Design, screening and antimicrobial activity of novel peptides against / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To construct antimicrobial peptides with potent antimicrobial activity, low cytotoxicity and efficient killing rate of for prevention and treatment of dental caries.@*METHODS@#We exploited the existing design strategies to modify reutericin 6 or gassericin A produced by species in the oral cavity based on their cationicity, amphipathicity and -helical structure. We examined their antimicrobial activities using bacterial susceptibility assay, their cytotoxicity through cytotoxicity assay and their killing rate of with time-kill assay. We further evaluated the candidate derivatives for their killing rate against , their antimicrobial activity against different oral pathogens and the development of drug resistance.@*RESULTS@#We constructed 6 AT-1 derivatives, among which AT-7 showed an MIC of 3.3 μmol/L against , and with a killing rate of 88.7% against within 5 min. We did not obtain strains of resistant to AT- 7 after induction for 10 passages.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Hydrophobicity and imperfect amphipathic structure are two key parameters that define the antimicrobial potency of the antimicrobial peptides. The imperfectly amphipathic peptide AT-7 shows the potential for clinical application in dental caries treatment.

Helicobacter pylori inhibited cell proliferation in human periodontal ligament fibroblasts through the Cdc25C/CDK1/cyclinB1 signaling cascade

PURPOSE: Several studies have shown that the oral cavity is a secondary location for Helicobacter pylori colonization and that H. pylori is associated with the severity of periodontitis. This study investigated whether H. pylori had an effect on the periodontium. We established an invasion model of a standard strain of H. pylori in human periodontal ligament fibroblasts (hPDLFs), and evaluated the effects of H. pylori on cell proliferation and cell cycle progression. METHODS: Different concentrations of H. pylori were used to infect hPDLFs, with 6 hours of co-culture. The multiplicity of infection in the low- and high-concentration groups was 10:1 and 100:1, respectively. The Cell Counting Kit-8 method and Ki-67 immunofluorescence were used to detect cell proliferation. Flow cytometry, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and western blots were used to detect cell cycle progression. In the high-concentration group, the invasion of H. pylori was observed by transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: It was found that H. pylori invaded the fibroblasts, with cytoplasmic localization. Analyses of cell proliferation and flow cytometry showed that H. pylori inhibited the proliferation of periodontal fibroblasts by causing G2 phase arrest. The inhibition of proliferation and G2 phase arrest were more obvious in the high-concentration group. In the low-concentration group, the G2 phase regulatory factors cyclin dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) and cell division cycle 25C (Cdc25C) were upregulated, while cyclin B1 was inhibited. However, in the high-concentration group, cyclin B1 was upregulated and CDK1 was inhibited. Furthermore, the deactivated states of tyrosine phosphorylation of CDK1 (CDK1-Y15) and serine phosphorylation of Cdc25C (Cdc25C-S216) were upregulated after H. pylori infection. CONCLUSIONS: In our model, H. pylori inhibited the proliferation of hPDLFs and exerted an invasive effect, causing G2 phase arrest via the Cdc25C/CDK1/cyclin B1 signaling cascade. Its inhibitory effect on proliferation was stronger in the high-concentration group.

Effect of ptxA and ptxB genes of phosphotransferase system on growth of Streptococcus mutans / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study aims to evaluate the effect of ptxA and ptxB genes, which are important genes in the L-ascorbate phosphotransferase system (PTS) of Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The ptxA-, ptxB-, and ptxAB-double deficient mutant as well as ptxAB-complemented strain were constructed. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis was performed to evaluate the expression of the target genes of wild-type S. mutans when L-ascorbate was used as the sole carbohydrate source. The OD₆₀₀ values of the wild type, deficient, and complemented strains were continuously monitored, and their growth curves were constructed to compare growth capacity.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Polymerase chain reaction and sequencing analyses suggested that deficient and complemented strains were successfully constructed. The expression levelsof ptxA and ptxB significantly increased (P < 0.01) when L-ascorbate was used as the sole carbohydrate source. The growth capacity of the deficient mutants decreased compared with that of the wild-type strain. However, the wild-type phenotype could be restored in the complemented strain.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>ptxA and ptxB genes are associated with L-ascorbate metabolism of S. mutans. The construction of deficient strains and complemented strain lay a foundation for further mechanism study on L-ascorbate metabolism in S. mutans.</p>

