S100A12 in Digestive Diseases and Health: A Scoping Review

Calgranulin proteins are an important class of molecules involved in innate immunity. These members of the S100 class of the EF-hand family of calcium-binding proteins have numerous cellular and antimicrobial functions. One protein in particular, S100A12 (also called EN-RAGE or calgranulin C), is highly abundant in neutrophils during acute inflammation and has been implicated in immune regulation. Structure-function analyses reveal that S100A12 has the capacity to bind calcium, zinc, and copper, processes that contribute to nutritional immunity against invading microbial pathogens. S100A12 is a ligand for the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and CD36, which promote cellular and immunological pathways to alter inflammation. We conducted a scoping review of the existing literature to define what is known about the association of S100A12 with digestive disease and health. Results suggest that S100A12 is implicated in gastroenteritis, necrotizing enterocolitis, gastritis, gastric cancer, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and digestive tract cancers. Together, these results reveal S100A12 is an important molecule broadly associated with the pathogenesis of digestive diseases

ArsRS-Dependent Regulation of homB Contributes to Helicobacter pylori Biofilm Formation

One elusive area in the Helicobacter pylori field is an understanding of why some infections result in gastric cancer, yet others persist asymptomatically for the life-span of the individual. Even before the genomic era, the high level of intraspecies diversity of H. pylori was well recognized and became an intriguing area of investigation with respect to disease progression. Of interest in this regard is the unique repertoire of over 60 outer membrane proteins (OMPs), several of which have been associated with disease outcome. Of these OMPs, the association between HomB and disease outcome varies based on the population being studied. While the molecular roles for some of the disease-associated OMPs have been evaluated, little is known about the role that HomB plays in the H. pylori lifecycle. Thus, herein we investigated homB expression, regulation, and contribution to biofilm formation. We found that in H. pylori strain G27, homB was expressed at a relatively low level until stationary phase. Furthermore, homB expression was suppressed at low pH in an ArsRS-dependent manner; mutation of arsRS resulted in increased homB transcript at all tested time-points. ArsRS regulation of homB appeared to be direct as purified ArsR was able to specifically bind to the homB promoter. This regulation, combined with our previous finding that ArsRS mutations lead to enhanced biofilm formation, led us to test the hypothesis that homB contributes to biofilm formation by H. pylori. Indeed, subsequent biofilm analysis using a crystal-violet quantification assay and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that loss of homB from hyper-biofilm forming strains resulted in reversion to a biofilm phenotype that mimicked wild-type. Furthermore, expression of homB in trans from a promoter that negated ArsRS regulation led to enhanced biofilm formation even in strains in which the chromosomal copy of homB had been deleted. Thus, homB is necessary for hyper-biofilm formation of ArsRS mutant strains and aberrant regulation of this gene is sufficient to induce a hyper-biofilm phenotype. In summary, these data suggest that the ArsRS-dependent regulation of OMPs such as HomB may be one mechanism by which ArsRS dictates biofilm development in a pH responsive manner

Group B streptococcal infection of the genitourinary tract in pregnant and non-pregnant patients with diabetes mellitus: an immunocompromised host or something more?

Group B Streptococcus (GBS), also known as Streptococcus agalactiae is a Gram-positive bacterium commonly encountered as part of the microbiota within the human gastrointestinal tract. A common cause of infections during pregnancy, GBS is responsible for invasive diseases ranging from urinary tract infections to chorioamnionitis and neonatal sepsis. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease resulting from impaired regulation of blood glucose levels. The incidence of DM has steadily increased worldwide to affecting over 450 million people. Poorly controlled DM is associated with multiple health comorbidities including an increased risk for infection. Epidemiologic studies have clearly demonstrated that DM correlates with an increased risk for invasive GBS infections, including skin and soft tissue infections and sepsis in non-pregnant adults. However, the impact of DM on risk for invasive GBS urogenital infections, particularly during the already vulnerable time of pregnancy, is less clear. We review the evolving epidemiology, immunology, and pathophysiology of GBS urogenital infections including rectovaginal colonization during pregnancy, neonatal infections of infants exposed to DM in utero, and urinary tract infections in pregnant and non-pregnant adults in the context of DM and highlight in vitro studies examining why DM might increase risk for GBS urogenital infection

<i>Streptococcus agalactiae cadD</i> Is Critical for Pathogenesis in the Invertebrate <i>Galleria mellonella</i> Model

