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Staphylococcus aureus coordinates leukocidins expression and pathogenesis by sensing metabolic fluxes via RpiRC

ABSTRACT: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a formidable human pathogen that uses secreted cytolytic factors such as hemolysins, leukocidins and cytolytic peptides to injure immune cells and promote infection of its host. Of these secreted molecules, the bicomponent family of pore-forming leukocidins are a potent class of cytolytic proteins with critical contributions to S. aureus pathogenesis. The regulatory mechanisms governing the expression of these toxins are incompletely defined. In this work, we performed a screen to identify transcriptional regulators involved in leukocidin expression in S. aureus USA300. We discovered that a metabolic sensor regulator, RpiRc, is a potent and selective repressor of two leukocidins, LukED and LukSF-PV. Whole genome transcriptomics, S. aureus exoprotein proteomics and metabolomic analyses revealed that RpiRc influences the expression and production of disparate virulence factors, in addition to altering metabolic fluxes in the TCA cycle, glycolysis and amino acid metabolism. Using mutational analyses, we confirmed that RpiRc signals through the accessory gene regulatory quorum-sensing system (Agr) in USA300. Specifically, in wildtype USA300, RpiRc represses the rnaIII promoter resulting in increased production of the repressor of toxins –Rot, which in turn represses leukocidin expression. In fact, deletion of rpiRc phenocopied deletion of rot. We show that RpiRc-mediated regulation of virulence factors is critical for killing of primary human polymorphonuclear leukocytes and for the pathogenesis of bloodstream infection in vivo. Collectively, our results suggest that S. aureus senses metabolic shifts by RpiRc to differentially regulate the expression of leukocidins thereby promoting invasive disease.

ORGANISM(S): Staphylococcus aureus

PROVIDER: GSE77301 | GEO | 2017/01/26

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA309992

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive human pathogen causing a variety of human diseases in both hospital and community settings. This bacterium is so closely associated with prophages that it is rare to find S. aureus isolates without prophages. Two phages are known to be important for staphylococcal virulence: the beta-hemolysin (hlb) converting phage and the Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) converting phage. The hlb-converting phage is found in more than 90% of clinical isolates of S. aureus. This phage produces exotoxins and immune modulatory molecules, which inhibit human innate immune responses. The PVL-converting phage produces the two-component exotoxin PVL, which can kill human leucocytes. This phage is wide-spread among community-associated methicillin resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA). It also shows strong association with soft tissue infections and necrotizing pneumonia. Several lines of evidence suggest that staphylococcal prophages increase bacterial virulence not only by providing virulence factors but also by altering bacterial gene expression: 1) Transposon insertion into prophage regulatory genes, but not into the genes of virulence factors, reduced S. aureus killing of Caenorhabditis elegans.; 2) Although the toxins and immune modulatory molecules encoded by the hlb- converting phages do not function in the murine system, deletion of ϕNM3, the hlb-converting phage in S. aureus Newman, reduced staphylococcal virulence in the murine abscess formation model. 3) In a preliminary microarray experiment, prophages in S. aureus Newman altered the expression of more than 300 genes. In this research proposal, using microarray and high-throughput quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) technologies, we will identify the effects of the two important staphylococcal phages on the gene expression of S. aureus in both in vitro and in vivo conditions. This project is intended to be completed within one year. All the data – microarray, qRT-PCR and all the primer sequences- will be made available to public 6 month after completion. Data from this project will help us to understand the role of prophages in the S. aureus pathogenesis and can lead to development of a strategy to interfere with the pathogenesis process. Following strains were grown in TSA broth: Staphylococcus aureus USA300 (reference) Staphylococcus aureus USA300 with deletion of ϕSa2usa (Query) Staphylococcus aureus USA300 with deletion of ϕSa3usa (Query) Staphylococcus aureus USA300 Prophage-free mutant (Query) Staphylococcus aureus USA300 Prophage-free mutant lysogenized with ϕSa2mw (Query) Staphylococcus aureus USA300 Prophage-free mutant lysogenized with ϕSa3usa (Query) strain: Staphylococcus aureus USA300 Prophage-free mutant lysogenized with both ϕSa2mw and ϕSa3usa (Query) RNA samples were harvested at early log, midlog and stationary phase.Samples were hybridized on aminosilane coated slides with 70-mer oligos.

