and EGTA.