scholarly journals Virulence of the Melioidosis Pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei Requires the Oxidoreductase Membrane Protein DsbB

2018 ◽  
Vol 86 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Róisín M. McMahon ◽  
Philip M. Ireland ◽  
Derek S. Sarovich ◽  
Guillaume Petit ◽  
Christopher H. Jenkins ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The naturally antibiotic-resistant bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis, a disease with stubbornly high mortality and a complex, protracted treatment regimen. The worldwide incidence of melioidosis is likely grossly underreported, though it is known to be highly endemic in northern Australia and Southeast Asia. Bacterial disulfide bond (DSB) proteins catalyze the oxidative folding and isomerization of disulfide bonds in substrate proteins. In the present study, we demonstrate that B. pseudomallei membrane protein disulfide bond protein B (BpsDsbB) forms a functional redox relay with the previously characterized virulence mediator B. pseudomallei disulfide bond protein A (BpsDsbA). Genomic analysis of diverse B. pseudomallei clinical isolates demonstrated that dsbB is a highly conserved core gene. Critically, we show that DsbB is required for virulence in B. pseudomallei . A panel of B. pseudomallei dsbB deletion strains (K96243, 576, MSHR2511, MSHR0305b, and MSHR5858) were phenotypically diverse according to the results of in vitro assays that assess hallmarks of virulence. Irrespective of their in vitro virulence phenotypes, two deletion strains were attenuated in a BALB/c mouse model of infection. A crystal structure of a DsbB-derived peptide complexed with BpsDsbA provides the first molecular characterization of their interaction. This work contributes to our broader understanding of DSB redox biology and will support the design of antimicrobial drugs active against this important family of bacterial virulence targets.

2012 ◽  
Vol 80 (11) ◽  
pp. 3748-3760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nore Ojogun ◽  
Amandeep Kahlon ◽  
Stephanie A. Ragland ◽  
Matthew J. Troese ◽  
Juliana E. Mastronunzio ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTAnaplasma phagocytophilumis the tick-transmitted obligate intracellular bacterium that causes human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA).A. phagocytophilumbinding to sialyl Lewis x (sLex) and other sialylated glycans that decorate P selectin glycoprotein 1 (PSGL-1) and other glycoproteins is critical for infection of mammalian host cells. Here, we demonstrate the importance ofA. phagocytophilumouter membrane protein A (OmpA) APH_0338 in infection of mammalian host cells. OmpA is transcriptionally induced during transmission feeding ofA. phagocytophilum-infected ticks on mice and is upregulated during invasion of HL-60 cells. OmpA is presented on the pathogen's surface. Sera from HGA patients and experimentally infected mice recognize recombinant OmpA. Pretreatment ofA. phagocytophilumorganisms with OmpA antiserum reduces their abilities to infect HL-60 cells. The OmpA N-terminal region is predicted to contain the protein's extracellular domain. GlutathioneS-transferase (GST)-tagged versions of OmpA and OmpA amino acids 19 to 74 (OmpA19-74) but not OmpA75-205bind to, and competitively inhibitA. phagocytophiluminfection of, host cells. Pretreatment of host cells with sialidase or trypsin reduces or nearly eliminates, respectively, GST-OmpA adhesion. Therefore, OmpA interacts with sialylated glycoproteins. This study identifies the firstA. phagocytophilumadhesin-receptor pair and delineates the region of OmpA that is critical for infection.


2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (13) ◽  
pp. 6464-6476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao-Cheng Ching ◽  
Che-Sheng Chung ◽  
Cheng-Yen Huang ◽  
Yu Hsia ◽  
Yin-Liang Tang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Vaccinia virus A26 protein is an envelope protein of the intracellular mature virus (IMV) of vaccinia virus. A mutant A26 protein with a truncation of the 74 C-terminal amino acids was expressed in infected cells but failed to be incorporated into IMV (W. L. Chiu, C. L. Lin, M. H. Yang, D. L. Tzou, and W. Chang, J. Virol 81:2149-2157, 2007). Here, we demonstrate that A27 protein formed a protein complex with the full-length form but not with the truncated form of A26 protein in infected cells as well as in IMV. The formation of the A26-A27 protein complex occurred prior to virion assembly and did not require another A27-binding protein, A17 protein, in the infected cells. A26 protein contains six cysteine residues, and in vitro mutagenesis showed that Cys441 and Cys442 mediated intermolecular disulfide bonds with Cys71 and Cys72 of viral A27 protein, whereas Cys43 and Cys342 mediated intramolecular disulfide bonds. A26 and A27 proteins formed disulfide-linked complexes in transfected 293T cells, showing that the intermolecular disulfide bond formation did not depend on viral redox pathways. Finally, using cell fusion from within and fusion from without, we demonstrate that cell surface glycosaminoglycan is important for virus-cell fusion and that A26 protein, by forming complexes with A27 protein, partially suppresses fusion.


