scholarly journals Mobilization of Iron Stored in Bacterioferritin Is Required for Metabolic Homeostasis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 980
Author(s):  
Achala N. D. Punchi Hewage ◽  
Leo Fontenot ◽  
Jessie Guidry ◽  
Thomas Weldeghiorghis ◽  
Anil K. Mehta ◽  
...  

Iron homeostasis offers a significant bacterial vulnerability because pathogens obtain essential iron from their mammalian hosts, but host-defenses maintain vanishingly low levels of free iron. Although pathogens have evolved mechanisms to procure host-iron, these depend on well-regulated iron homeostasis. To disrupt iron homeostasis, our work has targeted iron mobilization from the iron storage protein bacterioferritin (BfrB) by blocking a required interaction with its cognate ferredoxin partner (Bfd). The blockade of the BfrB–Bfd complex by deletion of the bfd gene (Δbfd) causes iron to irreversibly accumulate in BfrB. In this study we used mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy to compare the proteomic response and the levels of key intracellular metabolites between wild type (wt) and isogenic ΔbfdP. aeruginosa strains. We find that the irreversible accumulation of unusable iron in BfrB leads to acute intracellular iron limitation, even if the culture media is iron-sufficient. Importantly, the iron limitation and concomitant iron metabolism dysregulation trigger a cascade of events that lead to broader metabolic homeostasis disruption, which includes sulfur limitation, phenazine-mediated oxidative stress, suboptimal amino acid synthesis and altered carbon metabolism.

2020 ◽  
Vol 202 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ananya Sen ◽  
Yidan Zhou ◽  
James A. Imlay

ABSTRACT Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is formed in natural environments by both biotic and abiotic processes. It easily enters the cytoplasms of microorganisms, where it can disrupt growth by inactivating iron-dependent enzymes. It also reacts with the intracellular iron pool, generating hydroxyl radicals that can lethally damage DNA. Therefore, virtually all bacteria possess H2O2-responsive transcription factors that control defensive regulons. These typically include catalases and peroxidases that scavenge H2O2. Another common component is the miniferritin Dps, which sequesters loose iron and thereby suppresses hydroxyl-radical formation. In this study, we determined that Escherichia coli also induces the ClpS and ClpA proteins of the ClpSAP protease complex. Mutants that lack this protease, plus its partner, ClpXP protease, cannot grow when H2O2 levels rise. The growth defect was traced to the inactivity of dehydratases in the pathway of branched-chain amino acid synthesis. These enzymes rely on a solvent-exposed [4Fe-4S] cluster that H2O2 degrades. In a typical cell the cluster is continuously repaired, but in the clpSA clpX mutant the repair process is defective. We determined that this disability is due to an excessively small iron pool, apparently due to the oversequestration of iron by Dps. Dps was previously identified as a substrate of both the ClpSAP and ClpXP proteases, and in their absence its levels are unusually high. The implication is that the stress response to H2O2 has evolved to strike a careful balance, diminishing iron pools enough to protect the DNA but keeping them substantial enough that critical iron-dependent enzymes can be repaired. IMPORTANCE Hydrogen peroxide mediates the toxicity of phagocytes, lactic acid bacteria, redox-cycling antibiotics, and photochemistry. The underlying mechanisms all involve its reaction with iron atoms, whether in enzymes or on the surface of DNA. Accordingly, when bacteria perceive toxic H2O2, they activate defensive tactics that are focused on iron metabolism. In this study, we identify a conundrum: DNA is best protected by the removal of iron from the cytoplasm, but this action impairs the ability of the cell to reactivate its iron-dependent enzymes. The actions of the Clp proteins appear to hedge against the oversequestration of iron by the miniferritin Dps. This buffering effect is important, because E. coli seeks not just to survive H2O2 but to grow in its presence.


Blood ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 94 (11) ◽  
pp. 3915-3921 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.D. Riedel ◽  
M.U. Muckenthaler ◽  
S.G. Gehrke ◽  
I. Mohr ◽  
K. Brennan ◽  
...  

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a common autosomal-recessive disorder of iron metabolism. More than 80% of HH patients are homozygous for a point mutation in a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I type protein (HFE), which results in a lack of HFE expression on the cell surface. A previously identified interaction of HFE and the transferrin receptor suggests a possible regulatory role of HFE in cellular iron absorption. Using an HeLa cell line stably transfected with HFE under the control of a tetracycline-sensitive promoter, we investigated the effect of HFE expression on cellular iron uptake. We demonstrate that the overproduction of HFE results in decreased iron uptake from diferric transferrin. Moreover, HFE expression activates the key regulators of intracellular iron homeostasis, the iron-regulatory proteins (IRPs), implying that HFE can affect the intracellular “labile iron pool.” The increase in IRP activity is accompanied by the downregulation of the iron-storage protein, ferritin, and an upregulation of transferrin receptor levels. These findings are discussed in the context of the pathophysiology of HH and a possible role of iron-responsive element (IRE)-containing mRNAs.


