scholarly journals Impaired alanine transport or exposure to D-cycloserine increases the susceptibility of MRSA to β-lactam antibiotics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Gallagher ◽  
Rebecca K. Shears ◽  
Claire Fingleton ◽  
Laura Alvarez ◽  
Elaine M. Waters ◽  
...  

AbstractProlonging the clinical effectiveness of β-lactams, which remain first-line antibiotics for many infections, is an important part of efforts to address antimicrobial resistance. We report here that inactivation of the predicted D-cycloserine (DCS) transporter genecycAre-sensitized MRSA to β-lactam antibiotics. ThecycAmutation also resulted in hyper-susceptibility to DCS, an alanine analogue antibiotic that inhibits alanine racemase and D-alanine ligase required for D-alanine incorporation into cell wall peptidoglycan (PG). Alanine transport was impaired in thecycAmutant and this correlated with increased susceptibility to oxacillin and DCS. ThecycAmutation or exposure to DCS were both associated with the accumulation of muropeptides with tripeptide stems lacking the terminal D-ala-D-ala and reduced PG crosslinking, prompting us to investigate synergism between β-lactams and DCS. DCS re-sensitised MRSA to β-lactamsin vitroand significantly enhanced MRSA eradication by oxacillin in a mouse bacteraemia model. These findings reveal alanine transport as a new therapeutic target to enhance the susceptibility of MRSA to β-lactam antibiotics.

2019 ◽  
Vol 221 (6) ◽  
pp. 1000-1016
Author(s):  
Laura A Gallagher ◽  
Rebecca K Shears ◽  
Claire Fingleton ◽  
Laura Alvarez ◽  
Elaine M Waters ◽  
...  

Abstract Prolonging the clinical effectiveness of β-lactams, which remain first-line antibiotics for many infections, is an important part of efforts to address antimicrobial resistance. We report here that inactivation of the predicted d-cycloserine (DCS) transporter gene cycA resensitized methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to β-lactam antibiotics. The cycA mutation also resulted in hypersusceptibility to DCS, an alanine analogue antibiotic that inhibits alanine racemase and d-alanine ligase required for d-alanine incorporation into cell wall peptidoglycan. Alanine transport was impaired in the cycA mutant, and this correlated with increased susceptibility to oxacillin and DCS. The cycA mutation or exposure to DCS were both associated with the accumulation of muropeptides with tripeptide stems lacking the terminal d-ala-d-ala and reduced peptidoglycan cross-linking, prompting us to investigate synergism between β-lactams and DCS. DCS resensitized MRSA to β-lactams in vitro and significantly enhanced MRSA eradication by oxacillin in a mouse bacteremia model. These findings reveal alanine transport as a new therapeutic target to enhance the susceptibility of MRSA to β-lactam antibiotics.


Author(s):  
D. Reis ◽  
B. Vian ◽  
J. C. Roland

Wall morphogenesis in higher plants is a problem still open to controversy. Until now the possibility of a transmembrane control and the involvement of microtubules were mostly envisaged. Self-assembly processes have been observed in the case of walls of Chlamydomonas and bacteria. Spontaneous gelling interactions between xanthan and galactomannan from Ceratonia have been analyzed very recently. The present work provides indications that some processes of spontaneous aggregation could occur in higher plants during the formation and expansion of cell wall.Observations were performed on hypocotyl of mung bean (Phaseolus aureus) for which growth characteristics and wall composition have been previously defined.In situ, the walls of actively growing cells (primary walls) show an ordered three-dimensional organization (fig. 1). The wall is typically polylamellate with multifibrillar layers alternately transverse and longitudinal. Between these layers intermediate strata exist in which the orientation of microfibrils progressively rotates. Thus a progressive change in the morphogenetic activity occurs.


