scholarly journals Mechanistic aspects of maltotriose-conjugate translocation to the Gram-negative bacteria cytoplasm

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. e201800242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estelle Dumont ◽  
Julia Vergalli ◽  
Jelena Pajovic ◽  
Satya P Bhamidimarri ◽  
Koldo Morante ◽  
...  

Small molecule accumulation in Gram-negative bacteria is a key challenge to discover novel antibiotics, because of their two membranes and efflux pumps expelling toxic molecules. An approach to overcome this challenge is to hijack uptake pathways so that bacterial transporters shuttle the antibiotic to the cytoplasm. Here, we have characterized maltodextrin–fluorophore conjugates that can pass through both the outer and inner membranes mediated by components of theEscherichia colimaltose regulon. Single-channel electrophysiology recording demonstrated that the compounds permeate across the LamB channel leading to accumulation in the periplasm. We have also demonstrated that a maltotriose conjugate distributes into both the periplasm and cytoplasm. In the cytoplasm, the molecule activates the maltose regulon and triggers the expression of maltose binding protein in the periplasmic space indicating that the complete maltose entry pathway is induced. This maltotriose conjugate can (i) reach the periplasmic and cytoplasmic compartments to significant internal concentrations and (ii) auto-induce its own entry pathwayviathe activation of the maltose regulon, representing an interesting prototype to deliver molecules to the cytoplasm of Gram-negative bacteria.

Author(s):  
Saurav Das ◽  
Santosh Kumar ◽  
Pabitra Bhagowati ◽  
Ashish Kumar Singh

Bacterial antibiotic resistance has become a major global health concern. One of the main reasons for the development of multi-drug resistance properties in bacteria is due to the bacterial efflux pump systems. They are important transport proteins, mainly involved in the removal of toxic substrates like antibiotics from inner cell environment. These pumps are responsible for the intrinsic ability of bacteria to get resistant to the antibiotic. Various types of efflux pumps are present in the Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Plant-derived products like Capsaicin, Olympicin A, and Indirubicin were found to be inhibitors of an efflux pump in Staphylococcus aureus similarly Ursolic acid derivatives; Daidzein and Lanatoside C were plant-derived inhibitors of an efflux pump in Escherichia coli. In this review detail information have been provided about efflux pump inhibitors that have been found to be effective in the Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria. The aim of this review is to focus on the role of plant-derived compounds as effective efflux pumps inhibitors with reference to mainly Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.


Author(s):  
Xie Nianming ◽  
Ding Shaoqing ◽  
Wang Luping ◽  
Yuan Zenglin ◽  
Zhan Guolai ◽  
...  

Perhaps the data about periplasmic enzymes are obtained through biochemical methods but lack of morphological description. We have proved the existence of periplasmic bodies by electron microscope and described their ultrastructures. We hope this report may draw the attention of biochemists and mrophologists to collaborate on researches in periplasmic enzymes or periplasmic bodies with each other.One or more independent bodies may be seen in the periplasmic space between outer and inner membranes of Gram-negative bacteria, which we called periplasmic bodies. The periplasmic bodies have been found in seven species of bacteria at least, including the Pseudomonas aeroginosa. Shigella flexneri, Echerichia coli. Yersinia pestis, Campylobacter jejuni, Proteus mirabilis, Clostridium tetani. Vibrio cholerae and Brucella canis.


Author(s):  
Rubal C Das ◽  
Rajib Banik ◽  
Robiul Hasan Bhuiyan ◽  
Md Golam Kabir

Macrophomina phaseolina is one of the pathogenic organisms of gummosis disease of orange tree (Citrus reticulata). The pathogen was identified from the observation of their colony size, shape, colour, mycelium, conidiophore, conidia, hyaline, spore, and appressoria in the PDA culture. The crude chloroform extracts from the organism showed antibacterial activity against a number of Gram positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The crude chloroform extract also showed promising antifungal activity against three species of the genus Aspergillus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the crude chloroform extract from M. phaseolina against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Shigella sonnie were 128 ?gm, 256 ?gm, 128 ?gm and 64 ?gm/ml respectively. The LD50 (lethal dose) values of the cytotoxicity assay over brine shrimp of the crude chloroform extract from M. phaseolina was found to be 51.79 ?gm/ml. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/cujbs.v5i1.13378 The Chittagong Univ. J. B. Sci.,Vol. 5(1 &2):125-133, 2010


2010 ◽  
Vol 999 (999) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Jean-Marie Pages ◽  
Sandrine Alibert-Franco ◽  
Abdallah Mahamoud ◽  
Jean-Michel Bolla ◽  
Anne Davin-Regli ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Martins ◽  
Matthew P McCusker ◽  
Miguel Viveiros ◽  
Isabel Couto ◽  
Séamus Fanning ◽  
...  

