scholarly journals Insights into the Physiology and Metabolism of a Mycobacterial Cell in an Energy-Compromised State

2019 ◽  
Vol 201 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Varsha Patil ◽  
Vikas Jain

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium that causes tuberculosis, poses a serious threat, especially due to the emergence of drug-resistant strains. M. tuberculosis and other mycobacterial species, such as M. smegmatis, are known to generate an inadequate amount of energy by substrate-level phosphorylation and mandatorily require oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) for their growth and metabolism. Hence, antibacterial drugs, such as bedaquiline, targeting the multisubunit ATP synthase complex, which is required for OXPHOS, have been developed with the aim of eliminating pathogenic mycobacteria. Here, we explored the influence of suboptimal OXPHOS on the physiology and metabolism of M. smegmatis. M. smegmatis harbors two identical copies of atpD, which codes for the β subunit of ATP synthase. We show that upon deletion of one copy of atpD (M. smegmatis ΔatpD), M. smegmatis synthesizes smaller amounts of ATP and enters into an energy-compromised state. The mutant displays remarkable phenotypic and physiological differences from the wild type, such as respiratory slowdown, reduced biofilm formation, lesser amounts of cell envelope polar lipids, and increased antibiotic sensitivity compared to the wild type. Additionally, M. smegmatis ΔatpD overexpresses genes belonging to the dormancy operon, the β-oxidation pathway, and the glyoxylate shunt, suggesting that the mutant adapts to a low energy state by switching to alternative pathways to produce energy. Interestingly, M. smegmatis ΔatpD shows significant phenotypic, metabolic, and physiological similarities with bedaquiline-treated wild-type M. smegmatis. We believe that the identification and characterization of key metabolic pathways functioning during an energy-compromised state will enhance our understanding of bacterial adaptation and survival and will open newer avenues in the form of drug targets that may be used in the treatment of mycobacterial infections. IMPORTANCE M. smegmatis generates an inadequate amount of energy by substrate-level phosphorylation and mandatorily requires oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) for its growth and metabolism. Here, we explored the influence of suboptimal OXPHOS on M. smegmatis physiology and metabolism. M. smegmatis harbors two identical copies of the atpD gene, which codes for the ATP synthase β subunit. Here, we carried out the deletion of only one copy of atpD in M. smegmatis to understand the bacterial survival response in an energy-deprived state. M. smegmatis ΔatpD shows remarkable phenotypic, metabolic, and physiological differences from the wild type. Our study thus establishes M. smegmatis ΔatpD as an energy-compromised mycobacterial strain, highlights the importance of ATP synthase in mycobacterial physiology, and further paves the way for the identification of novel antimycobacterial drug targets.

2005 ◽  
Vol 280 (35) ◽  
pp. 30751-30759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Schwimmer ◽  
Linnka Lefebvre-Legendre ◽  
Malgorzata Rak ◽  
Anne Devin ◽  
Piotr P. Slonimski ◽  
...  

