scholarly journals Molecular mechanisms of master regulator VqsM mediating quorum-sensing and antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (16) ◽  
pp. 10307-10320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haihua Liang ◽  
Xin Deng ◽  
Xuefeng Li ◽  
Yan Ye ◽  
Min Wu
Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1620
Author(s):  
Victor Markus ◽  
Karina Golberg ◽  
Kerem Teralı ◽  
Nazmi Ozer ◽  
Esti Kramarsky-Winter ◽  
...  

Quorum sensing (QS), a sophisticated system of bacterial communication that depends on population density, is employed by many pathogenic bacteria to regulate virulence. In view of the current reality of antibiotic resistance, it is expected that interfering with QS can address bacterial pathogenicity without stimulating the incidence of resistance. Thus, harnessing QS inhibitors has been considered a promising approach to overriding bacterial infections and combating antibiotic resistance that has become a major threat to public healthcare around the globe. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most frequent multidrug-resistant bacteria that utilize QS to control virulence. Many natural compounds, including furanones, have demonstrated strong inhibitory effects on several pathogens via blocking or attenuating QS. While the natural furanones show no activity against P. aeruginosa, furanone C-30, a brominated derivative of natural furanone compounds, has been reported to be a potent inhibitor of the QS system of the notorious opportunistic pathogen. In the present study, we assess the molecular targets and mode of action of furanone C-30 on P. aeruginosa QS system. Our results suggest that furanone C-30 binds to LasR at the ligand-binding site but fails to establish interactions with the residues crucial for the protein’s productive conformational changes and folding, thus rendering the protein dysfunctional. We also show that furanone C-30 inhibits RhlR, independent of LasR, suggesting a complex mechanism for the agent beyond what is known to date.


10.3823/846 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelraouf A Elmanama ◽  
Suhaila Al-Sheboul ◽  
Renad I Abu-Dan

Abstract Pseudomonas aeruginosa threatens patient’s care. It is considered as the most complicated health care associated pathogen to be eliminated from infection site. The biofilm forming ability of P. aeruginosa, being a major virulence factor for most pathogenic microorganism, protects it from host immunity and contribute to antibiotic resistance of this organism. It is estimated that about 80% of infectious diseases are due to biofilm mode of growth. Biofilm forming ability of bacteria imparts antimicrobial resistance that leads to many persistent and chronic bacterial infections. The world is becoming increasingly under the threat of entering the “post-antibiotic era”, an era in which the rate of death from bacterial infections is higher than from cancer. This review focus on P. aeruginosa biofilm forming ability; definition, developmental stages, and significance. In addition, the quorum sensing and the antibiotic resistance of this pathogen is discussed. Keywords: Biofilm; bacterial adhesion; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; antimicrobial resistance; quorum sensing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 2238-2251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Hernando-Amado ◽  
Fernando Sanz-García ◽  
José Luis Martínez

Abstract Different works have explored independently the evolution toward antibiotic resistance and the role of eco-adaptive mutations in the adaptation to a new habitat (as the infected host) of bacterial pathogens. However, knowledge about the connection between both processes is still limited. We address this issue by comparing the evolutionary trajectories toward antibiotic resistance of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa lasR defective mutant and its parental wild-type strain, when growing in presence of two ribosome-targeting antibiotics. Quorum-sensing lasR defective mutants are selected in P. aeruginosa populations causing chronic infections. Further, we observed they are also selected in vitro as a first adaptation for growing in culture medium. By using experimental evolution and whole-genome sequencing, we found that the evolutionary trajectories of P. aeruginosa in presence of these antibiotics are different in lasR defective and in wild-type backgrounds, both at the phenotypic and the genotypic levels. Recreation of a set of mutants in both genomic backgrounds (either wild type or lasR defective) allowed us to determine the existence of negative epistatic interactions between lasR and antibiotic resistance determinants. These epistatic interactions could lead to mutual contingency in the evolution of antibiotic resistance when P. aeruginosa colonizes a new habitat in presence of antibiotics. If lasR mutants are selected first, this would constraint antibiotic resistance evolution. Conversely, when resistance mutations (at least those studied in the present work) are selected, lasR mutants may not be selected in presence of antibiotics. These results underlie the importance of contingency and epistatic interactions in modulating antibiotic resistance evolution.


2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 987-993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Xiang Yang ◽  
Zhen-Hua Xu ◽  
Yu-Qian Zhang ◽  
Jing Tian ◽  
Li-Xing Weng ◽  
...  

