scholarly journals Flagella methylation promotes bacterial adhesion and host cell invasion

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia A. Horstmann ◽  
Michele Lunelli ◽  
Hélène Cazzola ◽  
Johannes Heidemann ◽  
Caroline Kühne ◽  
...  

AbstractThe flagellum is the motility device of many bacteria and the long external filament is made of several thousand copies of a single protein, flagellin. While posttranslational modifications of flagellin are common among bacterial pathogens, the role of lysine methylation remained unknown. Here, we show that both flagellins of Salmonella enterica, FliC and FljB, are methylated at surface-exposed lysine residues. A Salmonella mutant deficient in flagellin methylation was outcompeted for gut colonization in a gastroenteritis mouse model. In support, methylation of flagellin promoted invasion of epithelial cells in vitro. Lysine methylation increased the surface hydrophobicity of flagellin and enhanced flagella-dependent adhesion of Salmonella to phosphatidylcholine vesicles and epithelial cells. In summary, posttranslational flagellin methylation constitutes a novel mechanism how flagellated bacteria facilitate adhesion to hydrophobic host cell surfaces and thereby contributes to efficient gut colonization and successful infection of the host.

2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1643-1651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Tiefenbach ◽  
Natalia Novac ◽  
Miryam Ducasse ◽  
Maresa Eck ◽  
Frauke Melchior ◽  
...  

In the absence of ligands the corepressor N-CoR mediates transcriptional repression by some nuclear hormone receptors. Several protein–protein interactions of N-CoR are known, of which mainly complex formation with histone deacetylases (HDACs) leads to the repression of target genes. On the other hand, the role of posttranslational modifications in corepressor function is not well established. Here, we show that N-CoR is modified by Sumo-1. We found SUMO-E2–conjugating enzyme Ubc9 and SUMO-E3 ligase Pias1 as novel N-CoR interaction partners. The SANT1 domain of N-CoR was found to mediate this interaction. We show that K152, K1117, and K1330 of N-CoR can be conjugated to SUMO and that mutation of all sites is necessary to fully block SUMOylation in vitro. Because these lysine residues are located within repression domains I and III, respectively, we investigated a possible correlation between the functions of the repression domains and SUMOylation. Coexpression of Ubc9 protein resulted in enhanced N-CoR–dependent transcriptional repression. Studies using SUMOylation-deficient N-CoR RDI mutants suggest that SUMO modification contributes to repression by N-CoR. Mutation of K152 to R in RD1, for example, not only significantly reduced repression of a reporter gene, but also abolished the effect of Ubc9 on transcriptional repression.


2004 ◽  
Vol 287 (2) ◽  
pp. L448-L453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Geiser ◽  
Masanobu Ishigaki ◽  
Coretta van Leer ◽  
Michael A. Matthay ◽  
V. Courtney Broaddus

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are released into the alveolar space and contribute to alveolar epithelial damage in patients with acute lung injury. However, the role of ROS in alveolar repair is not known. We studied the effect of ROS in our in vitro wound healing model using either human A549 alveolar epithelial cells or primary distal lung epithelial cells. We found that H2O2 inhibited alveolar epithelial repair in a concentration-dependent manner. At similar concentrations, H2O2 also induced apoptosis, an effect seen particularly at the edge of the wound, leading us to hypothesize that apoptosis contributes to H2O2-induced inhibition of wound repair. To learn the role of apoptosis, we blocked caspases with the pan-caspase inhibitor N-benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp (zVAD). In the presence of H2O2, zVAD inhibited apoptosis, particularly at the wound edge and, most importantly, maintained alveolar epithelial wound repair. In H2O2-exposed cells, zVAD also maintained cell viability as judged by improved cell spreading and/or migration at the wound edge and by a more normal mitochondrial potential difference compared with cells not treated with zVAD. In conclusion, H2O2 inhibits alveolar epithelial wound repair in large part by induction of apoptosis. Inhibition of apoptosis can maintain wound repair and cell viability in the face of ROS. Inhibiting apoptosis may be a promising new approach to improve repair of the alveolar epithelium in patients with acute lung injury.