mBio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura C. Ristow ◽  
Vy Tran ◽  
Kevin J. Schwartz ◽  
Lillie Pankratz ◽  
Andrew Mehle ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTTheEscherichia colihemolysin (HlyA) is a pore-forming exotoxin associated with severe complications of human urinary tract infections. HlyA is the prototype of the repeats-in-toxin (RTX) family, which includes LtxA fromAggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, a periodontal pathogen. The existence and requirement for a host cell receptor for these toxins are controversial. We performed an unbiased forward genetic selection in a mutant library of human monocytic cells, U-937, for host factors involved in HlyA cytotoxicity. The top candidate was the β2integrin β subunit. Δβ2cell lines are approximately 100-fold more resistant than wild-type U-937 cells to HlyA, but remain sensitive to HlyA at high concentrations. Similarly, Δβ2cells are more resistant than wild-type U-937 cells to LtxA, as Δβ2cells remain LtxA resistant even at >1,000-fold-higher concentrations of the toxin. Loss of any single β2integrin α subunit, or even all four α subunits together, does not confer resistance to HlyA. HlyA and LtxA bind to the β2subunit, but not to αL, αM, or αXin far-Western blots. Genetic complementation of Δβ2cells with either β2or β2with a cytoplasmic tail deletion restores HlyA and LtxA sensitivity, suggesting that β2integrin signaling is not required for cytotoxicity. Finally, β2mutations do not alter sensitivity to unrelated pore-forming toxins, as wild-type or Δβ2cells are equally sensitive toStaphylococcus aureusα-toxin andProteus mirabilisHpmA. Our studies show two RTX toxins use the β2integrin β subunit alone to facilitate cytotoxicity, but downstream integrin signaling is dispensable.IMPORTANCEUrinary tract infections are one of the most common bacterial infections worldwide. UropathogenicEscherichia colistrains are responsible for more than 80% of community-acquired urinary tract infections. Although we have known for nearly a century that severe infections stemming from urinary tract infections, including kidney or bloodstream infections are associated with expression of a toxin, hemolysin, from uropathogenicEscherichia coli, how hemolysin functions to enhance virulence is unknown. Our research defines the interaction of hemolysin with the β2integrin, a human white cell adhesion molecule, as a potential therapeutic target during urinary tract infections. TheE. colihemolysin is the prototype for a toxin family (RTX family) produced by a wide array of human and animal pathogens. Our work extends to the identification and characterization of the receptor for an additional member of the RTX family, suggesting that this interaction may be broadly conserved throughout the RTX toxin family.


2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (8) ◽  
pp. 4669-4679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nilmar Silvio Moretti ◽  
Leonardo da Silva Augusto ◽  
Tatiana Mordente Clemente ◽  
Raysa Paes Pinto Antunes ◽  
Nobuko Yoshida ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTAcetylation of lysine is a major posttranslational modification of proteins and is catalyzed by lysine acetyltransferases, while lysine deacetylases remove acetyl groups. Among the deacetylases, the sirtuins are NAD+-dependent enzymes, which modulate gene silencing, DNA damage repair, and several metabolic processes. As sirtuin-specific inhibitors have been proposed as drugs for inhibiting the proliferation of tumor cells, in this study, we investigated the role of these inhibitors in the growth and differentiation ofTrypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease. We found that the use of salermide during parasite infection prevented growth and initial multiplication after mammalian cell invasion byT. cruziat concentrations that did not affect host cell viability. In addition,in vivoinfection was partially controlled upon administration of salermide. There are two sirtuins inT. cruzi, TcSir2rp1 and TcSir2rp3. By using specific antibodies and cell lines overexpressing the tagged versions of these enzymes, we found that TcSir2rp1 is localized in the cytosol and TcSir2rp3 in the mitochondrion. TcSir2rp1 overexpression acts to impair parasite growth and differentiation, whereas the wild-type version of TcSir2rp3 and not an enzyme mutated in the active site improves both. The effects observed with TcSir2rp3 were fully reverted by adding salermide, which inhibited TcSir2rp3 expressed inEscherichia coliwith a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) ± standard error of 1 ± 0.5 μM. We concluded that sirtuin inhibitors targeting TcSir2rp3 could be used in Chagas disease chemotherapy.


1998 ◽  
Vol 330 (2) ◽  
pp. 707-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Christian KETCHUM ◽  
Marwan K. AL-SHAWI ◽  
K. Robert NAKAMOTO