Qualitative analysis of bis-(3'-5')-cyclic dimeric adenosine monophosphate of Porphyromonas gingivalis by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To test whether Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) could produce bacterial signal molecule, bis-(3'-5')-cyclic dimeric adenosine monophosphate (c-di-AMP) and lay the foundation for explorations of its roles in life metabolism and periodontitis immunity of P. gingivalis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>P. gingivalis standard strain ATCC33277 was used as the experimental strain to extract nucleic acids from the bacteria. Then, c-di-AMP was detected using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Subsequently, HPLC was used to validate the sample further.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Based on the signal/noise (S/N) for 3 : 1, the limit of determination of HPLC-MS/MS for peak time of c-di-AMP standard substances was 7.49 min and nucleic acid extractions from P. gingivalis was 8.82 min (S/N > 3). Further confirmation of HPLC showed that nucleic acid extractions from both P. gingivalis and c-di-AMP standard substances pre- sented goal absorbent peaks at 15.7 min, with the same ultraviolet absorbent spectrum.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The nucleic acid extrac- tions from P. gingivalis contained c-di-AMP, which shows that P. gingivalis could produce c-di-AMP.</p>

Crystal structure of SMU.2055 protein from Streptococcus mutans and its small molecule inhibitors design and selection / 华西口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The aim of this study is to analyze the three-dimensional crystal structure of SMU.2055 protein, a putative acetyltransferase from the major caries pathogen Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans). The design and selection of the structure-based small molecule inhibitors are also studied.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The three-dimensional crystal structure of SMU.2055 protein was obtained by structural genomics research methods of gene cloning and expression, protein purification with Ni²⁺-chelating affinity chromatography, crystal screening, and X-ray diffraction data collection. An inhibitor virtual model matching with its target protein structure was set up using computer-aided drug design methods, virtual screening and fine docking, and Libdock and Autodock procedures.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The crystal of SMU.2055 protein was obtained, and its three-dimensional crystal structure was analyzed. This crystal was diffracted to a resolution of 0.23 nm. It belongs to orthorhombic space group C222(1), with unit cell parameters of a = 9.20 nm, b = 9.46 nm, and c = 19.39 nm. The asymmetric unit contained four molecules, with a solvent content of 56.7%. Moreover, five small molecule compounds, whose structure matched with that of the target protein in high degree, were designed and selected.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Protein crystallography research of S. mutans SMU.2055 helps to understand the structures and functions of proteins from S. mutans at the atomic level. These five compounds may be considered as effective inhibitors to SMU.2055. The virtual model of small molecule inhibitors we built will lay a foundation to the anticaries research based on the crystal structure of proteins.</p>

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT CONCENTRATION OF TRICHOSTATIN A ON CHICKEN WING BUD DEVELOPMENT / 解剖学报

Objective To investigate the reaction of the limbs treated with different concentration of Trichostatin A(75?mol/L,750 ?mol/L,1.5mmol/L),a histone deacetylase(HDAC)-inhibitor.This may be useful to improve our understanding of the role of chromatin remodelling and epigenetic control of gene expression patterns and ultimately the development of drugs against cancer. Methods Using the chicken embryonic limb as an experimental model.The embryos received grafts of TSA soaked beads or PBS control beads into the right forelimb buds.Then they were submitted to in situ hybridization with probes and apoptosis test.Results TSA could modulate the expression of some myogenesis related genes,MyoD and Myf5 during chicken myogenesis.Using apoptosis staining methods,there was no significant apoptosis in the TSA(75?mol/L) treated embryos.However the induction of morphological changes and apoptosis at specific stage was possible with high concentration of TSA.Conclusion TSA(75?mol/L) regulates certain important transcriptional targets and strongly control muscle differentiation.Increasing the concentration of TSA(≥750?mol/L) can induce apoptosis and embryonic limb malformations.Chicken limb development can serve as a convenient in vivo model for studying the effect of HDAC inhibitors.