2011 ◽  
Vol 301 (4) ◽  
pp. F793-F801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abolfazl Zarjou ◽  
Shanzhong Yang ◽  
Edward Abraham ◽  
Anupam Agarwal ◽  
Gang Liu

Renal fibrosis is a final stage of many forms of kidney disease and leads to impairment of kidney function. The molecular pathogenesis of renal fibrosis is currently not well-understood. microRNAs (miRNAs) are important players in initiation and progression of many pathologic processes including diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. However, the role of miRNAs in kidney injury and repair is not well-characterized. In the present study, we found a unique miRNA signature associated with unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO)-induced renal fibrosis. We found altered expression in UUO kidneys of miRNAs that have been shown to be responsive to stimulation by transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 or TNF-α. Among these miRNAs, miR-21 demonstrated the greatest increase in UUO kidneys. The enhanced expression of miR-21 was located mainly in distal tubular epithelial cells. miR-21 expression was upregulated in response to treatment with TGF-β1 or TNF-α in human renal tubular epithelial cells in vitro. Furthermore, we found that blocking miR-21 in vivo attenuated UUO-induced renal fibrosis, presumably through diminishing the expression of profibrotic proteins and reducing infiltration of inflammatory macrophages in UUO kidneys. Our data suggest that targeting specific miRNAs could be a novel therapeutic approach to treat renal fibrosis.


2004 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 1767-1774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz de Astorza ◽  
Guadalupe Cortés ◽  
Catalina Crespí ◽  
Carles Saus ◽  
José María Rojo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The airway epithelium represents a primary site for contact between microbes and their hosts. To assess the role of complement in this event, we studied the interaction between the A549 cell line derived from human alveolar epithelial cells and a major nosocomial pathogen, Klebsiella pneumoniae, in the presence of serum. In vitro, we found that C3 opsonization of poorly encapsulated K. pneumoniae clinical isolates and an unencapsulated mutant enhanced dramatically bacterial internalization by A549 epithelial cells compared to highly encapsulated clinical isolates. Local complement components (either present in the human bronchoalveolar lavage or produced by A549 epithelial cells) were sufficient to opsonize K. pneumoniae. CD46 could competitively inhibit the internalization of K. pneumoniae by the epithelial cells, suggesting that CD46 is a receptor for the binding of complement-opsonized K. pneumoniae to these cells. We observed that poorly encapsulated strains appeared into the alveolar epithelial cells in vivo but that (by contrast) they were completely avirulent in a mouse model of pneumonia compared to the highly encapsulated strains. Our results show that bacterial opsonization by complement enhances the internalization of the avirulent microorganisms by nonphagocytic cells such as A549 epithelial cells and allows an efficient innate defense.


2000 ◽  
Vol 113 (16) ◽  
pp. 2821-2827 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Quarmby

Recent biochemical studies of the AAA ATPase, katanin, provide a foundation for understanding how microtubules might be severed along their length. These in vitro studies are complemented by a series of recent reports of direct in vivo observation of microtubule breakage, which indicate that the in vitro phenomenon of catalysed microtubule severing is likely to be physiological. There is also new evidence that microtubule severing by katanin is important for the production of non-centrosomal microtubules in cells such as neurons and epithelial cells. Although it has been difficult to establish the role of katanin in mitosis, new genetic evidence indicates that a katanin-like protein, MEI-1, plays an essential role in meiosis in C. elegans. Finally, new proteins involved in the severing of axonemal microtubules have been discovered in the deflagellation system of Chlamydomonas.


1980 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 1146-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
D E Woods ◽  
D C Straus ◽  
W G Johanson ◽  
V K Berry ◽  
J A Bass

Adherence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa organisms to the upper respiratory epithelium of seriously ill patients in vitro is correlated with subsequent colonization of the respiratory tract by this opportunistic pathogen. The role of pili in the attachment to epithelial cells of P. aeruginosa was studied in an in vitro system employing human buccal epithelial cells and P. aeruginosa pretreated by various means. Pretreatment of the bacteria with proteases, heat, or Formalin caused a significant decrease in adherence. A decrease when compared with controls was also noted in the adherence of P. aeruginosa organisms to buccal epithelial cells preincubated with purified pili prepared from the strain used for adherence testing; however, pili prepared from a heterologous strain failed to block adherence. Similar results were obtained in serological studies when antisera to purified pili prepared from the strain used for adherence testing decreased adherence, whereas heterologous antiserum to pili did not decrease adherence. From these results it appears that pili mediate the adherence of P. aeruginosa organisms to human buccal epithelial cells.


