Knock-out of multidrug efflux pump MexXY-OprM results in increased susceptibility to antimicrobial peptides in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Multidrug efflux systems of the resistance-nodulation-cell division family play a crucial role in resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to a large variety of antibiotics. Here, we investigated the role of clinically relevant efflux pumps MexAB- OprM, MexCD- OprJ, and MexXY- OprM in resistance against different cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Our results indicate that a knock-out in efflux pump MexXY-OprM increased susceptibility to some AMPs by two- to eightfold. Our data suggest a contribution of MexXY-OprM in resistance to certain AMPs in P. aeruginosa, which should be considered in the future development of new and highly active antimicrobial peptides to fight multidrug resistant infections.

The Oxidative Stress Agent Hypochlorite Stimulates c-di-GMP Synthesis and Biofilm Formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is able to survive under a variety of often harmful environmental conditions due to a multitude of intrinsic and adaptive resistance mechanisms, including biofilm formation as one important survival strategy. Here, we investigated the adaptation of P. aeruginosa PAO1 to hypochlorite (HClO), a phagocyte-derived host defense compound and frequently used disinfectant. In static biofilm assays, we observed a significant enhancement in initial cell attachment in the presence of sublethal HClO concentrations. Subsequent LC-MS analyses revealed a strong increase in cyclic-di-GMP (c-di-GMP) levels suggesting a key role of this second messenger in HClO-induced biofilm development. Using DNA microarrays, we identified a 26-fold upregulation of ORF PA3177 coding for a putative diguanylate cyclase (DGC), which catalyzes the synthesis of the second messenger c-di-GMP - an important regulator of bacterial motility, sessility and persistence. This DGC PA3177 was further characterized in more detail demonstrating its impact on P. aeruginosa motility and biofilm formation. In addition, cell culture assays attested a role for PA3177 in the response of P. aeruginosa to human phagocytes. Using a subset of different mutants, we were able to show that both Pel and Psl exopolysaccharides are effectors in the PA3177-dependent c-di-GMP network.

A new data processing routine facilitating the identification of surface adhered proteins from bacterial conditioning films via QCM-D/MALDI-ToF/MS.

Conditioning films are an important factor in the initiation and development of microbial biofilms, which are the leading cause of chronic infections associated with medical devices. Here, we analyzed the protein content of conditioning films formed after exposure to supernatants of cultures of the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Adhesion of substances from the supernatant was monitored using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) sensor chips modified with the commonly used implant material titanium dioxide (TiO2). Attached proteins were identified after on-chip digestion using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time of flight (ToF) mass spectrometry (MS), and a new data processing tool consisting of an XML-database with theoretical tryptic peptides of every PAO1 protein and PHP scripts. Sub-databases containing only proteins, that we found in all replicates, were created and used for MS/MS precursor selection. The obtained MS/MS peaklists were then matched against theoretical fragmentations of the expected peptide sequences to verify protein identification. Using this approach we were able to identify 40 surface-associated proteins. In addition to extracellular proteins such as adhesins, a number of intra-cellular proteins were identified which may be involved in conditioning film formation, suggesting an as-yet unidentified role for these proteins, possibly after cell lysis. Graphical Abstract Flowchart of the method.

The aliphatic amidase AmiE is involved in regulation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence.

We have previously shown that the eukaryotic C-type natriuretic peptide hormone (CNP) regulates Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence and biofilm formation after binding on the AmiC sensor, triggering the amiE transcription. Herein, the involvement of the aliphatic amidase AmiE in P. aeruginosa virulence regulation has been investigated. The proteome analysis of an AmiE over-producing strain (AmiE+) revealed an expression change for 138 proteins, including some that are involved in motility, synthesis of quorum sensing compounds and virulence regulation. We observed that the AmiE+ strain produced less biofilm compared to the wild type, and over-produced rhamnolipids. In the same line, AmiE is involved in P. aeruginosa motilities (swarming and twitching) and production of the quorum sensing molecules N-acyl homoserine lactones and Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal (PQS). We observed that AmiE overproduction reduced levels of HCN and pyocyanin causing a decreased virulence in different hosts (i.e. Dictyostelium discoideum and Caenorhabditis elegans). This phenotype was further confirmed in a mouse model of acute lung infection, in which AmiE overproduction resulted in an almost fully virulence decrease. Taken together, our data suggest that, in addition to its role in bacterial secondary metabolism, AmiE is involved in P. aeruginosa virulence regulation by modulating pilus synthesis and cell-to-cell communication.