Project description:The precise mechanism and effects of antibiotics in host gene expression and immunomodulation in MRSA infection is unknown. Using a well characterized Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolate USA300 in a murine model of infection, we determined that linezolid and vancomycin induced differential production of bacterial toxins and host cytokines, differences in host gene expression, and differences in immunomodulators during MRSA bloodstream infection. A total of 35 A/J mice, categorized into seven groups (no infection; no infection with linezolid; no infection with vancomycin; 2 hour post-infection (hpi) S. aureus; 24 hpi S. aureus; 24 hpi S. aureus with linezolid; and 24 hpi S. aureus with vancomycin), were used in this study. Mice were injected with USA300 (6 x 106 CFU/g via i.p. route), then intravenously treated with linezolid (25 mg/kg) or vancomycin (25 mg/kg) at 2 hpi. Control and S. aureus infected mice were euthanized at each time point (2 h or 24h) following injection. Whole blood RNA was used for microarray; three cytokines and two S. aureus toxins [PantonValentine Leukocidin (PVL) and alpha hemolysin] were quantified in mouse serum by ELISA. S. aureus CFUs were significantly reduced in blood and kidney after linezolid or vancomycin treatment in S. aureus-infected mice. In vivo IL-1β in mouse serum was significantly reduced in both linezolid (p=0.001) and vancomycin (p=0.006) treated mice compared to untreated ones. IL-6 was significantly reduced only in linezolid treated (p<0.001) but not in vancomycin treated mice. However, another proinflammatory cytokine, TNF-α, did not exhibit altered levels in either linezolid or vancomycin treated mice (p=0.3 and p=0.51 respectively). In vivo level of bacterial toxin, Panton-Valentine leukocidin, in mouse serum was significantly reduced only in linezolid treated mice (p=0.02) but not in vancomycin treated mice. There was no significant effect of either treatment in in vivo level of alpha hemolysin production. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering using the gene expression data from 35 microarrays revealed distinct clustering based on infection status and treatment group. Study of the antibiotic-specific difference in gene expression identified the number of genes uniquely expressed in response to S. aureus infection, infection with linezolid treatment, and infection with vancomycin treatment. Pathway associations study for the differentially expressed genes in each comparison group (Control vs. 24 h S. aureus infection, 24 h S. aureus infection vs. 24 h S. aureus linezolid, and 24 h S. aureus infection vs. 24 h S. aureus vancomycin) in mice using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) identified toll-like receptor signaling pathway to be common to every comparison groups studied. Glycerolipid metabolism pathway was uniquely associated only with linezolid treatment comparison group. The findings of this study provide the evidence that protein synthesis inhibitor like linezolid does a better job in treating MRSA sepsis compared to cell wall acting antibiotics like vancomycin.

Project description:The success of Staphylococcus aureus as a pathogen results from the production of a wealth of virulence determinants that aid in immune evasion, host cell invasion and dissemination of infection. Given the niche specific roles of these factors in infection, their production is controlled by a complex network of regulatory factors. In a continued effort to understand this network, the present study is aimed at characterizing the role of the transcriptional regulator XdrA and its effects on S. aureus gene expression. Using an unbiased global analysis, we find that XdrA has a broad impact on gene expression, influencing the transcription of several important virulence determinants, and factors involved in gene regulation. When assessing the role of XdrA in virulence, we find that an xdrA mutant has an increased ability to survive in whole human blood, mediated in part by increased survival within neutrophils, and an upregulation in expression of several factors involved in immune evasion, including sbi, fnbpA and efb. Furthermore, the increased survival within neutrophils appears to result from an upregulation in expression of sodM, recA, and sae, all of which assist bacterial cells in combating the effects of oxidative stress. In addition to these changes, we find that the xdrA mutant has a decreased abundance of cytolytic toxins, likely resulting from changes in agr and sae activity. We suggest that the broad impact of XdrA on the expression of genes involved in immune evasion, DNA damage, and oxidative stress tolerance, collectively result in a survival advantage allowing for the increased ability to causes disease in vivo, when xdrA is disrupted. In sum, our findings shed new light on the role of XdrA and its seemingly novel influence on S. aureus survival during infection. The dataset contained herein was used to elucidate the whole shotgun secreted proteome (secretome) obtained from 5 hour (mid exponential phase) and 15 hour (stationary phase) planktonic cultures of Staphylococcus aureus USA300 LAC strain, and a derivative of this strain deficient in the gene encoding XdrA.

