biostudies-literatureUnknown15(1)Huang MThe purpose of this research is to examine the impact of key type VI secretion system (T6SS) proteins hemolysin coregulated protein (Hcp) and valine-glycine repeat protein G (VgrG) on the metabolism of Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii). Homologous recombination technology was used to construct hcp knockout strain (ATCC17978Δhcp), vgrG knockout strain (ATCC17978ΔvgrG), and a combined hcp and vgrG knockout strain (ATCC17978ΔhcpΔvgrG), with the wild-type A. baumannii strain (ATCC17978) used as a control. These strains were co-cultured with human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells (HPAEpiC), respectively. Subsequently, a non-targeted metabolomic analysis of the co-culture supernatant, bacteria, and cells was conducted using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In thScientific reports34632https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12494896biostudies-literatureImpact of hcp and vgrG on Acinetobacter baumannii biofilm formation during infection of human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells.PMC12494896Qin PYang WLiu MZhang YHuang MYu DfalseImpact of hcp and vgrG on Acinetobacter baumannii biofilm formation during infection of human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells.The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of key type VI secretion system (T6SS) proteins hemolysin coregulated protein (Hcp) and valine-glycine repeat protein G (VgrG) on the metabolism of Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii). Homologous recombination technology was used to construct hcp knockout strain (ATCC17978Δhcp), vgrG knockout strain (ATCC17978ΔvgrG), and a combined hcp and vgrG knockout strain (ATCC17978ΔhcpΔvgrG), with the wild-type A. baumannii strain (ATCC17978) used as a control. These strains were co-cultured with human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells (HPAEpiC), respectively. Subsequently, a non-targeted metabolomic analysis of the co-culture supernatant, bacteria, and cells was conducted using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In th2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Oct2026-06-04T02:04:26.008Z2026-05-04T03:13:44.437ZS-EPMC124948964104436910.1038/s41598-025-18287-1