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a gram-positive bacterium that can cause invasive infections in immunocompromised, elderly, pregnant, or neonatal patients. The invertebrate model, Galleria mellonella, has emerged as an effective tool to study GBS-host interactions; specifically, those conserved within the innate arm of the immune system. We sought to determine the role of metal homeostasis functions in GBS infections of G. mellonella larvae and to validate this model as a tool to study GBS-host interactions. Our results indicate that wild-type GBS infects G. mellonella in a dose-dependent manner, replicates in the invertebrate host, induces larval melanization and larval killing. These results were significantly abrogated in cohorts of larvae infected with the isogenic cadD deletion mutant. Additionally, complementation restored GBS-dependent infection, bacterial burden, larval melanization, and killing to wild-type levels. Together, these results indicate that the G. mellonella model is a useful tool for studying GBS pathogenesis

Enteroinvasive Escherichia Coli O96: H19 is an emergent biofilm-forming pathogen

Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) is a diarrheagenic E. coli pathotype carrying a virulence plasmid that encodes a type III secretion system (TTSS) directly implicated in bacterial cell invasion. Since 2012, EIEC serotype O96:H19 has been recognized in Europe, Colombia, and most recently Uruguay. In addition to the invasion phenotype, the strains isolated from Colombian children with moderate-to-severe gastroenteritis had a strong biofilm formation phenotype, and as a result, they are referred to as biofilm-forming enteroinvasive E. coli (BF-EIEC). The objective of this study was to characterize the biofilm formation phenotype of the BF-EIEC O96:H19 strain 52.1 isolated from a child with moderate-to-severe gastroenteritis in Colombia. Random mutagenesis using Tn5 transposons identified 100 mutants unable to form biofilm; 20 of those had mutations within the pgaABCD operon. Site-directed mutagenesis of pgaB and pgaC confirmed the importance of these genes in N-acetylglucosamine-mediated biofilm formation. Both biofilm formation and TTSS-mediated host cell invasion were associated with host cell damage on the basis of cytotoxic assays comparing the wild type, invasion gene mutants, and biofilm formation mutants. Multilocus sequence typing-based phylogenetic analysis showed that BF-EIEC strain 52.1 does not cluster with classic EIEC serotype strains. Instead, BF-EIEC strain 52.1 clusters with EIEC serotype O96:H19 strains described in Europe and Uruguay. In conclusion, BF-EIEC O96:H19, an emerging pathogen associated with moderate-to-severe acute gastroenteritis in children under 5 years of age in Colombia, invades cells and has a strong biofilm formation capability. Both phenotypes are independently associated with in vitro cell cytotoxicity, and they may explain, at least in part, the higher disease severity reported in Europe and Latin America. IMPORTANCE Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC), a close relative of Shigella, is implicated in dysenteric diarrhea. EIEC pathogenicity involves cell invasion mediated by effector proteins delivered by a type III secretion system (TTSS) that disrupt the cell cytoskeleton. These proteins and the VirF global regulator are encoded by a large (\u3e200 kb) invasion plasmid (pINV). This study reports an emergent EIEC possessing a cell invasion phenotype and a strong polysaccharide matrix-mediated biofilm formation phenotype. Both phenotypes contribute to host cell cytotoxicity in vitro and may contribute to the severe disease reported among children and adults in Europe and Latin America

Group B \u3ci\u3eStreptococcus\u3c/i\u3e Induces Neutrophil Recruitment to Gestational Tissues and Elaboration of Extracellular Traps and Nutritional Immunity

Streptococcus agalactiae, or Group B Streptococcus (GBS), is a gram-positive bacterial pathogen associated with infection during pregnancy and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates. Infection of the extraplacental membranes surrounding the developing fetus, a condition known as chorioamnionitis, is characterized histopathologically by profound infiltration of polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs, neutrophils) and greatly increases the risk for preterm labor, stillbirth, or neonatal GBS infection. The advent of animal models of chorioamnionitis provides a powerful tool to study host-pathogen relationships in vivo and ex vivo. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the innate immune response elicited by GBS and evaluate how antimicrobial strategies elaborated by these innate immune cells affect bacteria. Our work using a mouse model of GBS ascending vaginal infection during pregnancy reveals that clinically isolated GBS has the capacity to invade reproductive tissues and elicit host immune responses including infiltration of PMNs within the choriodecidua and placenta during infection, mirroring the human condition. Upon interacting with GBS, murine neutrophils elaborate DNA-containing extracellular traps, which immobilize GBS and are studded with antimicrobial molecules including lactoferrin. Exposure of GBS to holo- or apo-forms of lactoferrin reveals that the iron-sequestration activity of lactoferrin represses GBS growth and viability in a dose-dependent manner. Together, these data indicate that the mouse model of ascending infection is a useful tool to recapitulate human models of GBS infection during pregnancy. Furthermore, this work reveals that neutrophil extracellular traps ensnare GBS and repress bacterial growth via deposition of antimicrobial molecules, which drive nutritional immunity via metal sequestration strategies