1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maire E. Percy ◽  
Lebe Chang ◽  
Catherine Demoliou ◽  
Reuben Baumal

After 5 years of subcutaneous transfer in Balb/C mice, our MOPC 173 myeloma tumour line (originally an IgG2a,κ H2L2-producer) exclusively synthesized an unusual IgG2b,κ protein lacking inter-heavy (H) chain disulfide bonds. This protein was designated MOPC 173B. On sodium dodecyl sulfate – polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, it migrated with an apparent molecular weight of 77 000; following complete reduction and alkylation, the mobilities of its constituent H and light (L) chains were found to differ slightly from those of MOPC 173 H2L2. MOPC 173B was serologically identical to another typical IgG2b,κ myeloma protein, MOPC 195, and peptide mapping studies showed that it possessed only the inter H–L disulfide bond characteristic of typical IgG2b,κ proteins. In a nondissociating solvent, the sedimentation coefficient of the protein was 6.3S even at concentrations as low as 0.2 mg/ml, indicating that noncovalent interactions existed between two half-molecule subunits. Since this unusual IgG myeloma protein contained only a single category of interchain disulfide bridge, the inter H–L bond, it was an ideal model system for characterization of the kinetics of formation and reduction of interchain disulfide bonds. The kinetics of the glutathione-catalyzed reoxidation of the inter H–L disulfide bridge in MOPC 173B followed an apparent second-order rate equation. In contrast, reduction of its inter H–L bridge under anaerobic conditions with dithioerythritol in excess, was strictly a first-order process and not a simple reversal of the reoxidation. These studies provide the basis for the more complex mathematical models that describe the reoxidation and reduction of typical immunoglobulin molecules.


2015 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 701-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine G. Moule ◽  
Natasha Spink ◽  
Sam Willcocks ◽  
Jiali Lim ◽  
José Afonso Guerra-Assunção ◽  
...  

Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, has complex and poorly understood extracellular and intracellular lifestyles. We used transposon-directed insertion site sequencing (TraDIS) to retrospectively analyze a transposon library that had previously been screened through a BALB/c mouse model to identify genes important for growth and survivalin vivo. This allowed us to identify the insertion sites and phenotypes of negatively selected mutants that were previously overlooked due to technical constraints. All 23 unique genes identified in the original screen were confirmed by TraDIS, and an additional 105 mutants with various degrees of attenuationin vivowere identified. Five of the newly identified genes were chosen for further characterization, and clean, unmarkedbpsl2248,tex,rpiR,bpsl1728, andbpss1528deletion mutants were constructed from the wild-type strain K96243. Each of these mutants was testedin vitroandin vivoto confirm their attenuated phenotypes and investigate the nature of the attenuation. Our results confirm that we have identified new genes important toin vivovirulence with roles in different stages ofB. pseudomalleipathogenesis, including extracellular and intracellular survival. Of particular interest, deletion of the transcription accessory protein Tex was shown to be highly attenuating, and thetexmutant was capable of providing protective immunity against challenge with wild-typeB. pseudomallei, suggesting that the genes identified in our TraDIS screen have the potential to be investigated as live vaccine candidates.


