A katG S315T or an ahpC promoter mutation mediate Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistance to 2-thiophen carboxylic acid hydrazide, an inhibitor resembling the anti-tubercular drugs Isoniazid and Ethionamide

Clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis are differentially susceptible to 2-Thiophen Hydrazide (TCH); however its mechanism of action or the reasons for that difference are unknown. We report herein that under our experimental conditions, TCH inhibits M. tuberculosis in solid but not in liquid medium, and that in spite of resembling Isoniazid and Ethionamide, it does not affect mycolic acid synthesis. To understand the mechanisms of action of TCH we isolated M. tuberculosis TCH resistant mutants which fell into two groups; one resistant to TCH and Isoniazid but not to Ethionamide or Triclosan, and the other resistant only to TCH with no, or marginal, cross resistance to Isoniazid. A S315T katG mutation conferred resistance to TCH while katG expression from a plasmid reduced M. tuberculosis MIC to this drug, suggesting a possible involvement of KatG in TCH activation. Whole genome sequencing of mutants from this second group revealed a single mutation in the alkylhydroperoxide reductase ahpC promoter locus in half of the mutants, while the remaining contained mutations in dispensable genes. This is the first report of the genetics underlying the action of TCH and of the involvement of ahpC as the sole basis for resistance to an anti-tubercular compound.Fil: Franceschelli, Jorgelina Judith. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Belardinelli, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; Argentina. State University of Colorado - Fort Collins; Estados UnidosFil: Tong, Ping. University College Dublin; Irlanda. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: Loftus, Brendan. University College Dublin; IrlandaFil: Recio Balsells, Alejandro Iván. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Química Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Química Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Labadie, Guillermo Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Química Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Química Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Gordon, Stephen V.. University College Dublin; IrlandaFil: Morbidoni, Héctor Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentin

Cell Surface Remodeling of Mycobacterium abscessus under Cystic Fibrosis Airway Growth Conditions.

Understanding the physiological processes underlying the ability of Mycobacterium abscessus to become a chronic pathogen of the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung is important to the development of prophylactic and therapeutic strategies to better control and treat pulmonary infections caused by these bacteria. Gene expression profiling of a diversity of M. abscessus complex isolates points to amino acids being significant sources of carbon and energy for M. abscessus in both CF sputum and synthetic CF medium and to the bacterium undergoing an important metabolic reprogramming in order to adapt to this particular nutritional environment. Cell envelope analyses conducted on the same representative isolates further revealed unexpected structural alterations in major cell surface glycolipids known as the glycopeptidolipids (GPLs). Besides showing an increase in triglycosylated forms of these lipids, CF sputum- and synthetic CF medium-grown isolates presented as yet unknown forms of GPLs representing as much as 10% to 20% of the total GPL content of the cells, in which the classical amino alcohol located at the carboxy terminal of the peptide, alaninol, is replaced with the branched-chain amino alcohol leucinol. Importantly, both these lipid changes were exacerbated by the presence of mucin in the culture medium. Collectively, our results reveal potential new drug targets against M. abscessus in the CF airway and point to mucin as an important host signal modulating the cell surface composition of this pathogen

Síntesis de ácidos micólicos en micobacterias: identificación de productos génicos implicados en el mecanismo de acción de drogas anti-tuberculosas y en el mantenimiento de la barrera de impermeabilidad bacteriana

Mycobacterium tuberculosis es un patógeno humano que causa más de un millón de muertes anuales, siendo el agente infeccioso bacteriano más letal. El surgimiento de cepas multi resistentes y extremadamente resistentes de M. tuberculosis, prácticamente intratables con los antibióticos que existen actualmente, ha generado la necesidad de contar con nuevas drogas para combatir esta enfermedad. Por tal motivo es necesario validar nuevos blancos de acción de drogas y estudiar los mecanismos de resistencia a las mismas. Isoxil y Tiacetazona son dos drogas que fueron utilizadas para el tratamiento de la tuberculosis y luego dejadas de lado por producir efectos adversos. Si bien se ha estudiado su acción sobre la síntesis de ácidos micólicos, ácidos grasos de cadena larga que son componentes esenciales de la envoltura celular de las micobacterias, su blanco de acción en M. tuberculosis aún se desconoce. Por lo tanto en este trabajo de tesis decidimos realizar estudios a fin de develar el/los blancos de estas drogas. Para ello se utilizó una estrategia combinada basada en lipidómica y genómica a partir del estudio del efecto de las drogas sobre la síntesis de ácidos grasos y ácidos micólicos y de la secuenciación genómica de mutantes resistentes a las drogas. A partir de estudios llevados a cabo con Tiacetazona se comprobó que la enzima esencial b-hidroxiacil ACP deshidratasa de FASII juega un rol inesperado en la resistencia a esta droga. La sobre-expresión del operón que codifica para esta proteína generó resistencia a TAC y además mutantes espontáneas resistentes a TAC presentaron mutaciones en distintas subunidades de la proteína, lo que sugiere que esta enzima sería el blanco esencial de TAC. En el caso de Isoxil la sobre-expresión de la b-hidroxiacil-ACP deshidratasa de FASII generó resistencia a esta droga pero no se han podido encontrar mutaciones en el operón en las mutantes resistentes de M. tuberculosis. Estudios con inhibidores de bombas de eflujo permiten concluir que la resistencia en las mutantes resistentes a ISO aisladas podría deberse a bombas de eflujo que estén expulsando la droga al exterior. Por otro lado, al analizar las mutantes resistentes de M. kansasii, encontramos una mutación silente dentro del operón que estaría generando resistencia a ISO, aunque no se pudo determinar de qué manera lo está haciendo. Estos resultados validan a la b-hidroxiacil ACP deshidratasa de FASII como blanco para el diseño de drogas antituberculosas y abren la puerta para el desarrollo racional de drogas que inhiban esta enzima esencial de micobacterias. Los resultados obtenidos a partir de este trabajo de tesis, junto con estudios estructurales de la b-hidroxiacil ACP deshidratasa, permitirá sintetizar derivados de TAC e ISO con el fin de aumentar su acción bactericida y disminuir sus efectos adversos. Además la información obtenida se podrá utilizar para generar cepas merodiploides en los genes involucrados en la resistencia a fin de poder dilucidar si existen más blancos esenciales de ISO y TAC así como otros mecanismos de resistencia.Fil: Belardinelli, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; Argentina

Complete auxotrophy for unsaturated fatty acids requires deletion of two sets of genes in Mycobacterium smegmatis

The synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids in Mycobacterium smegmatis is poorly characterized. Bioinformatic analysis revealed four putative fatty acid desaturases in its genome, one of which, MSMEG_1886, is highly homologous to desA3, the only palmitoyl/stearoyl desaturase present in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome. A MSMEG_1886 deletion mutant was partially auxotrophic for oleic acid and viable at 37°C and 25°C, although with a long lag phase in liquid medium. Fatty acid analysis suggested that MSMEG_1886 is a palmitoyl/stearoyl desaturase, as the synthesis of palmitoleic acid was abrogated, while oleic acid contents dropped by half in the mutant. Deletion of the operon MSMEG_1741-1743 (highly homologous to a Pseudomonas aeruginosa acyl-CoA desaturase) had little effect on growth of the parental strain; however the double mutant MSMEG_1886-MSMEG_1741-1743 strictly required oleic acid for growth. The ΔMSMEG_1886-ΔMSMEG_1741 double mutant was able to grow (poorly but better than the ΔMSMEG_1886 single mutant) in solid and liquid media devoid of oleic acid, suggesting a repressor role for ΔMSMEG_1741. Fatty acid analysis of the described mutants suggested that MSMEG_1742-43 desaturates C18:0 and C24:0 fatty acids. Thus, although the M. smegmatis desA3 homologue is the major player in unsaturated fatty acid synthesis, a second set of genes is also involved.Fil: Di Capua, Cecilia Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Doprado, Mariana. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Belardinelli, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Morbidoni, Héctor Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentin

Promiscuous Targets for Antitubercular Drug Discovery: The Paradigm of DprE1 and MmpL3

The development and spread of Mycobacterium tuberculosis multi-drug resistant strains still represent a great global health threat, leading to an urgent need for novel anti-tuberculosis drugs. Indeed, in the last years, several efforts have been made in this direction, through a number of high-throughput screenings campaigns, which allowed for the identification of numerous hit compounds and novel targets. Interestingly, several independent screening assays identified the same proteins as the target of different compounds, and for this reason, they were named “promiscuous” targets. These proteins include DprE1, MmpL3, QcrB and Psk13, and are involved in the key pathway for M. tuberculosis survival, thus they should represent an Achilles’ heel which could be exploited for the development of novel effective drugs. Indeed, among the last molecules which entered clinical trials, four inhibit a promiscuous target. Within this review, the two most promising promiscuous targets, the oxidoreductase DprE1 involved in arabinogalactan synthesis and the mycolic acid transporter MmpL3 are discussed, along with the latest advancements in the development of novel inhibitors with anti-tubercular activity