We previously demonstrated that the Escherichia coli F0F1-ATP synthase mutation, γM23K, caused increased energy of interaction between γ- and β-subunits which was correlated to inefficient coupling between catalysis and transport [Al-Shawi, Ketchum and Nakamoto (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272, 2300-2306]. Based on these results and the X-ray crystallographic structure of bovine F1-ATPase [Abrahams, Leslie, Lutter and Walker (1994) Nature (London) 370, 621-628] γM23K is believed to form an ionized hydrogen bond with βGlu-381 in the conserved β380DELSEED386 segment. In this report, we further test the role of γ-β-subunit interactions by introducing a series of substitutions for βGlu-381 and γArg-242, the residue which forms a hydrogen bond with βGlu-381 in the wild-type enzyme. βE381A, D, and Q were able to restore efficient coupling when co-expressed with γM23K. All three mutations reversed the increased transition state thermodynamic parameters for steady state ATP hydrolysis caused by γM23K. βE381K by itself caused inefficient coupling, but opposite from the effect of γM23K, the transition state thermodynamic parameters were lower than wild-type. These results suggest that the βE381K mutation perturbs the γ-β-subunit interaction and the local conformation of the β380DELSEED386 segment in a specific way that disrupts the communication of coupling information between transport and catalysis. βE381A, L, K, and R, and γR242L and E mutations perturbed enzyme assembly and stability to varying degrees. These results provide functional evidence that the β380DELSEED386 segment and its interactions with the γ-subunit are involved in the mechanism of coupling.


mSphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo Ramírez-Zavala ◽  
Austin Mottola ◽  
Ines Krüger ◽  
Joachim Morschhäuser

The highly conserved protein kinase SNF1 plays a key role in the metabolic adaptation of the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans , but it is not clear how it regulates its downstream targets in this fungus. We show that the repressor proteins Mig1 and Mig2 are phosphorylated also in cells lacking the catalytic α-subunit Snf1 of the SNF1 complex, but the amounts of both proteins were reduced in wild-type cells when glucose was replaced by alternative carbon sources, pointing to an indirect mechanism of regulation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine D. Shelton ◽  
Matthew B. McNeil ◽  
Julie V. Early ◽  
Thomas R. Ioerger ◽  
Tanya Parish

ABSTRACT Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is an urgent global health problem requiring new drugs, new drug targets, and an increased understanding of antibiotic resistance. We have determined the mode of resistance to be a series of arylamide compounds in M. tuberculosis. We isolated M. tuberculosis resistant mutants to two arylamide compounds which are inhibitory to growth under host-relevant conditions (butyrate as a sole carbon source). Thirteen mutants were characterized, and all had mutations in Rv2571c; mutations included a premature stop codon and frameshifts as well as nonsynonymous polymorphisms. We isolated a further 10 strains with mutations in Rv2571c with resistance. Complementation with a wild-type copy of Rv2571c restored arylamide sensitivity. Overexpression of Rv2571c was toxic in both wild-type and mutant backgrounds. We constructed M. tuberculosis strains with an unmarked deletion of the entire Rv2571c gene by homologous recombination and confirmed that these were resistant to the arylamide series. Rv2571c is a member of the aromatic amino acid transport family and has a fusaric acid resistance domain which is associated with compound transport. Since loss or inactivation of Rv2571c leads to resistance, we propose that Rv2571c is involved in the import of arylamide compounds.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. e00164-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell A. Stefan ◽  
Fatima S. Ugur ◽  
George A. Garcia

ABSTRACTMycobacterium tuberculosisis a critical threat to human health due to the increased prevalence of rifampin resistance (RMPr). Fitness defects have been observed in RMPrmutants with amino acid substitutions in the β subunit of RNA polymerase (RNAP). In clinical isolates, this fitness defect can be ameliorated by the presence of secondary mutations in the double-psi β-barrel (DPBB) domain of the β′ subunit of RNAP. To identify factors contributing to the fitness defects observedin vivo, severalin vitroRNA transcription assays were utilized to probe initiation, elongation, termination, and 3′-RNA hydrolysis with the wild-type and RMPrM. tuberculosisRNAPs. We found that the less prevalent RMPrmutants exhibit significantly poorer termination efficiencies relative to the wild type, an important factor for proper gene expression. We also found that several mechanistic aspects of transcription of the RMPrmutant RNAPs are impacted relative to the wild type. For the clinically most prevalent mutant, the βS450L mutant, these defects are mitigated by the presence of secondary/compensatory mutations in the DPBB domain of the β′ subunit.


