GPI-anchor deficiency in myeloid cells causes impaired FcgammaR effector functions

Signaling by transmembrane immunoglobulin G (IgG)-Fc receptors (FcgammaRs) in response to ligand involves association with membrane microdomains that contain glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins. Recent in vitro studies showed enhancement of FcgammaR signaling by forced monoclonal antibody-mediated cocrosslinking with various GPI-anchored proteins. Here, the possibility that GPI-anchored proteins are involved in normal physiologic FcgammaR effector functions in response to a model ligand was studied using myeloid-specific GPI-anchor-deficient mice, generated by Cre-loxP conditional targeting. GPI-anchor-deficient primary myeloid cells exhibited normal FcgammaR expression and binding or endocytosis of IgG-immune complexes (IgG-ICs). Strikingly, after stimulation with IgG-ICs, tumor necrosis factor-alpha release, dendritic cell maturation, and antigen presentation were strongly reduced by GPI-anchor deficiency. Tyrosine phosphorylation of the FcR gamma-chain in response to IgG-IC was impaired in GPI-anchor-deficient cells. Myeloid GPI-anchor deficiency resulted in attenuated in vivo inflammatory processes during IgG-IC-mediated alveolitis. This study provides the first genetic evidence for an essential role of GPI-anchored proteins in physiologic FcgammaR effector functions in vitro and in viv

A Putative Bacterial ABC Transporter Circumvents the Essentiality of Signal Peptidase

The type I signal peptidase of Staphylococcus aureus, SpsB, is an attractive antibacterial target because it is essential for viability and extracellularly accessible. We synthesized compound 103, a novel arylomycin-derived inhibitor of SpsB with significant potency against various clinical S. aureus strains (MIC of ~1 µg/ml). The predominant clinical strain USA300 developed spontaneous resistance to compound 103 with high frequency, resulting from single point mutations inside or immediately upstream of cro/cI, a homolog of the lambda phage transcriptional repressor cro. These cro/cI mutations led to marked (>50-fold) overexpression of three genes encoding a putative ABC transporter. Overexpression of this ABC transporter was both necessary and sufficient for resistance and, notably, circumvented the essentiality of SpsB during in vitro culture. Mutation of its predicted ATPase gene abolished resistance, suggesting a possible role for active transport; in these bacteria, resistance to compound 103 occurred with low frequency and through mutations in spsB. Bacteria overexpressing the ABC transporter and lacking SpsB were capable of secreting a subset of proteins that are normally cleaved by SpsB and instead were cleaved at a site distinct from the canonical signal peptide. These bacteria secreted reduced levels of virulence-associated proteins and were unable to establish infection in mice. This study reveals the mechanism of resistance to a novel arylomycin derivative and demonstrates that the nominal essentiality of the S. aureus signal peptidase can be circumvented by the upregulation of a putative ABC transporter in vitro but not in vivo

Novel staphylococcal glycosyltransferases SdgA and SdgB mediate immunogenicity and protection of virulence-associated cell wall proteins

Infection of host tissues by Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis requires an unusual family of staphylococcal adhesive proteins that contain long stretches of serine-aspartate dipeptide-repeats (SDR). The prototype member of this family is clumping factor A (ClfA), a key virulence factor that mediates adhesion to host tissues by binding to extracellular matrix proteins such as fibrinogen. However, the biological siginificance of the SDR-domain and its implication for pathogenesis remain poorly understood. Here, we identified two novel bacterial glycosyltransferases, SdgA and SdgB, which modify all SDR-proteins in these two bacterial species. Genetic and biochemical data demonstrated that these two glycosyltransferases directly bind and covalently link N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) moieties to the SDR-domain in a step-wise manner, with SdgB appending the sugar residues proximal to the target Ser-Asp repeats, followed by additional modification by SdgA. GlcNAc-modification of SDR-proteins by SdgB creates an immunodominant epitope for highly opsonic human antibodies, which represent up to 1% of total human IgG. Deletion of these glycosyltransferases renders SDR-proteins vulnerable to proteolysis by human neutrophil-derived cathepsin G. Thus, SdgA and SdgB glycosylate staphylococcal SDR-proteins, which protects them against host proteolytic activity, and yet generates major eptopes for the human anti-staphylococcal antibody response, which may represent an ongoing competition between host and pathoge

SdgB and SdgA sequentially modify the SDR-domain with GlcNAc moieties.

<p>(<b>A</b>) SdgB generates rF1 epitopes on SDR protein. A combination of MBP-SDR-His and SdgA or SdgB was co-expressed in <i>E. coli</i>, and cell lysates were immunoblotted with mAb rF1, or with mAb against unmodified SDR (9G4) or anti-His. (<b>B</b>) Cell-free system to reconstitute SDR glycosylation using purified components. Recombinant MBP-SDR-His was incubated with purified SdgA or SdgB, and in the presence or absence of UDP-GlcNAc; rF1 reactivity was induced only in the presence of SdgB and UDP-GlcNAc. (<b>C</b>) Final model for step-wise glycosylation of SDR proteins by SdgA and SdgB. First, SdgB appends GlcNAc moieties onto the SD-region on SDR proteins, followed by additional GlcNAc modification by SdgA. The epitope for mAb rF1 includes the SdgB-dependent GlcNAc moieties. (<b>D</b>) Mass spectrometry analysis to identify the SDR-sugar moieties using purified MBP-SDR-His expressed in <i>E. coli</i>. (Upper panel) Deconvoluted mass spectrum of purified MBP-SDR-His protein, showing the expected intact mass of 58719 Da. (Middle panel) MBP-SDR-His protein was treated with purified SdgB enzyme in the presence of UDP-GlcNAc for 2 h at 37°C. After incubation, the mass of the MBP-SDR-His protein showed several peaks, each peak being separated from the others by the mass of additional GlcNAc residues. (Bottom panel) The above-mentioned reaction mixture of MBP-SDR-His and SdgB (middle panel) was additionally treated with purified SdgA enzyme. After further incubation for 2 hrs at 37°C, up to an additional 47 GlcNAc groups were found to be added. Thus, most of the serines in the DSD motifs in MBP-SD can be modified with these disaccharide sugar moieties.</p

mAb rF1 exhibits robust binding to and killing of <i>S. aureus</i> bacteria.

