Dataset Information

The licorice metabolite enoxolone attenuates Clostridioides difficile pathophysiology by corrupting its metabolic and toxin production networks

ABSTRACT: Toxins TcdA and TcdB are the main virulence factors of Clostridioides difficile, a leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea. We investigated the therapeutic potential of inhibiting the biosynthesis of TcdA and TcdB. Accordingly, screening of structurally diverse phytochemicals with medicinal properties identified 18b-glycyrrhetinic acid (enoxolone) as an inhibitor of TcdA and TcdB biosynthesis. Enoxolone also inhibited sporulation. In a CDI colitis model, enoxolone when combined with vancomycin protected mice from becoming moribund and the combination was more effective than vancomycin alone, a standard of care antibiotic for CDI. While enoxolone alone reduced the in vivo load of toxins, the monotherapy did not protect mice from CDI. Affinity based proteomics identified ATP synthase subunit alpha (AtpA) and adenine deaminase (Ade) as possible molecular targets for enoxolone. Silencing of mRNA for Ade and AtpA also reduced toxin biosynthesis, while molecular interaction analysis showed that enoxolone directly bound to Ade. Ade converts adenine to hypoxanthine as an early step in the purine salvage pathway. Metabolomics revealed enoxolone caused cells to accumulate adenosine and deplete hypoxanthine and ATP. Accordingly, supplementation with hypoxanthine partly restored toxin production. Enoxolone also impacted phosphate metabolism by reducing the amounts of cellular phosphate. Thus, supplementation with triethyl phosphate as a source of phosphate also partly restored toxin production. When hypoxanthine and triethyl phosphate were combined, toxin production was fully restored in the presence of enoxolone. Taken together, studies with enoxolone revealed metabolic pathways that affect C. difficile toxin production and could represent potential anti-virulence drug targets.

ORGANISM(S): Clostridioides difficile

PROVIDER: GSE199109 | GEO | 2022/03/24

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:A major risk factor for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is the perturbation of the gut microbiota by antibiotic administration, and antibiotic therapy, the standard treatment option for CDI, exacerbates the imbalance of the gut microbiota, leading to a very high recurrent CDI (rCDI) incidence rate. Therefore, CDI treatment based on live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) has recently emerged for long-term CDI management and preventive treatment However, there is limited research and understanding of how these LBPs improve CDI symptoms, which raises the need to elucidate the therapeutic mechanisms of LBPs. To fill this knowledge gap, here, we holistically analyzed and investigated the mechanisms involved in the inhibitory effect of probiotics on C. difficile at the molecular level through a multiomics approach on screened strain from probiotics that inhibit C. difficile growth. First, Bifidobacterium species were co-cultured with C. difficile, and B. longum was screened based on its ability to inhibit the growth of C. difficile. Then, the antimicrobial activity of B. longum against C. difficile was confirmed by spot-on-lawn assay and organic acid quantification. Next, we performed proteomic and metabolomic analysis on C. difficile co-cultured with B. longum, and observed physiological changes associated with the inhibition of C. difficile growth and toxin production. It was found that lactate produced by B. longum up-regulated the lactate dehydrogenase complex of C. difficile, leading to a decrease in intracellular ATP synthesis and a subsequent decrease in (deoxy)ribonucleoside triphosphate synthesis. Furthermore, proteinaceous stress induced by B. longum was also identified through the up-regulation of ribosomal proteins, molecular chaperones, and chaperonins, and the down-regulation of translation-related proteins. Finally, we found that B. longum suppressed butyrate metabolism and toxin production by producing and replenishing proline consumed by C. difficile. Therefore, this study will not only expand our understanding of the mechanisms of probiotics' inhibition of C. difficile, but also contribute to the development of LBPs based on molecular mechanisms for treating CDI.

Dataset Information

The licorice metabolite enoxolone attenuates Clostridioides difficile pathophysiology by corrupting its metabolic and toxin production networks

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure