病原菌群体感应系统的研究进展

群体感应是细菌间依赖细胞密度的一种信息传递方式.细菌通过合成、分泌信号分子感知细菌群体密度,从而控制整个细菌群体行为.目前已在许多革兰阴性菌、革兰阳性菌和真菌中发现群体感应系统,对群体感应系统信号分子结构、信号传导通路进行大量研究后,发现其与细菌生物膜形成、生成分泌毒力因子密切相关.本文就以典型的铜绿假单胞菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、哈氏弧菌、白色念珠菌为例,对群体感应系统相关机制及研究进展予以综述.     

铜绿假单胞菌密度感应信号分子OdDHL对小鼠肥大细胞作用观察

目的 通过化学合成铜绿假单胞菌密度感应(quorum sensing,QS)信号分子OdDHL,并观察该分子对小鼠肥大细胞生物学作用.方法 通过化学方法 合成OdDHL分子,经质谱、磁共振和高效液相色谱确定其结构和纯度,并采用OdDHL分子感应菌株检测其生物活性.以不同浓度OdDHL分子作用于小鼠肥大细胞系P815,观察不同时间点细胞活力改变、凋亡现象以及胞内钙离子变化.结果 成功合成具有生物活性的OdDHL分子,该分子能以时间、剂量依赖方式抑制细胞活力,并能诱导细胞凋亡,同时可上调胞内钙离子浓度.结论 铜绿假单胞菌OdDHL分子可诱导P815细胞凋亡并上调胞内钙离子浓度.     

Differential effect of autoinducer 2 of Fusobacterium nucleatum on oral streptococci

Autoinducer 2 (AI-2) is a quorum sensing molecule and plays an important role in dental biofilm formation, mediating interspecies communication and virulence expression of oral bacteria. Fusobacterium nucleatum connects early colonizing commensals and late colonizing periodontopathogens. F. nucleatum AI-2 and quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) can manipulate dental biofilm formation. In this study, we evaluated the effect of F. nucleatum AI-2 and QSIs on biofilm formation of Streptococcus gordonii and Streptococcus oralis, which are initial colonizers in dental biofilm. F. nucleatum AI-2 significantly enhanced biofilm growth of S. gordonii and attachment of F. nucleatum to preformed S. gordonii biofilms. By contrast, F. nucleatum AI-2 reduced biofilm growth of S. oralis and attachment of F. nucleatum to preformed S. oralis biofilms. The QSIs, (5Z)-4-bromo-5-(bromomethylene)-2(5H)-furanone and d-ribose, reversed the stimulatory and inhibitory effects of AI-2 on S. gordonii and S. oralis, respectively. In addition, co-culture using a two-compartment system showed that secreted molecules of F. nucleatum had the same effect on biofilm growth of the streptococci as AI-2. Our results demonstrate that early colonizing bacteria can influence the accretion of F. nucleatum, a secondary colonizer, which ultimately influences the binding of periodontopathogens.     

Suppression of Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum-sensing systems by macrolides: a promising strategy or an oriental mystery?

A breakthrough in antibiotic chemotherapy for patients with chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa pulmonary infections was brought about by findings in a patient with diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB), who had been treated with erythromycin over a period of years. Recent clinical trials have demonstrated that long-term macrolide therapy can be used not only for DPB patients but also for those with other chronic infections, including patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The pathogenesis of chronic P. aeruginosa infection is considered to arise from a bacterial cell-to-cell signaling mechanism, named “quorum-sensing”, which enables the bacteria to coordinately turn on and off their virulence genes through the production of autoinducer molecules. Accumulating evidence from clinical and basic science fields suggests the potential of macrolides as Pseudomonas quorum-sensing inhibitors. In this review, we briefly summarize the data on the clinical efficacy of macrolides in DPB and CF patients. Then we discuss the mechanisms of action of macrolides from the viewpoint of sub-minimum inhibitory concentration (sub-MIC) macrolide effects on P. aeruginosa, particularly the potential activity of this antibiotic to suppress the bacterial quorum-sensing system.     

Eukaryotic vs. prokaryotic chemosensory systems

In the last decades, microbiologists demonstrated that microorganisms possess chemosensory capabilities and communicate with each other via chemical signals. In parallel, it was demonstrated that solitary eukaryotic chemosensory cells are diffusely located on the mucosae of digestive and respiratory apparatuses. It is now evident that on the mucosal surfaces of vertebrates, two chemoreceptorial systems (i.e. eukaryotic and prokaryotic) coexist in a common microenvironment. To date, it is not known if the two chemosensory systems reciprocally interact and compete for detection of chemical cues. This appears to be a fruitful field of study and future researches must consider that the mucosal epithelia possess more chemosensory capabilities than previously supposed.     

The use of quorum sensing to improve vaccine immune response

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infection is an important cause of diarrhea in both newborn and post-weaning pigs, it is also responsible for economic losses on farms worldwide. Vaccines that use ETEC virulence factors have been well documented, and several vaccines containing inactivated bacteria with protective antigens, or purified (isolated) antigens are available on the market. Vaccination of pregnant sows is widely seen as an effective strategy for the control of the disease. Yet these vaccines very often do not lead to efficient protection. In this study, we produced an ETEC bacterin with the use of quorum sensing (QS), and observed a significant expression of F4 adhesin, and heat-labile toxin (LT) in the cultures when compared to the controls. Mice, and pigs vaccinated with the QS bacterin demonstrated higher antibody titers against these antigens when compared with commercial and control bacterin. Our results suggest that the system might bring promising improvements in ETEC bacterin efficacy.     

Requirements for sulfur in cell density-independent induction of luminescence in Vibrio fischeri under nutrient-starved conditions

Despite the universal requirement for sulfur in living organisms, it is not known whether the luminescence of Vibrio fischeri is sulfur-dependent and how sulfur affects the intensity of its luminescence. In this study, we investigated the requirement for sulfur in V. fischeri luminescence under nutrient-starved conditions. Full induction of V. fischeri luminescence required MgSO(4); in artificial seawater cultures that lacked sufficient MgSO(4), its luminescence was not fully induced. This induction of luminescence was not dependent on autoinduction because the cell density of V. fischeri did not reach the critical threshold concentration. In addition to MgSO(4), this cell density-independent luminescence was induced or maintained by nontoxic concentrations of l-cysteine, sulfate, sulfite, and thiosulfate. Moreover, the addition of N -3-oxo-hexanoyl homoserine lactone and N -octanoyl homoserine lactone, which are known autoinducers in V. fischeri, did not induce luminescence under these conditions. This result suggested that the underlying mechanism of luminescence may be different from the known autoinduction mechanism.     

酰基高丝氨酸内酯类化合物诱导细菌NJ6-3-1抗菌物质代谢的研究

目的选择一株具有抗菌活性的海绵共栖细菌NJ6-3-1为实验菌株,考察其抗菌物质的代谢是否受到群体感应诱导信号分子的调控。方法利用细菌NJ6-3-1自身代谢的3种酰基高丝氨酸内酯类化合物(Acyl-homoserine lac-tones,AHLs)作为自诱导物质,采用生物自显影和高效液相色谱技术,研究了低密度条件下的细菌NJ6-3-1与3种不同AHLs共培养时的抗菌活性及抗菌物质代谢情况。结果辛酰基高丝氨酸内酯(C8-HSL)能诱导细菌NJ6-3-1在不产生抗菌物质的低密度生长条件下代谢抗菌物质,并且能诱导细菌NJ6-3-1抗菌物质代谢产量显著增强。结论细菌NJ6-3-1抗菌物质的代谢受到自诱导物C8-HSL的调控。