2018 ◽  
Vol 200 (9) ◽  
pp. e00783-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Truc Thanh Luong ◽  
Reyhaneh Tirgar ◽  
Melissa E. Reardon-Robinson ◽  
Andrzej Joachimiak ◽  
Jerzy Osipiuk ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe actinobacteriumCorynebacterium matruchotiihas been implicated in nucleation of oral microbial consortia leading to biofilm formation. Due to the lack of genetic tools, little is known about basic cellular processes, including protein secretion and folding, in this organism. We report here a survey of theC. matruchotiigenome, which encodes a large number of exported proteins containing paired cysteine residues, and identified an oxidoreductase that is highly homologous to theCorynebacterium diphtheriaethiol-disulfide oxidoreductase MdbA (MdbACd). Crystallization studies uncovered that the 1.2-Å resolution structure ofC. matruchotiiMdbA (MdbACm) possesses two conserved features found in actinobacterial MdbA enzymes, a thioredoxin-like fold and an extended α-helical domain. By reconstituting the disulfide bond-forming machinein vitro, we demonstrated that MdbACmcatalyzes disulfide bond formation within the actinobacterial pilin FimA. A new gene deletion method supported thatmdbAis essential inC. matruchotii. Remarkably, heterologous expression of MdbACmin theC. diphtheriaeΔmdbAmutant rescued its known defects in cell growth and morphology, toxin production, and pilus assembly, and this thiol-disulfide oxidoreductase activity required the catalytic motif CXXC. Altogether, the results suggest that MdbACmis a major thiol-disulfide oxidoreductase, which likely mediates posttranslocational protein folding inC. matruchotiiby a mechanism that is conserved inActinobacteria.IMPORTANCEThe actinobacteriumCorynebacterium matruchotiihas been implicated in the development of oral biofilms or dental plaque; however, little is known about the basic cellular processes in this organism. We report here a high-resolution structure of aC. matruchotiioxidoreductase that is highly homologous to theCorynebacterium diphtheriaethiol-disulfide oxidoreductase MdbA. By biochemical analysis, we demonstrated thatC. matruchotiiMdbA catalyzes disulfide bond formationin vitro. Furthermore, a new gene deletion method revealed that deletion ofmdbAis lethal inC. matruchotii. Remarkably,C. matruchotiiMdbA can replaceC. diphtheriaeMdbA to maintain normal cell growth and morphology, toxin production, and pilus assembly. Overall, our studies support the hypothesis thatC. matruchotiiutilizes MdbA as a major oxidoreductase to catalyze oxidative protein folding.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn McLean ◽  
Duankun Lee ◽  
Elizabeth A. Holmes ◽  
Kelsi Penewit ◽  
Adam Waalkes ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTInhaled aztreonam is increasingly used for chronicPseudomonas aeruginosasuppression in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), but the potential for that organism to evolve aztreonam resistance remains incompletely explored. Here, we performed genomic analysis of clonally related pre- and posttreatment CF clinical isolate pairs to identify genes that are under positive selection during aztreonam therapyin vivo. We identified 16 frequently mutated genes associated with aztreonam resistance, the most prevalent beingftsIandampC, and 13 of which increased aztreonam resistance when introduced as single gene transposon mutants. Several previously implicated aztreonam resistance genes were found to be under positive selection in clinical isolates even in the absence of inhaled aztreonam exposure, indicating that other selective pressures in the cystic fibrosis airway can promote aztreonam resistance. Given its potential to confer plasmid-mediated resistance, we further characterized mutantampCalleles and performed artificial evolution ofampCfor maximal activity against aztreonam. We found that naturally occurringampCmutants conferred variably increased resistance to aztreonam (2- to 64-fold) and other β-lactam agents but that its maximal evolutionary capacity for hydrolyzing aztreonam was considerably higher (512- to 1,024-fold increases) and was achieved while maintaining or increasing resistance to other drugs. These studies implicate novel chromosomal aztreonam resistance determinants while highlighting that different mutations are favored during selectionin vivoandin vitro, show thatampChas a high maximal potential to hydrolyze aztreonam, and provide an approach to disambiguate mutations promoting specific resistance phenotypes from those more generally increasing bacterial fitnessin vivo.


2013 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 1121-1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristine G. Campos ◽  
Luke Borst ◽  
Peggy A. Cotter

ABSTRACTBurkholderia pseudomalleiis a tier 1 select agent, and the causative agent of melioidosis, a disease with effects ranging from chronic abscesses to fulminant pneumonia and septic shock, which can be rapidly fatal. Autotransporters (ATs) are outer membrane proteins belonging to the type V secretion system family, and many have been shown to play crucial roles in pathogenesis. The open reading frame Bp1026b_II1054 (bcaA) inB. pseudomalleistrain 1026b is predicted to encode a classical autotransporter protein with an approximately 80-kDa passenger domain that contains a subtilisin-related domain. Immediately 3′ tobcaAis Bp11026_II1055 (bcaB), which encodes a putative prolyl 4-hydroxylase. To investigate the role of these genes in pathogenesis, large in-frame deletion mutations ofbcaAandbcaBwere constructed in strain Bp340, an efflux pump mutant derivative of the melioidosis clinical isolate 1026b. Comparison of Bp340ΔbcaAand Bp340ΔbcaBmutants to wild-typeB. pseudomalleiin vitrodemonstrated similar levels of adherence to A549 lung epithelial cells, but the mutant strains were defective in their ability to invade these cells and to form plaques. In a BALB/c mouse model of intranasal infection, similar bacterial burdens were observed after 48 h in the lungs and liver of mice infected with Bp340ΔbcaA, Bp340ΔbcaB, and wild-type bacteria. However, significantly fewer bacteria were recovered from the spleen of Bp340ΔbcaA-infected mice, supporting the idea of a role for this AT in dissemination or in survival in the passage from the site of infection to the spleen.


