CtpB Facilitates Mycobacterium tuberculosis Growth in Copper-Limited Niches

Copper is required for aerobic respiration by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its human host, but this essential element is toxic in abundance. Copper nutritional immunity refers to host processes that modulate levels of free copper to alternately starve and intoxicate invading microbes. Bacteria engulfed by macrophages are initially contained within copper-limited phagosomes, which fuse with ATP7A vesicles that pump in toxic levels of copper. In this report, we examine how CtpB, a P-type ATPase in M. tuberculosis, aids in response to nutritional immunity. In vitro, the induced expression of ctpB in copper-replete medium inhibited mycobacterial growth, while deletion of the gene impaired growth only in copper-starved medium and within copper-limited host cells, suggesting a role for CtpB in copper acquisition or export to the copper-dependent respiration supercomplex. Unexpectedly, the absence of ctpB resulted in hypervirulence in the DBA/2 mouse infection model. As ctpB null strains exhibit diminished growth only in copper-starved conditions, reduced copper transport may have enabled the mutant to acquire a “Goldilocks” amount of the metal during transit through copper-intoxicating environments within this model system. This work reveals CtpB as a component of the M. tuberculosis toolkit to counter host nutritional immunity and underscores the importance of elucidating copper-uptake mechanisms in pathogenic mycobacteria.     

Characterization of a Cutibacterium acnes Camp Factor 1-Related Peptide as a New TLR-2 Modulator in In Vitro and Ex Vivo Models of Inflammation

Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes) has been implicated in inflammatory acne where highly mutated Christie–Atkins–Munch–Petersen factor (CAMP)1 displays strong toll like receptor (TLR)-2 binding activity. Using specific antibodies, we showed that CAMP1 production was independent of C. acnes phylotype and involved in the induction of inflammation. We confirmed that TLR-2 bound both mutated and non-mutated recombinant CAMP1, and peptide array analysis showed that seven peptides (A14, A15, B1, B2, B3, C1 and C3) were involved in TLR-2 binding, located on the same side of the three-dimensional structure of CAMP1. Both mutated and non-mutated recombinant CAMP1 proteins induced the production of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand interleukin (CXCL)8/(IL)-8 in vitro in keratinocytes and that of granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-1β and IL-10 in ex vivo human skin explants. Only A14, B1 and B2 inhibited the production of CXCL8/IL-8 by keratinocytes and that of (GM-CSF), TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-10 in human skin explants stimulated with rCAMP1 and C. acnes. Following pretreatment with B2, RNA sequencing on skin explants identified the 10 genes displaying the strongest differential expression as IL6, TNF, CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL3, CXCL8, IL-1β, chemokine ligand (CCL)2, CCL4 and colony stimulating factor (CSF)2. We, thus, identified a new CAMP1-derived peptide as a TLR-2 modulator likely to be a good candidate for clinical evaluation.     

Staphylococcus aureus—A Known Opponent against Host Defense Mechanisms and Vaccine Development—Do We Still Have a Chance to Win?

The main purpose of this review is to present justification for the urgent need to implement specific prophylaxis of invasive Staphylococcus aureus infections. We emphasize the difficulties in achieving this goal due to numerous S. aureus virulence factors important for the process of infection and the remarkable ability of these bacteria to avoid host defense mechanisms. We precede these considerations with a brief overview of the global necessitiy to intensify the use of vaccines against other pathogens as well, particularly in light of an impasse in antibiotic therapy. Finally, we point out global trends in research into modern technologies used in the field of molecular microbiology to develop new vaccines. We focus on the vaccines designed to fight the infections caused by S. aureus, which are often resistant to the majority of available therapeutic options.     

Short communication: Antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes of Enterococcus faecalis isolated from subclinical bovine mastitis cases in China

This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes of Enterococcus faecalis isolated from subclinical bovine mastitis cases in China. Enterococcus faecalis isolates were identified by 16S rRNA amplification and sequencing. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by the disc diffusion method. Antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes were tested by PCR. Overall, E. faecalis was recovered from 81 of 1,787 (4.5%) mastitic milk samples. The isolates showed high resistance against tetracycline (87.7%) and erythromycin (79.0%). The most prevalent resistance genes found in the E. faecalis were tetK (96.3%), tetL (79.0%), and tetM (87.7%) for tetracycline and ermC (97.5%) for erythromycin. Moreover, gelE (70.4%), esp (85.2%), efaA (91.4%) were the most common virulence genes. This is the first report to characterize E. faecalis recovered from subclinical bovine mastitis cases in China.     

羊奶粉生产环节阪崎肠杆菌分离鉴定及其毒力基因和药敏检测

目的:分析羊奶粉生产环节阪崎肠杆菌的污染状况,分离株毒力基因携带情况以及耐药性。方法:采自某羊奶粉加工厂空气过滤车间、液态奶车间、流化床车间、喷雾干燥车间和包装车间的生产样品及环境样品共180份,按国标GB4789.40-2010和PCR方法进行阪崎肠杆菌的分离鉴定;采用PCR方法检测cpa、hly、sip和omp X毒力基因;采用琼脂稀释法测定药敏性。结果:27个采样点中有14个阪崎肠杆菌阳性点,检出率为51.9%;180份样品中有29份检出阪崎肠杆菌,污染率为16.1%;阳性样品主要为粉状和棉签涂抹样品,污染率分别为23.5%和16.9%。毒力基因检出率为100%,毒力基因类型有cpa-omp X和cpa-hly-omp X,检出率分别为79.3%,20.7%。29株菌对利福平、甲氧苄啶/磺胺甲恶唑、头孢西丁钠、阿莫西林、阿莫西林/克拉维酸的耐药率依次为100%,75.9%,6.9%,3.4%和3.4%;对其它11种抗生素均敏感,多重耐药率为6.9%。结论:羊奶粉加工厂存在阪崎肠杆菌的污染。空气流动、粉尘污染、操作人员交叉污染及生产设备清洗消毒不彻底可能是加工过程中该菌的污染途径。分离株毒力基因携带率较高,对大多数供试抗生素敏感,出现多重耐药现象。