Enzyme-Mediated Quenching of the Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal (PQS) Promotes Biofilm Formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by Increasing Iron Availability.

The 2-alkyl-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-quinolone 2,4-dioxygenase HodC was previously described to cleave the Pseudomonas quinolone signal, PQS, which is exclusively used in the complex quorum sensing (QS) system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogen employing QS to regulate virulence and biofilm development. Degradation of PQS by exogenous addition of HodC to planktonic cells of P. aeruginosa attenuated production of virulence factors, and reduced virulence in planta. However, proteolytic cleavage reduced the efficacy of HodC. Here, we identified the secreted protease LasB of P. aeruginosa to be responsible for HodC degradation. In static biofilms of the P. aeruginosa PA14 lasB::Tn mutant, the catalytic activity of HodC led to an increase in viable biomass in newly formed but also in established biofilms, and reduced the expression of genes involved in iron metabolism and siderophore production, such as pvdS, pvdL, pvdA, and pvdQ. This is likely due to an increase in the levels of bioavailable iron by degradation of PQS, which is able to sequester iron from the surrounding environment. Thus, HodC, despite its ability to quench the production of virulence factors, is contraindicated for combating P. aeruginosa biofilms.

Sensor kinase PA4398 modulates swarming motility and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen that is able to sense and adapt to numerous environmental stimuli by the use of transcriptional regulators, including two-component regulatory systems. In this study, we demonstrate that the sensor kinase PA4398 is involved in the regulation of swarming motility and biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa PA14. APA4398 mutant strain was considerably impaired in swarming motility, while biofilm formation was increased by approximately 2-fold. The PA4398 mutant showed no changes in growth rate, rhamnolipid synthesis, or the production of the Pel exopolysaccharide but exhibited levels of the intracellular second messenger cyclic dimeric GMP (c-di-GMP) 50% higher than those in wild-type cells. The role of PA4398 in gene regulation was investigated by comparing the PA4398 mutant to the wildtype strain by using microarray analysis, which demonstrated that 64 genes were up- or downregulated more than 1.5-fold (P<0.05) under swarming conditions. In addition, more-sensitive real-time PCR studies were performed on genes known to be involved in c-di-GMP metabolism. Among the dysregulated genes were several involved in the synthesis and degradation of c-di-GMP or in the biosynthesis, transport, or function of the iron-scavenging siderophores pyoverdine and pyochelin, in agreement with the swarming phenotype observed. By analyzing additional mutants of selected pyoverdine- and pyochelin-related genes,we were able to show that not only pvdQ but also pvdR, fptA, pchA, pchD, and pchH are essential for the normal swarming behavior of P. aeruginosa PA14 and may also contribute to the swarming-deficient phenotype of the PA4398 mutant in addition to elevated c-di-GMP levels.

Requirement of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa CbrA sensor kinase for full virulence in a murine acute lung infection model.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that is a major cause of respiratory tract and other nosocomial infections. The sensor kinase CbrA is a central regulator of carbon and nitrogen metabolism and in vitro also regulates virulence-related processes in P. aeruginosa. Here, we investigated the role of CbrA in two murine models of infection. In both peritoneal infections in leukopenic mice and lung infection models, the cbrA mutant was less virulent since substantially larger numbers of cbrA mutant bacteria were required to cause the same level of infection as wild-type or complemented bacteria. In contrast, in the chronic rat lung model the cbrA mutant grew and persisted as well as the wild type, indicating that the decrease of in vivo virulence of the cbrA mutant did not result from growth deficiencies on particular carbon substrates observed in vitro. In addition, a mutant in the cognate response regulator CbrB showed no defect in virulence in the peritoneal infection model, ruling out the involvement of certain alterations of virulence properties in the cbrA mutant including defective swarming motility, increased biofilm formation, and cytotoxicity, since these alterations are controlled through CbrB. Further investigations indicated that the mutant was more susceptible to uptake by phagocytes in vitro, resulting in greater overall bacterial killing. Consistent with the virulence defect, it took a smaller number of Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae to kill the cbrA mutant than to kill the wild type. Transcriptional analysis of the cbrA mutant during D. discoideum infection led to the conclusion that CbrA played an important role in the iron metabolism, protection of P. aeruginosa against oxidative stress, and the regulation of certain virulence factors.