2015 ◽  
Vol 197 (8) ◽  
pp. 1478-1491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo G. Caballero-Flores ◽  
Matthew A. Croxen ◽  
Verónica I. Martínez-Santos ◽  
B. Brett Finlay ◽  
José L. Puente

ABSTRACTThe Gram-negative enteric bacteriumCitrobacter rodentiumis a natural mouse pathogen that has been extensively used as a surrogate model for studying the human pathogens enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagicEscherichia coli. All three pathogens produce similar attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions in the intestinal epithelium. During infection, these bacteria employ surface structures called fimbriae to adhere and colonize the host intestinal epithelium. ForC. rodentium, the roles of only a small number of its genome-carried fimbrial operons have been evaluated. Here, we report the identification of a novelC. rodentiumcolonization factor, calledgutcolonizationfimbria (Gcf), which is encoded by a chaperone-usher fimbrial operon. AgcfAmutant shows a severe colonization defect within the first 10 days of infection. Thegcfpromoter is not active inC. rodentiumunder severalin vitrogrowth conditions; however, it is readily expressed in aC. rodentiumΔhns1mutant lacking the closest ortholog of theEscherichia colihistone-like nucleoid structuring protein (H-NS) but not in mutants with deletion of the other four genes encoding H-NS homologs. H-NS binds to the regulatory region ofgcf, further supporting its direct role as a repressor of thegcfpromoter that starts transcription 158 bp upstream of the start codon of its first open reading frame. Thegcfoperon possesses interesting novel traits that open future opportunities to expand our knowledge of the structure, regulation, and function during infection of these important bacterial structures.IMPORTANCEFimbriae are surface bacterial structures implicated in a variety of biological processes. Some have been shown to play a critical role during host colonization and thus in disease. Pathogenic bacteria possess the genetic information for an assortment of fimbriae, but their function and regulation and the interplay between them have not been studied in detail. This work provides new insights into the function and regulation of a novel fimbria called Gcf that is important for early establishment of a successful infection byC. rodentiumin mice, despite being poorly expressed underin vitrogrowth conditions. This discovery offers an opportunity to better understand the individual role and the regulatory mechanisms controlling the expression of specific fimbrial operons that are critical during infection.


2000 ◽  
Vol 267 (12) ◽  
pp. 3461-3468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Song Gong ◽  
Jiang Qi Wen ◽  
Nicholas E. Fisher ◽  
Simon Young ◽  
Christopher J. Howe ◽  
...  

Development ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-183
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Ferrari ◽  
William E. Koch

The developmental capabilities of the iris rudiment in the chicken embryo, as well as the role of tissue interactions in the differentiation of the iris, were investigated in vitro. Sectors of the intact iris from 7½- through 9-day embryos (stages 32 through 35) lost their morphological organization in vitro, but were capable of normal histodifferentiation. The pigmentation of the epithelium increased, and muscle differentiation occurred. Developing muscle was identified using immunocytochemistry with antiserum against chicken muscle myosin; this procedure permitted positive identification of myoblasts, myotubes, and muscle fibres in cultures in which histological features alone were equivocal. The proportion of irideal explants which developed muscle increased with the age of the embryo, and correlated with the incidence of epithelial buds and epithelial cells in the stroma. Irideal mesenchyme from stage-32 through stage-35 embryos was already populated with stromal epithelial cells when isolated, but growth and muscle differentiation in these cultures compared poorly with that in the intact iris in vitro. Isolated irideal epithelium (stages 32 through 37) demonstrated even more limited muscle differentiation in vitro, suggesting reciprocal interaction between irideal epithelium and mesenchyme during development. Irideal epithelium was also cultured in direct association with non-irideal mesenchyme from various embryonic organ rudiments, but muscle differentiation was not enhanced.


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