Project description:The precise mechanism and effects of antibiotics in host gene expression and immunomodulation in MRSA infection is unknown. Using a well characterized Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolate USA300 in a murine model of infection, we determined that linezolid and vancomycin induced differential production of bacterial toxins and host cytokines, differences in host gene expression, and differences in immunomodulators during MRSA bloodstream infection. A total of 35 A/J mice, categorized into seven groups (no infection; no infection with linezolid; no infection with vancomycin; 2 hour post-infection (hpi) S. aureus; 24 hpi S. aureus; 24 hpi S. aureus with linezolid; and 24 hpi S. aureus with vancomycin), were used in this study. Mice were injected with USA300 (6 x 106 CFU/g via i.p. route), then intravenously treated with linezolid (25 mg/kg) or vancomycin (25 mg/kg) at 2 hpi. Control and S. aureus infected mice were euthanized at each time point (2 h or 24h) following injection. Whole blood RNA was used for microarray; three cytokines and two S. aureus toxins [PantonValentine Leukocidin (PVL) and alpha hemolysin] were quantified in mouse serum by ELISA. S. aureus CFUs were significantly reduced in blood and kidney after linezolid or vancomycin treatment in S. aureus-infected mice. In vivo IL-1M-NM-2 in mouse serum was significantly reduced in both linezolid (p=0.001) and vancomycin (p=0.006) treated mice compared to untreated ones. IL-6 was significantly reduced only in linezolid treated (p<0.001) but not in vancomycin treated mice. However, another proinflammatory cytokine, TNF-M-NM-1, did not exhibit altered levels in either linezolid or vancomycin treated mice (p=0.3 and p=0.51 respectively). In vivo level of bacterial toxin, Panton-Valentine leukocidin, in mouse serum was significantly reduced only in linezolid treated mice (p=0.02) but not in vancomycin treated mice. There was no significant effect of either treatment in in vivo level of alpha hemolysin production. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering using the gene expression data from 35 microarrays revealed distinct clustering based on infection status and treatment group. Study of the antibiotic-specific difference in gene expression identified the number of genes uniquely expressed in response to S. aureus infection, infection with linezolid treatment, and infection with vancomycin treatment. Pathway associations study for the differentially expressed genes in each comparison group (Control vs. 24 h S. aureus infection, 24 h S. aureus infection vs. 24 h S. aureus linezolid, and 24 h S. aureus infection vs. 24 h S. aureus vancomycin) in mice using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) identified toll-like receptor signaling pathway to be common to every comparison groups studied. Glycerolipid metabolism pathway was uniquely associated only with linezolid treatment comparison group. The findings of this study provide the evidence that protein synthesis inhibitor like linezolid does a better job in treating MRSA sepsis compared to cell wall acting antibiotics like vancomycin. To identify differences in host gene expression in a murine sepsis model treated with a) linezolid and b) vancomycin, we used whole blood gene expression (RNA) signatures from A/J inbred mice infected with USA 300 MRSA to evaluate differences in host gene expression among mice treated with linezolid and vancomycin. We used 5 RNA samples from MRSA-infected, linezolid- or vancomycin-treated mice. A total of 7 experimental groups have been employed: 1) Uninfected control group: (negative controls). 2) Uninfected, linezolid-treated group: Uninfected, linezolid-treated mice. 3) Uninfected vancomycin-treated group: Uninfected, vancomycin-treated mice. 4) Infected control group (positive control 2 h) MRSA-infected, untreated mice. 5) Infected control group (positive control 24 h): MRSA-infected, untreated mice. 6) Infected linezolid group: MRSA-infected, linezolid-treated mice. 7) Infected vancomycin group: MRSA-infected, vancomycin-treated mice.

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Staphylococcus aureus coordinates leukocidins expression and pathogenesis by sensing metabolic fluxes via RpiRC

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