Human host defense peptide LL-37 stimulates virulence factor production and adaptive resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

A multitude of different virulence factors as well as the ability to rapidly adapt to adverse environmental conditions are important features for the high pathogenicity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Both virulence and adaptive resistance are tightly controlled by a complex regulatory network and respond to external stimuli, such as host signals or antibiotic stress, in a highly specific manner. Here, we demonstrate that physiological concentrations of the human host defense peptide LL-37 promote virulence factor production as well as an adaptive resistance against fluoroquinolone and aminoglycoside antibiotics in P. aeruginosa PAO1. Microarray analyses of P. aeruginosa cells exposed to LL-37 revealed an upregulation of gene clusters involved in the production of quorum sensing molecules and secreted virulence factors (PQS, phenazine, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), elastase and rhamnolipids) and in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) modification as well as an induction of genes encoding multidrug efflux pumps MexCD-OprJ and MexGHI-OpmD. Accordingly, we detected significantly elevated levels of toxic metabolites and proteases in bacterial supernatants after LL-37 treatment. Pre-incubation of bacteria with LL-37 for 2 h led to a decreased susceptibility towards gentamicin and ciprofloxacin. Quantitative Realtime PCR results using a PAO1-pqsE mutant strain present evidence that the quinolone response protein and virulence regulator PqsE may be implicated in the regulation of the observed phenotype in response to LL-37. Further experiments with synthetic cationic antimicrobial peptides IDR-1018, 1037 and HHC-36 showed no induction of pqsE expression, suggesting a new role of PqsE as highly specific host stress sensor.

TypA is involved in virulence, antimicrobial resistance and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic human pathogen and is extremely difficult to treat due to its high intrinsic and adaptive antibiotic resistance, ability to form biofilms in chronic infections and broad arsenal of virulence factors, which are finely regulated. TypA is a GTPase that has recently been identified to modulate virulence in enteric Gram-negative pathogens. RESULTS: Here, we demonstrate that mutation of typA in P. aeruginosa resulted in reduced virulence in phagocytic amoebae and human macrophage models of infection. In addition, the typA mutant was attenuated in rapid cell attachment to surfaces and biofilm formation, and exhibited reduced antibiotic resistance to ß-lactam, tetracycline and antimicrobial peptide antibiotics. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed the down-regulation, in a typA mutant, of important virulence-related genes such as those involved in regulation and assembly of the Type III secretion system, consistent with the observed phenotypes and role in virulence of P. aeruginosa. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that TypA is a newly identified modulator of pathogenesis in P. aeruginosa and is involved in multiple virulence-related characteristics.

Hsp90 enables Ctf13p/Skp1p to nucleate the budding yeast kinetochore.

Binding of CBF3, a protein complex consisting of Ndc10p, Cep3p, Ctf13p, and Skp1p, to the centromere DNA nucleates kinetochore formation in budding yeast. Here, we investigate how the Ctf13p/Skp1p complex becomes competent to form the CBF3-centromere DNA complex. As revealed by mass spectrometry, Ctf13p and Skp1p carry two and four phosphate groups, respectively. Complete dephosphorylation of Ctf13p and Skp1p does not interfere with the formation of CBF3-centromere DNA complexes in vitro. Furthermore, deletion of corresponding phosphorylation sites results in viable cells. Thus, in contrast to the current view, phosphorylation of Ctf13p and Skp1p is not essential for the formation of CBF3-centromere DNA complexes. Instead, the formation of active Ctf13p/Skp1p requires Hsp90. Several lines of evidence support this conclusion: activation of heterologous Ctf13p/Skp1p by reticulocyte lysate is inhibited by geldanamycin and Hsp90 depletion. skp1 mutants exhibit growth defects on media containing geldanamycin. A skp1 mutation together with Hsp90 mutations exhibits synthetic lethality. An Hsp90 mutant contains decreased levels of active Ctf13p/Skp1p.