Author(s):  
Mary Beth Downs ◽  
Wilson Ribot ◽  
Joseph W. Farchaus

Many bacteria possess surface layers (S-layers) that consist of a two-dimensional protein lattice external to the cell envelope. These S-layer arrays are usually composed of a single species of protein or glycoprotein and are not covalently linked to the underlying cell wall. When removed from the cell, S-layer proteins often reassemble into a lattice identical to that found on the cell, even without supporting cell wall fragments. S-layers exist at the interface between the cell and its environment and probably serve as molecular sieves that exclude destructive macromolecules while allowing passage of small nutrients and secreted proteins. Some S-layers are refractory to ingestion by macrophages and, generally, bacteria are more virulent when S-layers are present.When grown in rich medium under aerobic conditions, B. anthracis strain Delta Sterne-1 secretes large amounts of a proteinaceous extractable antigen 1 (EA1) into the growth medium. Immunocytochemistry with rabbit polyclonal anti-EAl antibody made against the secreted protein and gold-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG showed that EAI was localized at the cell surface (fig 1), which suggests its role as an S-layer protein.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 37-43
Author(s):  
Prof. Teodora P. Popova ◽  
Toshka Petrova ◽  
Ignat Ignatov ◽  
Stoil Karadzhov

The antimicrobial action of the dietary supplement Oxidal® was tested using the classic Bauer and Kirby agar-gel diffusion method. Clinical and reference strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were used in the studies. The tested dietary supplement showed a well-pronounced inhibitory effect against the microbial strains commensurable with that of the broad-spectrum chemotherapeutic agent Enrofloxacin and showed even higher activity than the broad spectrum antibiotic Thiamphenicol. The proven inhibitory effect of the tested dietary supplement against the examined pathogenic bacteria is in accordance with the established clinical effectiveness standards for antimicrobial agents.


BIO-PROTOCOL ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (17) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Pérez-Nadales ◽  
Antonio Di Pietro

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun Cheng ◽  
Jun Yang ◽  
Si-Wei Li ◽  
Guofu Huang ◽  
Chenxi Li ◽  
...  

AbstractHistone deacetylases (HDACs) are involved in tumor progression, and some have been successfully targeted for cancer therapy. The expression of histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4), a class IIa HDAC, was upregulated in our previous microarray screen. However, the role of HDAC4 dysregulation and mechanisms underlying tumor growth and metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remain elusive. Here, we first confirmed that the HDAC4 levels in primary and metastatic NPC tissues were significantly increased compared with those in normal nasopharyngeal epithelial tissues and found that high HDAC4 expression predicted a poor overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Functionally, HDAC4 accelerated cell cycle G1/S transition and induced the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition to promote NPC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro, as well as tumor growth and lung metastasis in vivo. Intriguingly, knockdown of N-CoR abolished the effects of HDAC4 on the invasion and migration abilities of NPC cells. Mechanistically, HDAC3/4 binds to the E-cadherin promoter to repress E-cadherin transcription. We also showed that the HDAC4 inhibitor tasquinimod suppresses tumor growth in NPC. Thus, HDAC4 may be a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target in patients with NPC.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 490
Author(s):  
Martin Sák ◽  
Ivana Dokupilová ◽  
Šarlota Kaňuková ◽  
Michaela Mrkvová ◽  
Daniel Mihálik ◽  
...  

The in vitro cell cultures derived from the grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) have been used for the production of stilbenes treated with different biotic and abiotic elicitors. The red-grape cultivar Váh has been elicited by natural cellulose from Trichoderma viride, the cell wall homogenate from Fusarium oxysporum and synthetic jasmonates. The sodium-orthovanadate, known as an inhibitor of hypersensitive necrotic response in treated plant cells able to enhance production and release of secondary metabolite into the cultivation medium, was used as an abiotic elicitor. Growth of cells and the content of phenolic compounds trans-resveratrol, trans-piceid, δ-viniferin, and ɛ-viniferin, were analyzed in grapevine cells treated by individual elicitors. The highest accumulation of analyzed individual stilbenes, except of trans-piceid has been observed after treatment with the cell wall homogenate from F. oxysporum. Maximum production of trans-resveratrol, δ- and ɛ-viniferins was triggered by treatment with cellulase from T. viride. The accumulation of trans-piceid in cell cultures elicited by this cellulase revealed exactly the opposite effect, with almost three times higher production of trans-resveratrol than that of trans-piceid. This study suggested that both used fungal elicitors can enhance production more effectively than commonly used jasmonates.


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