Deletion of msmeg_1350 in mycobacterium smegmatis causes loss of epoxy-mycolic acids, fitness alteration at low temperature and resistance to a set of mycobacteriophages

Mycobacterium smegmatis is intrinsically resistant to thiacetazone, an anti-tubercular thiourea; however we report here that it causes a mild inhibition in growth in liquid medium. Since mycolic acid biosynthesis was affected, we cloned and expressed Mycobacterium smegmatis mycolic acid methyltransferases, postulated as targets for thiacetazone in other mycobacterial species. During this analysis we identified MSMEG_1350 as the methyltransferase involved in epoxy mycolic acid synthesis since its deletion led to their total loss. Phenotypic characterization of the mutant strain showed colony morphology alterations at all temperatures, reduced growth and a slightly increased susceptibility to SDS, lipophilic and large hydrophilic drugs at 20°C with little effect at 37°C. No changes were detected between parental and mutant strains in biofilm formation, sliding motility or sedimentation rate. Intriguingly, we found that several mycobacteriophages severely decreased their ability to form plaques in the mutant strain. Taken together our results prove that, in spite of being a minor component of the mycolic acid pool, epoxy-mycolates are required for a proper assembly and functioning of the cell envelope. Further studies are warranted to decipher the role of epoxy-mycolates in the M. smegmatis cell envelope.Fil: Di Capua, Cecilia Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Escuela de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Microbiología, Parasitología y Virología; ArgentinaFil: Belardinelli, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Escuela de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Microbiología, Parasitología y Virología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Buchieri, María Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Escuela de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Microbiología, Parasitología y Virología; ArgentinaFil: Bortolotti, Ana. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Escuela de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Microbiología, Parasitología y Virología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Franceschelli, Jorgelina Judith. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Escuela de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Microbiología, Parasitología y Virología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Morbidoni, Héctor Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Escuela de Ciencias Médicas. Cátedra de Microbiología, Parasitología y Virología; Argentin

The MmpL3 interactome reveals a complex crosstalk between cell envelope biosynthesis and cell elongation and division in mycobacteria

10.1038/s41598-019-47159-8SCIENTIFIC REPORTS9

MmpL3 interactome reveals a complex crosstalk between cell envelope biosynthesis and cell elongation and division in mycobacteria, The

Includes bibliographical references.Integral membrane transporters of the Mycobacterial Membrane Protein Large (MmpL) family and their interactome play important roles in the synthesis and export of mycobacterial outer membrane lipids. Despite the current interest in the mycolic acid transporter, MmpL3, from the perspective of drug discovery, the nature and biological significance of its interactome remain largely unknown. We here report on a genome-wide screening by two-hybrid system for MmpL3 binding partners. While a surprisingly low number of proteins involved in mycolic acid biosynthesis was found to interact with MmpL3, numerous enzymes and transporters participating in the biogenesis of peptidoglycan, arabinogalactan and lipoglycans, and the cell division regulatory protein, CrgA, were identified among the hits. Surface plasmon resonance and co-immunoprecipitation independently confirmed physical interactions for three proteins in vitro and/or in vivo. Results are in line with the focal localization of MmpL3 at the poles and septum of actively-growing bacilli where the synthesis of all major constituents of the cell wall core are known to occur, and are further suggestive of a role for MmpL3 in the coordination of new cell wall deposition during cell septation and elongation. This novel aspect of the physiology of MmpL3 may contribute to the extreme vulnerability and high therapeutic potential of this transporter.Published with support from the Colorado State University Libraries Open Access Research and Scholarship Fund

Disruption of the SucT acyltransferase in Mycobacterium smegmatis abrogates succinylation of cell envelope polysaccharides

Similar to other prokaryotes, mycobacteria decorate their major cell envelope glycans with minor covalent substituents whose biological significance remains largely unknown. We report on the discovery of a mycobacterial enzyme, named here SucT, that adds succinyl groups to the arabinan domains of both arabinogalactan (AG) and lipoarabinomannan (LAM). Disruption of the SucT-encoding gene in Mycobacterium smegmatis abolished AG and LAM succinylation and altered the hydrophobicity and rigidity of the cell envelope of the bacilli without significantly altering AG and LAM biosynthesis. The changes in the cell surface properties of the mutant were consistent with earlier reports of transposon mutants of the closely related species Mycobacterium marinum and Mycobacterium avium harboring insertions in the orthologous gene whose ability to microaggregate and form biofilms were altered. Our findings point to an important role of SucT-mediated AG and LAM succinylation in modulating the cell surface properties of mycobacteria