2015 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 2884-2894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eden P. Go ◽  
Albert Cupo ◽  
Rajesh Ringe ◽  
Pavel Pugach ◽  
John P. Moore ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe investigated whether there is any association between a native-like conformation and the presence of only the canonical (i.e., native) disulfide bonds in the gp120 subunits of a soluble recombinant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope (Env) glycoprotein. We used a mass spectrometry (MS)-based method to map the disulfide bonds present in nonnative uncleaved gp140 proteins and native-like SOSIP.664 trimers based on the BG505envgene. Our results show that uncleaved gp140 proteins were not homogeneous, in that substantial subpopulations (20 to 80%) contained aberrant disulfide bonds. In contrast, the gp120 subunits of the native-like SOSIP.664 trimer almost exclusively retained the canonical disulfide bond pattern. We also observed that the purification method could influence the proportion of an Env protein population that contained aberrant disulfide bonds. We infer that gp140 proteins may always contain a variable but substantial proportion of aberrant disulfide bonds but that the impact of this problem can be minimized via design and/or purification strategies that yield native-like trimers. The same factors may also be relevant to the production and purification of monomeric gp120 proteins that are free of aberrant disulfide bonds.IMPORTANCEIt is widely thought that a successful HIV-1 vaccine will include a recombinant form of the Env protein, a trimer located on the virion surface. To increase yield and simplify purification, Env proteins are often made in truncated, soluble forms. A consequence, however, can be the loss of the native conformation concomitant with the virion-associated trimer. Moreover, some soluble recombinant Env proteins contain aberrant disulfide bonds that are not expected to be present in the native trimer. To assess whether these observations are linked, to determine the extent of disulfide bond scrambling, and to understand why scrambling occurs, we determined the disulfide bond profiles of two soluble Env proteins with different designs that are being assessed as vaccine candidates. We found that uncleaved gp140 forms heterogeneous mixtures in which aberrant disulfide bonds abound. In contrast, BG505 SOSIP.664 trimers are more homogeneous, native-like entities that contain predominantly the native disulfide bond profile.


mBio ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott D. Kobayashi ◽  
Frank R. DeLeo

ABSTRACTStaphylococcus aureusis a prominent cause of human infections worldwide and is notorious for its ability to acquire resistance to antibiotics. Methicillin-resistantS. aureus(MRSA), in particular, is endemic in hospitals and is the most frequent cause of community-associated bacterial infections in the United States. Inasmuch as treatment options for severe MRSA infections are limited, there is need for a vaccine that protects against such infections. However, recent efforts to generate a staphylococcal vaccine have met with little success in human clinical trials. These failures are somewhat puzzling, since the vaccine antigens tested promote opsonophagocytosisin vitroand confer protection in animal infection models. One possibility is that the pathogen inhibits (and/or fails to elicit) the development of protective immunity in humans. Indeed,S. aureusproduces numerous molecules that can potentially promote immune evasion, including protein A (SpA), an immunoglobulin (Ig)-binding protein present on the bacterial surface and freely secreted into the extracellular environment. SpA binds the Fc region of antibody and the Fab regions of the B-cell receptor, processes that are known to block opsonophagocytosis and cause B-cell deathin vitro. In a recent study, Falugi et al. [F. Falugi, H. K. Kim, D. M. Missiakas, and O. Schneewind, mBio 4(5):e00575-13, 2013] showed that vaccination withspamutantS. aureusstrains lacking antibody Fc- and/or Fab-binding capacity protects against subsequent challenge with the USA300 epidemic strain. The findings provide strong support for the idea that SpA promotesS. aureusimmune evasionin vivoand form the foundation for a new approach in our efforts to develop a vaccine that prevents severeS. aureusinfections.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Vezina ◽  
Guillaume A. Petit ◽  
Jennifer L. Martin ◽  
Maria A. Halili

AbstractIdentification of bacterial virulence factors is critical for understanding disease pathogenesis, drug discovery and vaccine development. In this study we used two approaches to predict virulence factors of Burkholderia pseudomallei, the Gram-negative bacterium that causes melioidosis. B. pseudomallei is naturally antibiotic resistant and there are no melioidosis vaccines. To identify B. pseudomallei protein targets for drug discovery and vaccine development, we chose to search for substrates of the B. pseudomallei periplasmic disulfide bond forming protein A (DsbA). DsbA introduces disulfide bonds into extra-cytoplasmic proteins and is essential for virulence in many Gram-negative organism, including B. pseudomallei. The first approach to identify B. pseudomallei DsbA virulence factor substrates was a large-scale genomic analysis of 511 unique B. pseudomallei disease-associated strains. This yielded 4,496 core gene products, of which we hypothesise 263 are DsbA substrates. Manual curation of the 263 mature proteins yielded 73 associated with disease pathogenesis or virulence. These were screened for structural homologues to predict potential B-cell epitopes. In the second approach, we searched the B. pseudomallei genome for homologues of the more than 90 known DsbA substrates in other bacteria. Using this approach, we identified 15 potential B. pseudomallei DsbA virulence factor substrates. Two putative B. pseudomallei virulence factors were identified by both methods: homologues of PenI family β-lactamase and of succinate dehydrogenase flavoprotein subunit. These two proteins could serve as high priority targets for future B. pseudomallei virulence factor characterization.


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