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Transcriptional responses of Escherichia coli to ceragenins and antimicrobial peptides

ABSTRACT: Here we report the results of a study comparing the global transcriptional responses of Escherichia coli to two well-studied CAMPs, LL37 and colistin, and two ceragenins with related structures, CSA13 and CSA131. We found that E. coli responds similarly to both CAMPs and ceragenins by inducing a Cpx envelope stress response. However, whereas E. coli exposed to CAMPs increased expression of genes involved in colanic acid biosynthesis, bacteria exposed to ceragenins specifically modulated functions related to phosphate transport, indicating distinct mechanisms of action between these two classes of molecules. Overall, this study suggests that while some bacterial responses to ceragenins overlap with those induced by naturally-occurring CAMPs, these synthetic molecules target the bacterial envelope using a distinctive mode of action.

ORGANISM(S): Escherichia coli

PROVIDER: GSE160082 | GEO | 2020/10/26

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) is a Priority 1 (Critical) pathogen urgently requiring new antibiotics. Polymyxins are a last-line option against CRAB-associated infections. This transcriptomic study utilized a CRAB strain to investigate mechanisms of bacterial killing with polymyxin B, colistin, colistin B and colistin/sulbactam combination therapy. After 4 h of 2 mg/L polymyxin monotherapy, all polymyxins exhibited common modes of action which primarily involved disruption to amino acid and fatty acid metabolism. Of the three monotherapies, polymyxin B induced the greatest number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including for genes involved with fatty acid metabolism. Gene disturbances with colistin and colistin B were highly similar (89% common genes for colistin B), though effects on gene expression were generally lower (0-1.5-fold in most cases) with colistin B. Colistin alone (2 mg/L) or combined with sulbactam (64 mg/L) resulted in rapid membrane disruption as early as 1 h. Transcriptomic analysis of this combination revealed the effects were driven by colistin and included disturbances in fatty acid synthesis and catabolism and inhibition of nutrient uptake. Combination therapy produced substantially higher fold changes in 72% of DEGs shared with monotherapy, resulting in substantially greater reductions in fatty acid biosynthesis and increases in biofilm, cell wall and phospholipid synthesis. This indicates synergistic bacterial killing with the colistin/sulbactam combination results from a systematic increase in perturbation of many genes associated with bacterial metabolism. These mechanistic insights enhance our understanding of bacterial responses to polymyxin mono- and combination therapy and will assist to optimize polymyxin use in patients. Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) is a Priority 1 (Critical) pathogen urgently requiring new antibiotics. Polymyxins are a last-line option against CRAB-associated infections. This transcriptomic study utilized a CRAB strain to investigate mechanisms of bacterial killing with polymyxin B, colistin, colistin B and colistin/sulbactam combination therapy. After 4 h of 2 mg/L polymyxin monotherapy, all polymyxins exhibited common modes of action which primarily involved disruption to amino acid and fatty acid metabolism. Of the three monotherapies, polymyxin B induced the greatest number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including for genes involved with fatty acid metabolism. Gene disturbances with colistin and colistin B were highly similar (89% common genes for colistin B), though effects on gene expression were generally lower (0-1.5-fold in most cases) with colistin B. Colistin alone (2 mg/L) or combined with sulbactam (64 mg/L) resulted in rapid membrane disruption as early as 1 h. Transcriptomic analysis of this combination revealed the effects were driven by colistin and included disturbances in fatty acid synthesis and catabolism and inhibition of nutrient uptake. Combination therapy produced substantially higher fold changes in 72% of DEGs shared with monotherapy, resulting in substantially greater reductions in fatty acid biosynthesis and increases in biofilm, cell wall and phospholipid synthesis. This indicates synergistic bacterial killing with the colistin/sulbactam combination results from a systematic increase in perturbation of many genes associated with bacterial metabolism. These mechanistic insights enhance our understanding of bacterial responses to polymyxin mono- and combination therapy and will assist to optimize polymyxin use in patients.

Project description:Citrobacter rodentium is a murine pathogen used to model the intestinal infection caused by Enteropathogenic and Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EPEC and EHEC), two diarrheal pathogens responsible for morbidity and mortality in developing and developed countries, respectively. During infection, these bacteria must sense and adapt to the gut environment of the host. In order to adapt to changing environmental cues and modulate expression of specific genes, bacteria can use two-component signal transduction systems (TCS). We have shown that the deletion of the Cpx TCS in C. rodentium leads to a marked attenuation in virulence in C3H/HeJ mice. In E. coli, the Cpx TCS is reportedly activated in response to signals from the outer-membrane lipoprotein NlpE. We therefore investigated the role of NlpE in C. rodentium virulence. We also assessed the role of the reported negative regulator of CpxRA, CpxP. We found that as opposed to the ΔcpxRA strain, neither the ΔnlpE, ΔcpxP nor the ΔnlpE/ΔcpxP strains were significantly attenuated, and had similar in vivo localization to wild-type C. rodentium. The in vitro adherence of the Cpx auxiliary protein mutants, ΔnlpE, ΔcpxP, ΔnlpEΔcpxP, was comparable to wild-type C. rodentium, whereas the ΔcpxRA strain showed significantly decreased adherence. To further elucidate the mechanisms behind the contrasting virulence phenotypes, we performed microarrays in order to define the regulon of the Cpx TCS. We detected 393 genes differentially regulated in the ΔcpxRA strain. The gene expression profile of the ΔnlpE strain is strikingly different than the profile of ΔcpxRA with regards to the genes activated by CpxRA. Further, there is no clear inverse correlation in the expression pattern of the ΔcpxP strain in comparison to ΔcpxRA. Interestingly, 161 genes were downregulated in the ΔcpxRA strain while being upregulated or unchanged in all other Cpx auxiliary protein deletion strains. This group of genes include T6SS, ompF and the regulator for colanic acid synthesis, that may contribute to the loss of virulence of ΔcpxRA. Taken together, these data suggest that in these conditions, CpxRA activates gene expression in a largely NlpE- and CpxP-independent manner.

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Transcriptional responses of Escherichia coli to ceragenins and antimicrobial peptides

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