2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 640-646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexei Brooun ◽  
Songhua Liu ◽  
Kim Lewis

ABSTRACT Bacterial biofilms show enormous levels of antibiotic resistance, but little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Multidrug resistance pumps (MDRs) are responsible for the extrusion of chemically unrelated antimicrobials from the bacterial cell. Contribution of the MDR-mediated efflux to antibiotic resistance ofPseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms was examined by using strains overexpressing and lacking the MexAB-OprM pump. Resistance ofP. aeruginosa biofilms to ofloxacin was dependent on the expression of MexAB-OprM but only in the low concentration range. Unexpectedly, biofilm resistance to ciprofloxacin, another substrate of MexAB-OprM, did not depend on the presence of this pump. Dose-dependent killing indicated the presence of a small “superresistant” cell fraction. This fraction was primarily responsible for very high resistance of P. aeruginosa biofilms to quinolones. Bacterial cells recovered from a biofilm and tested under nongrowing conditions with tobramycin exhibited higher resistance levels than planktonic cells but lower levels than cells of an intact biofilm.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Alcalde-Rico ◽  
Jorge Olivares-Pacheco ◽  
Nigel Halliday ◽  
Miguel Cámara ◽  
José Luis Martínez

AbstractMultidrug efflux pumps are key determinants for antibiotic resistance. Besides contributing to intrinsic resistance, their overexpression is frequently a cause of the increased resistance acquired during therapy. In addition to their role in resistance to antimicrobials, efflux pumps are ancient and conserved elements with relevant roles in different aspects of the bacterial physiology. It is then conceivable that their overexpression might cause a burden that will be translated into a fitness cost associated with the acquisition of resistance. In the case of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, it has been stated that overexpression of different efflux pumps is linked to the impairment of the quorum sensing (QS) response. Nevertheless, the causes of such impairment are different for each analyzed efflux pump. In this study, we performed an in-depth analysis of the QS-mediated response of a P. aeruginosa antibiotic resistant mutant that overexpresses MexAB-OprM. Although previous work claimed that this efflux pump extrudes the QS signal 3-oxo-C12-HSL, we show otherwise. Our results suggest that the observed attenuation in the QS response when overexpressing this pump is related to a reduced availability of intracellular octanoate, one of the precursors of the biosynthesis of alkyl quinolone QS signals. The overexpression of other P. aeruginosa efflux pumps has been shown to also cause a reduction in intracellular levels of QS signals or their precursors impacting on these signaling mechanisms. However, the molecules involved are distinct for each efflux pump, indicating that they can differentially contribute to the P. aeruginosa quorum sensing homeostasis.ImportanceThe success of bacterial pathogens to cause disease relies on their virulence capabilities as well as in their resistance to antibiotic interventions. In the case of the important nosocomial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, multidrug efflux pumps participate in the resistance/virulence crosstalk since, besides contributing to antibiotic resistance, they can also modulate the quorum sensing (QS) response. We show that mutants overexpressing the MexAB-OprM efflux pump, present an impaired QS response due to the reduced availability of the QS signal precursor octanoate, not because they extrude, as previously stated, the QS signal 3-oxo-C12-HSL. Together with previous studies, this indicates that, although the consequences of overexpressing efflux pumps are similar (impaired QS response), the mechanisms are different. This ‘apparent redundancy’ of RND efflux systems can be understood as a P. aeruginosa strategy to keep the robustness of the QS regulatory network and modulate its output in response to different signals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Bahar-e- Mustafa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most important nosocomial pathogens associated with a variety of medical and veterinary infections and therefore, it presents a major public health threat. Different classes of antibiotics are being used to treat its infections which are increasing selective pressure to multi-drug resistance development. Resistance to antibiotics in P. aeruginosa is due to many of the common and unique mechanisms which include: reducing membrane permeability, modification or inactivation of antibiotics, alteration of enzymes, modification of target sites and over-expression of efflux systems. Over or under expression of the genes of porin channels and components of efflux systems play a major role in the resistance mechanisms of P. aeruginosa. To overcome the problem of the emergence of antibiotic resistance, many new strategies are being employed to control infections caused by P. aeruginosa. These include the use of herbs/medicinal plants and phage therapy. With the advent of modern technology, the molecular mechanisms of these alternative therapies are being elucidated and may be used in future to treat P. aeruginosa infections in humans and veterinary clinics. This review thus highlights the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance of P. aeruginosa against the commonly used antimicrobials and also some alternative strategies to control P. aeruginosa infection. © 2021 Friends Science Publishers


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Congjuan Xu ◽  
Huimin Liu ◽  
Xiaolei Pan ◽  
Zhenzhen Ma ◽  
Dan Wang ◽  
...  

Treatment of infections by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is difficult due to its high intrinsic and acquired antibiotic resistance. Upon colonization in the human hosts, P. aeruginosa accumulates genetic mutations that confer the bacterium antibiotic resistance and ability to better live in the host environment. Characterizing the evolutionary traits would provide important insights into the development of effective combinatory antibiotic therapies to cure P. aeruginosa infections. In this work, we performed a detailed analysis of the molecular mechanisms by which a clinical isolate (CSP18) yields a ciprofloxacin-resistant derivative (CRP42). Genomic DNA re-sequencing and RNAseq were carried out to compare the genomic mutational signature and transcriptional profiles between the two isolates. The results indicated that D87G mutation in GyrA, together with MexEF-OprN hyper-expression caused by F7S mutation in MexS, was responsible for the increased resistance to ciprofloxacin in the isolate CRP42. Further simulation of CRP42 by gene editing in CSP18 demonstrated that D87G mutation in GyrA rendered CSP18 a fourfold increase in minimum inhibitory concentration against ciprofloxacin, while F7S mutation in MexS conferred an additional eightfold increase. Our experimental results demonstrate for the first time that the clinically relevant F7S point mutation in MexS results in hyper-expression of the mexEF-oprN and thus confers P. aeruginosa resistance to ciprofloxacin.


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