Microbiology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 151 (2) ◽  
pp. 533-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian D. Ernst ◽  
Stefan Bereswill ◽  
Barbara Waidner ◽  
Jeroen Stoof ◽  
Ulrike Mäder ◽  
...  

Intracellular iron homeostasis is a necessity for almost all living organisms, since both iron restriction and iron overload can result in cell death. The ferric uptake regulator protein, Fur, controls iron homeostasis in most Gram-negative bacteria. In the human gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori, Fur is thought to have acquired extra functions to compensate for the relative paucity of regulatory genes. To identify H. pylori genes regulated by iron and Fur, we used DNA array-based transcriptional profiling with RNA isolated from H. pylori 26695 wild-type and fur mutant cells grown in iron-restricted and iron-replete conditions. Sixteen genes encoding proteins involved in metal metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, motility, cell wall synthesis and cofactor synthesis displayed iron-dependent Fur-repressed expression. Conversely, 16 genes encoding proteins involved in iron storage, respiration, energy metabolism, chemotaxis, and oxygen scavenging displayed iron-induced Fur-dependent expression. Several Fur-regulated genes have been previously shown to be essential for acid resistance or gastric colonization in animal models, such as those encoding the hydrogenase and superoxide dismutase enzymes. Overall, there was a partial overlap between the sets of genes regulated by Fur and those previously identified as growth-phase, iron or acid regulated. Regulatory patterns were confirmed for five selected genes using Northern hybridization. In conclusion, H. pylori Fur is a versatile regulator involved in many pathways essential for gastric colonization. These findings further delineate the central role of Fur in regulating the unique capacity of H. pylori to colonize the human stomach.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (7) ◽  
pp. 2428-2434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangjun Nie ◽  
Guohua Chen ◽  
Alex D. Sheftel ◽  
Kostas Pantopoulos ◽  
Prem Ponka

Abstract Mitochondrial ferritin (MtFt) is a mitochondrial iron-storage protein whose function and regulation is largely unknown. Our previous results have shown that MtFt overexpression markedly affects intracellular iron homeostasis in mammalian cells. Using tumor xenografts, we examined the effects of MtFt overexpression on tumor iron metabolism and growth. The expression of MtFt dramatically reduced implanted tumor growth in nude mice. Mitochondrial iron deposition in MtFt-expressing tumors was directly observed by transmission electron microscopy. A cytosolic iron starvation phenotype in MtFt-expressing tumors was revealed by increased RNA-binding activity of iron regulatory proteins, and concomitantly both an increase in transferrin receptor levels and a decrease in cytosolic ferritin. MtFt overexpression also led to decreases in total cellular heme content and heme oxygenase-1 levels. In addition, elevated MtFt in tumors was also associated with a decrease in total aconitase activity and lower frataxin protein level. In conclusion, our study shows that high MtFt levels can significantly affect tumor iron homeostasis by shunting iron into mitochondria; iron scarcity resulted in partially deficient heme and iron-sulfur cluster synthesis. It is likely that deprivation of iron in the cytosol is the cause for the significant inhibition of xenograft tumor growth.


2012 ◽  
Vol 80 (10) ◽  
pp. 3650-3659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruchi Pandey ◽  
G. Marcela Rodriguez

ABSTRACTIron is an essential, elusive, and potentially toxic nutrient for most pathogens, includingMycobacterium tuberculosis. Due to the poor solubility of ferric iron under aerobic conditions, free iron is not found in the host.M. tuberculosisrequires specialized iron acquisition systems to replicate and cause disease. It also depends on a strict control of iron metabolism and intracellular iron levels to prevent iron-mediated toxicity. Under conditions of iron sufficiency,M. tuberculosisrepresses iron acquisition and induces iron storage, suggesting an important role for iron storage proteins in iron homeostasis.M. tuberculosissynthesizes two iron storage proteins, a ferritin (BfrB) and a bacterioferritin (BfrA). The individual contributions of these proteins to the adaptive response ofM. tuberculosisto changes in iron availability are not clear. By generating individual knockout strains ofbfrAandbfrB, the contribution of each one of these proteins to the maintenance of iron homeostasis was determined. The effect of altered iron homeostasis, resulting from impaired iron storage, on the resistance ofM. tuberculosistoin vitroandin vivostresses was examined. The results show that ferritin is required to maintain iron homeostasis, whereas bacterioferritin seems to be dispensable for this function.M. tuberculosislacking ferritin suffers from iron-mediated toxicity, is unable to persist in mice, and, most importantly, is highly susceptible to killing by antibiotics, showing that endogenous oxidative stress can enhance the antibiotic killing of this important pathogen. These results are relevant for the design of new therapeutic strategies againstM. tuberculosis.


