RESUMO
Serratia marcescens is a Gram-negative bacterium that thrives in a wide variety of ambient niches and interacts with an ample range of hosts. As an opportunistic human pathogen, it has increased its clinical incidence in recent years, being responsible for life-threatening nosocomial infections. S. marcescens produces numerous exoproteins with toxic effects, including the ShlA pore-forming toxin, which has been catalogued as its most potent cytotoxin. However, the regulatory mechanisms that govern ShlA expression, as well as its action toward the host, have remained unclear. We have shown that S. marcescens elicits an autophagic response in host nonphagocytic cells. In this work, we determine that the expression of ShlA is responsible for the autophagic response that is promoted prior to bacterial internalization in epithelial cells. We show that a strain unable to express ShlA is no longer able to induce this autophagic mechanism, while heterologous expression of ShlA/ShlB suffices to confer on noninvasive Escherichia coli the capacity to trigger autophagy. We also demonstrate that shlBA harbors a binding motif for the RcsB regulator in its promoter region. RcsB-dependent control of shlBA constitutes a feed-forward regulatory mechanism that allows interplay with flagellar-biogenesis regulation. At the top of the circuit, activated RcsB downregulates expression of flagella by binding to the flhDC promoter region, preventing FliA-activated transcription of shlBA. Simultaneously, RcsB interaction within the shlBA promoter represses ShlA expression. This circuit offers multiple access points to fine-tune ShlA production. These findings also strengthen the case for an RcsB role in orchestrating the expression of Serratia virulence factors.
Assuntos
Autofagia/genética , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Toxinas Bacterianas/genética , Proteínas Hemolisinas/genética , Serratia marcescens/genética , Transcrição Gênica/genética , Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Toxinas Bacterianas/metabolismo , Células Epiteliais/metabolismo , Escherichia coli/genética , Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Flagelos/genética , Flagelos/metabolismo , Proteínas Hemolisinas/metabolismo , Regiões Promotoras Genéticas/genética , Ligação Proteica/genética , Serratia marcescens/metabolismoRESUMO
Serratia marcescens is able to invade, persist, and multiply inside nonphagocytic cells, residing in nonacidic, nondegradative, autophagosome-like vacuoles. In this work, we have examined the physiological role of the PhoP/PhoQ system and its function in the control of critical virulence phenotypes in S. marcescens. We have demonstrated the involvement of the PhoP/PhoQ system in the adaptation of this bacterium to growth on scarce environmental Mg(2+), at acidic pH, and in the presence of polymyxin B. We have also shown that these environmental conditions constitute signals that activate the PhoP/PhoQ system. We have found that the two S. marcescens mgtE orthologs present a conserved PhoP-binding motif and demonstrated that mgtE1 expression is PhoP dependent, reinforcing the importance of PhoP control in magnesium homeostasis. Finally, we have demonstrated that phoP expression is activated intracellularly and that a phoP mutant strain is defective in survival inside epithelial cells. We have shown that the Serratia PhoP/PhoQ system is involved in prevention of the delivery to degradative/acidic compartments.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Bactérias/metabolismo , Infecções por Serratia/microbiologia , Serratia marcescens/metabolismo , Serratia marcescens/patogenicidade , Ácidos/metabolismo , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Proteínas de Bactérias/química , Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Sequência de Bases , Linhagem Celular , Regulação Bacteriana da Expressão Gênica , Humanos , Lisossomos/metabolismo , Lisossomos/microbiologia , Magnésio/metabolismo , Viabilidade Microbiana , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Alinhamento de Sequência , Serratia marcescens/genética , Serratia marcescens/crescimento & desenvolvimento , VirulênciaRESUMO
Serratia marcescens is an opportunistic human pathogen that represents a growing problem for public health, particularly in hospitalized or immunocompromised patients. However, little is known about factors and mechanisms that contribute to S. marcescens pathogenesis within its host. In this work, we explore the invasion process of this opportunistic pathogen to epithelial cells. We demonstrate that once internalized, Serratia is able not only to persist but also to multiply inside a large membrane-bound compartment. This structure displays autophagic-like features, acquiring LC3 and Rab7, markers described to be recruited throughout the progression of antibacterial autophagy. The majority of the autophagic-like vacuoles in which Serratia resides and proliferates are non-acidic and have no degradative properties, indicating that the bacteria are capable to either delay or prevent fusion with lysosomal compartments, altering the expected progression of autophagosome maturation. In addition, our results demonstrate that Serratia triggers a non-canonical autophagic process before internalization. These findings reveal that S. marcescens is able to manipulate the autophagic traffic, generating a suitable niche for survival and proliferation inside the host cell.
Assuntos
Autofagia , Serratia marcescens/fisiologia , Vacúolos/microbiologia , Cloreto de Amônio/farmacologia , Androstadienos/farmacologia , Animais , Células CHO , Linhagem Celular , Cricetinae , Células Epiteliais/microbiologia , Técnica Indireta de Fluorescência para Anticorpo , Gentamicinas/farmacologia , Humanos , Macrolídeos/farmacologia , Microscopia Confocal , Serratia marcescens/efeitos dos fármacos , WortmaninaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Ferredoxin-NADP(H) reductase (FNR) from Pisum sativum and Flavodoxin (Fld) from Anabaena PCC 7119 have been reported to protect a variety of cells and organisms from oxidative insults. In this work, these two proteins were expressed in mitochondria of Cos-7 cells and tested for their efficacy to protect these cells from oxidative stress in vitro. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Cos-7/pFNR and Cos-7/pFld cell lines expressing FNR and Fld, respectively, showed a significantly higher resistance to 24 h exposure to 300-600 µM hydrogen peroxide measured by LDH retention, MTT reduction, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and lipid peroxide (LPO; FOX assay) levels. However, FNR and Fld did not exhibit any protection at shorter incubation times (2 h and 4 h) to 4 mM hydrogen peroxide or to a 48 h exposure to 300 µM methyl viologen. We found enhanced methyl viologen damage exerted by FNR that may be due to depletion of NADPH pools through NADPH-MV diaphorase activity as previously observed for other overexpressed enzymes. SIGNIFICANCE: The results presented are a first report of antioxidant function of these heterologous enzymes of vegetal and cyanobacterial origin in mammalian cells.