It is known that bacteria showing a multi-drug resistance phenotype use several mechanisms to overcome the action of antibiotics. As a result, this phenotype can be a result of several mechanisms or a combination of thereof. The main mechanisms of antibiotic resistance are: mutations in target genes (such as DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV); over-expression of efflux pumps; changes in the cell envelope; down regulation of membrane porins, and modified lipopolysaccharide component of the outer cell membrane (in the case of Gram-negative bacteria). In addition, adaptation to the environment, such as quorum sensing and biofilm formation can also contribute to bacterial persistence. Due to the rapid emergence and spread of bacterial isolates showing resistance to several classes of antibiotics, methods that can rapidly and efficiently identify isolates whose resistance is due to active efflux have been developed. However, there is still a need for faster and more accurate methodologies. Conventional methods that evaluate bacterial efflux pump activity in liquid systems are available. However, these methods usually use common efflux pump substrates, such as ethidium bromide or radioactive antibiotics and therefore, require specialized instrumentation, which is not available in all laboratories. In this review, we will report the results obtained with the Ethidium Bromide-agar Cartwheel method. This is an easy, instrument-free, agar based method that has been modified to afford the simultaneous evaluation of as many as twelve bacterial strains. Due to its simplicity it can be applied to large collections of bacteria to rapidly screen for multi-drug resistant isolates that show an over-expression of their efflux systems. The principle of the method is simple and relies on the ability of the bacteria to expel a fluorescent molecule that is substrate for most efflux pumps, ethidium bromide. In this approach, the higher the concentration of ethidium bromide required to produce fluorescence of the bacterial mass, the greater the efflux capacity of the bacterial cells. We have tested and applied this method to a large number of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria to detect efflux activity among these multi-drug resistant isolates. The presumptive efflux activity detected by the Ethidium Bromide-agar Cartwheel method was subsequently confirmed by the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration for several antibiotics in the presence and absence of known efflux pump inhibitors.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xukai Jiang ◽  
Nitin A. Patil ◽  
Mohammad A. K. Azad ◽  
Hasini Wickremasinghe ◽  
Heidi Yu ◽  
...  

Multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria have been an urgent threat to global public health. Novel antibiotics are desperately needed to combat these 'superbugs'.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tessa B. Moyer ◽  
Ashleigh L. Purvis ◽  
Andrew J. Wommack ◽  
Leslie M. Hicks

Abstract Background Plant defensins are a broadly distributed family of antimicrobial peptides which have been primarily studied for agriculturally relevant antifungal activity. Recent studies have probed defensins against Gram-negative bacteria revealing evidence for multiple mechanisms of action including membrane lysis and ribosomal inhibition. Herein, a truncated synthetic analog containing the γ-core motif of Amaranthus tricolor DEF2 (Atr-DEF2) reveals Gram-negative antibacterial activity and its mechanism of action is probed via proteomics, outer membrane permeability studies, and iron reduction/chelation assays. Results Atr-DEF2(G39-C54) demonstrated activity against two Gram-negative human bacterial pathogens, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Quantitative proteomics revealed changes in the E. coli proteome in response to treatment of sub-lethal concentrations of the truncated defensin, including bacterial outer membrane (OM) and iron acquisition/processing related proteins. Modification of OM charge is a common response of Gram-negative bacteria to membrane lytic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) to reduce electrostatic interactions, and this mechanism of action was confirmed for Atr-DEF2(G39-C54) via an N-phenylnaphthalen-1-amine uptake assay. Additionally, in vitro assays confirmed the capacity of Atr-DEF2(G39-C54) to reduce Fe3+ and chelate Fe2+ at cell culture relevant concentrations, thus limiting the availability of essential enzymatic cofactors. Conclusions This study highlights the utility of plant defensin γ-core motif synthetic analogs for characterization of novel defensin activity. Proteomic changes in E. coli after treatment with Atr-DEF2(G39-C54) supported the hypothesis that membrane lysis is an important component of γ-core motif mediated antibacterial activity but also emphasized that other properties, such as metal sequestration, may contribute to a multifaceted mechanism of action.


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