Author(s):  
Naiara Santana-Codina ◽  
Joseph D. Mancias

Nuclear receptor coactivator 4 (NCOA4) is a selective cargo receptor that mediates the autophagic degradation of ferritin (“ferritinophagy”), the cytosolic iron storage complex. NCOA4-mediated ferritinophagy maintains intracellular iron homeostasis by facilitating ferritin iron storage or release according to demand. Ferritinophagy is involved in iron-dependent physiological processes such as erythropoiesis, where NCOA4 mediates ferritin iron release for mitochondrial heme synthesis. Recently, ferritinophagy has been shown to regulate ferroptosis, a newly described form of iron-dependent cell death mediated by excess lipid peroxidation. Dysregulation of iron metabolism and ferroptosis have been described in neurodegeneration, cancer, and infection, but little is known about the role of ferritinophagy in the pathogenesis of these diseases. Here, we will review the biochemical regulation of NCOA4, its contribution to physiological processes and its role in disease. Finally, we will discuss the potential of activating or inhibiting ferritinophagy and ferroptosis for therapeutic purposes.


Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. 2564-2570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanqian Carlson ◽  
An-Sheng Zhang ◽  
William H. Fleming ◽  
Caroline A. Enns

AbstractHereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is an autosomal recessive disease that leads to parenchymal iron accumulation. The most common form of HH is caused by a single amino acid substitution in the HH protein, HFE, but the mechanism by which HFE regulates iron homeostasis is not known. In the absence of transferrin (Tf), HFE interacts with transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) and the 2 proteins co-internalize, and in vitro studies have shown that HFE and Tf compete for TfR1 binding. Using a cell line lacking endogenous transferrin receptors (TRVb cells) transfected with different forms of HFE and TfR1, we demonstrate that even at low concentrations Tf competes effectively with HFE for binding to TfR1 on living cells. Transfection of TRVb cells or the derivative line TRVb1 (which stably expresses human TfR1) with HFE resulted in lower ferritin levels and decreased Fe2+ uptake. These data indicate that HFE can regulate intracellular iron storage independently of its interaction with TfR1. Earlier studies found that in HeLa cells, HFE expression lowers Tf-mediated iron uptake; here we show that HFE lowers non–Tf-bound iron in TRVb cells and add to a growing body of evidence that HFE may play different roles in different cell types.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Wei Huang ◽  
Hsin-Hui Huang ◽  
Kai-Hung Huang ◽  
Wei-Chien Chen ◽  
Yi-Tsung Lin ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an organism with a remarkable capacity for drug resistance with several antibiotic resistance determinants in its genome. S. maltophilia genome codes for L1 and L2, responsible for intrinsic β-lactam resistance. The Smlt3721 gene (denoted ampI), located downstream of the L2 gene, encodes an inner membrane protein. The existence of an L2 gene-ampI operon was verified by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). For aerobically grown S. maltophilia KJ, inactivation of ampI downregulated siderophore synthesis and iron acquisition systems and upregulated the iron storage system, as demonstrated by a transcriptome assay, suggesting that AmpI is involved in iron homeostasis. Compared with the wild-type KJ, an ampI mutant had an elevated intracellular iron level, as revealed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis, and increased sensitivity to H2O2, verifying the role of AmpI as an iron exporter. The β-lactam stress increased the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and induced the expression of the L1 gene and L2 gene-ampI operon. Compared to its own parental strain, the ampI mutant had reduced growth in β-lactam-containing medium, and the ampI mutant viability was improved after complementation with plasmid pAmpI in either a β-lactamase-positive or β-lactamase-negative genetic background. Collectively, upon challenge with β-lactam, the inducibly expressed L1 and L2 β-lactamases contribute to β-lactam resistance by hydrolyzing β-lactam. AmpI functions as an iron exporter participating in rapidly weakening β-lactam-mediated ROS toxicity. The L1 gene and L2 gene-ampI operon enable S. maltophilia to effectively cope with β-lactam-induced stress.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (17) ◽  
pp. 4806-4811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Küberl ◽  
Tino Polen ◽  
Michael Bott

The balance of sufficient iron supply and avoidance of iron toxicity by iron homeostasis is a prerequisite for cellular metabolism and growth. Here we provide evidence that, in Actinobacteria, pupylation plays a crucial role in this process. Pupylation is a posttranslational modification in which the prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein Pup is covalently attached to a lysine residue in target proteins, thus resembling ubiquitination in eukaryotes. Pupylated proteins are recognized and unfolded by a dedicated AAA+ ATPase (Mycobacteriumproteasomal AAA+ ATPase; ATPase forming ring-shaped complexes). In Mycobacteria, degradation of pupylated proteins by the proteasome serves as a protection mechanism against several stress conditions. Other bacterial genera capable of pupylation such asCorynebacteriumlack a proteasome, and the fate of pupylated proteins is unknown. We discovered thatCorynebacterium glutamicummutants lacking components of the pupylation machinery show a strong growth defect under iron limitation, which was caused by the absence of pupylation and unfolding of the iron storage protein ferritin. Genetic and biochemical data support a model in which the pupylation machinery is responsible for iron release from ferritin independent of degradation.


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