<p>(<b>A-C</b>) Bacteria were preopsonized with huIgG1 mAbs rF1 (squares), 4675 anti-ClfA (triangles), or anti-herpes virus gD (circles). (<b>A</b>) Binding of mAbs to WT (USA300-Δ<i>spa</i>) bacteria was assessed by flow cytometry, and expressed as mean fluorescent intensity (MFI). (<b>B</b>) CFSE-labeled, preopsonized WT (USA300-Δ<i>spa</i>) bacteria were incubated with human PMN. Bacterial uptake was expressed as % of CFSE-positive PMN, after gating for CD11b-positive cells by flow cytometry. (<b>C</b>) Preopsonized WT (USA300-Δ<i>spa</i>) bacteria were incubated with PMN to assess bacterial killing. Numbers of viable CFU per mL are representative of at least three experiments. (<b>D</b>) Flow cytometry analysis of binding of rF1 to <i>S. aureus</i> from various infected tissues. Homogenized tissues were double stained with mAb rF1 (X-axis), and with anti-peptidoglycan mAb 702 to distinguish bacteria from tissue debris (Y-axis) (left panel; gate indicated by arrow), followed by gating of bacteria to generate histogram figures. (<b>E</b>) Binding of rF1 to various staphylococcal and non-staphylococcal Gram-positive bacterial species by flow cytometry. <i>Red lines</i>, rF1; <i>blue lines</i>, isotype control mAb anti-gD; <i>green lines</i>, control without mAb. (See also <a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003653#ppat.1003653.s001" target="_blank">Figure S1</a>).</p

Strains, plasmids, and antibodies.

<p>Abbreviations: MRSA, methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>; MSSA, methicillin-sensitive <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>; VISA, vancomycin intermediate-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>; mAb, monoclonal antibody. *NARSA, network on Antibiotic Resistance in <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (NARSA) Program supported under NIAID/NIH Contract No. HHSN272200700055C.</p

Recognition of SdgB-dependent epitope by human antibodies.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Four different human IgG preparations were reacted with plate-bound CWP from WT or Δ<i>sdgB</i> USA300 by ELISA. To calculate the specific anti-staphylococcal IgG content, data were normalized using a calibration curve with known IgG concentrations of a mAb against peptidoglycan, which has the same reactivity with both USA300 strains by ELISA. Data are expressed as µg/mL of anti-staphylococcal IgG in the serum. The reduction in reactivity observed for CWP from Δ<i>sdgB</i> (red bars) as compared to wild-type CWP (black bars) reflects IgG specific for SdgB-dependent epitopes. Asterisks indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) from WT CWP. (<b>B</b>) CWP from WT, Δ<i>sdgA</i>, or Δ<i>sdgB</i>, Δ<i>sdgAΔsdgB</i> USA300 were immunoblotted with rF1 and three additional human mAbs (SD2, SD3, and SD4) from different patients. All four mAbs showed similar epitope specificity.</p

SdgB is the key rF1 epitope-modifying enzyme.

<p>(<b>A</b>) SdgB is necessary for rF1 reactivity. Cell wall lysates from WT and various putative glycosyltransferase mutants were immunoblotted with mAbs rF1, anti-ClfA (9E10), anti-SdrD (17H4) or anti-panSDR (9G4 α-SDR; recognizes the unmodified SDR-domain. (<b>B</b>) Complementation of Δ<i>sdgB</i> with exogenous SdgB confers rF1 reactivity. Cell wall lysates from WT, glycosyltransferase mutants, and the SdgB-complemented strain were immunoblotted with rF1, anti-ClfA, and anti-SDR mAbs as in (A). (<b>C</b>) Binding of rF1 to whole USA300 bacteria requires SdgB. Binding of mAbs to Δ<i>sdgB</i> USA300 was assessed by flow cytometry as described in <a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003653#ppat-1003653-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1A</a>. (<b>D</b>) rF1-mediated killing of USA300 activity requires SdgB. Wild-type USA300 bacteria preopsonized with rF1 (closed square) or anti-gD (closed circle), and Δ<i>sdgB</i> preopsonized with rF1 (closed triangle) or anti-gD (open circle), were incubated with PMN, and bacterial killing was determined as in <a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003653#ppat-1003653-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1C</a>. (<b>E</b>) MBP-SDR-His construct was expressed in WT, Δ<i>sdgA</i>, Δ<i>sdgB</i>, or Δ<i>sgdAΔsdgB S. aureus</i>, and whole cell lysates were immunoblotted with rF1, anti-His and anti-SDR. (<b>F</b>) Preliminary model for step-wise glycosylation of SDR-proteins by SdgB and SdgA. SDR-domains are first glycosylated by SdgB, which appends sugar modifications creating the epitope of mAb rF1. SdgA further modifies these epitopes with additional sugar moieties (left panel). The Δ<i>sdgA S. aureus</i> mutant shows that SdgA-mediated modifications do not influence rF1-binding activity (middle panel). In Δ<i>sdgB or</i> Δ<i>sgdAΔsdgB S. aureus</i>, the unmodified SDR-region is now recognized by the anti-pan-SDR mAb (9G4).</p