1976 ◽  
Vol 160 (3) ◽  
pp. 809-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
D E Griffiths

ATP synthase preparations [complex V, proton-translocatin ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) and oligomycin-sensitive ATPase] contain stoicheiometric amounts of lipoic acid residues (up to 6mol of lipoic acid/mol of ATPase complex) and catalyse net ATP synthesis in an uncoupler-and oligomycin-sensitive reaction utilizing dihydrolipoate, oleoyl-CoA and oleic acid, or in a reaction utilizing oleoyl-S-lipoate. The terminal reactions of oxidative phosphorylation are thus analogous to those of substrate-level phosphorylation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 473 (20) ◽  
pp. 3463-3485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gergely Kacso ◽  
Dora Ravasz ◽  
Judit Doczi ◽  
Beáta Németh ◽  
Ory Madgar ◽  
...  

Succinate-CoA ligase (SUCL) is a heterodimer enzyme composed of Suclg1 α-subunit and a substrate-specific Sucla2 or Suclg2 β-subunit yielding ATP or GTP, respectively. In humans, the deficiency of this enzyme leads to encephalomyopathy with or without methylmalonyl aciduria, in addition to resulting in mitochondrial DNA depletion. We generated mice lacking either one Sucla2 or Suclg2 allele. Sucla2 heterozygote mice exhibited tissue- and age-dependent decreases in Sucla2 expression associated with decreases in ATP-forming activity, but rebound increases in cardiac Suclg2 expression and GTP-forming activity. Bioenergetic parameters including substrate-level phosphorylation (SLP) were not different between wild-type and Sucla2 heterozygote mice unless a submaximal pharmacological inhibition of SUCL was concomitantly present. mtDNA contents were moderately decreased, but blood carnitine esters were significantly elevated. Suclg2 heterozygote mice exhibited decreases in Suclg2 expression but no rebound increases in Sucla2 expression or changes in bioenergetic parameters. Surprisingly, deletion of one Suclg2 allele in Sucla2 heterozygote mice still led to a rebound but protracted increase in Suclg2 expression, yielding double heterozygote mice with no alterations in GTP-forming activity or SLP, but more pronounced changes in mtDNA content and blood carnitine esters, and an increase in succinate dehydrogenase activity. We conclude that a partial reduction in Sucla2 elicits rebound increases in Suclg2 expression, which is sufficiently dominant to overcome even a concomitant deletion of one Suclg2 allele, pleiotropically affecting metabolic pathways associated with SUCL. These results as well as the availability of the transgenic mouse colonies will be of value in understanding SUCL deficiency.


ASN NEURO ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 175909141881826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Chinopoulos ◽  
Thomas N. Seyfried

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and malignant of the primary adult brain cancers. Ultrastructural and biochemical evidence shows that GBM cells exhibit mitochondrial abnormalities incompatible with energy production through oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos). Under such conditions, the mitochondrial F0-F1 ATP synthase operates in reverse at the expense of ATP hydrolysis to maintain a moderate membrane potential. Moreover, expression of the dimeric M2 isoform of pyruvate kinase in GBM results in diminished ATP output, precluding a significant ATP production from glycolysis. If ATP synthesis through both glycolysis and OxPhos was impeded, then where would GBM cells obtain high-energy phosphates for growth and invasion? Literature is reviewed suggesting that the succinate-CoA ligase reaction in the tricarboxylic acid cycle can substantiate sufficient ATP through mitochondrial substrate-level phosphorylation (mSLP) to maintain GBM growth when OxPhos is impaired. Production of high-energy phosphates would be supported by glutaminolysis—a hallmark of GBM metabolism—through the sequential conversion of glutamine → glutamate → alpha-ketoglutarate → succinyl CoA → succinate. Equally important, provision of ATP through mSLP would maintain the adenine nucleotide translocase in forward mode, thus preventing the reverse-operating F0-F1 ATP synthase from depleting cytosolic ATP reserves. Because glucose and glutamine are the primary fuels driving the rapid growth of GBM and most tumors for that matter, simultaneous restriction of these two substrates or inhibition of mSLP should diminish cancer viability, growth, and invasion.


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