13 research outputs found
Intracellular Staphylococcus aureus modulates host central carbon metabolism to activate autophagy
Staphylococcus aureus is a facultative intracellular pathogen that invades and replicates within many types of phagocytic and nonphagocytic cells. During intracellular infection, S. aureus is capable of subverting xenophagy and escaping to the cytosol of the host cell. Furthermore, drug-induced autophagy facilitates the intracellular replication of S. aureus, but the reasons behind this are unclear. Here, we have studied the host central carbon metabolism during S. aureus intracellular infection. We found extensive metabolic rerouting and detected several distinct metabolic changes that suggested starvation-induced autophagic flux in infected cells. These changes included increased uptake but lower intracellular levels of glucose and low abundance of several essential amino acids, as well as markedly upregulated glutaminolysis. Furthermore, we show that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation levels are significantly increased in infected cells. Interestingly, while autophagy was activated in response to S. aureus invasion, most of the autophagosomes detected in infected cells did not contain bacteria, suggesting that S. aureus induces the autophagic flux during cell invasion for energy generation and nutrient scavenging. Accordingly, AMPK inhibition halted S. aureus intracellular proliferation
Understanding microRNAs in the Context of Infection to Find New Treatments against Human Bacterial Pathogens
[EN] The development of RNA-based anti-infectives has gained interest with the successful
application of mRNA-based vaccines. Small RNAs are molecules of RNA of <200 nucleotides in
length that may control the expression of specific genes. Small RNAs include small interference RNAs
(siRNAs), Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), or microRNAs (miRNAs). Notably, the role of miRNAs
on the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression has been studied in detail in the context of
cancer and many other genetic diseases. However, it is also becoming apparent that some human
miRNAs possess important antimicrobial roles by silencing host genes essential for the progress
of bacterial or viral infections. Therefore, their potential use as novel antimicrobial therapies has
gained interest during the last decade. The challenges of the transport and delivery of miRNAs
to target cells are important, but recent research with exosomes is overcoming the limitations in
RNA-cellular uptake, avoiding their degradation. Therefore, in this review, we have summarised the
latest developments in the exosomal delivery of miRNA-based therapies, which may soon be another
complementary treatment to pathogen-targeted antibiotics that could help solve the problem caused
by multidrug-resistant bacteriaSIWe thank the Junta de Castilla y León (Spain) for funding our research work on microRNAs, grant number LE044P20. A.M. is supported with a postdoctoral fellowship “Margarita Salas”. M.L. is the recipient of a “Beatriz Galindo” grant (Ref. BEAGAL18/00068 - BGP18/00033
Aprendizaje-Servicio en el entorno rural de León
[ES] A través del grupo de Innovación Docente BIOMETAC, nace esta experiencia de ApS para promover en los
estudiantes de los grados en Biología, Biotecnología y Ciencias Ambientales de la ULE, la iniciativa cívica de
participación en la sociedad. El objetivo general del proyecto es que el alumnado aplique sus conocimientos y
habilidades para sensibilizar y dinamizar a la población de varios municipios rurales de León frente a retos de la
Agenda 2030 asociados a la salud y la sostenibilidad ambiental. Se establecieron 3 grupos de trabajo, cada uno
integrado por 12 estudiantes de los tres grados, que trabajan en 3 municipios rurales de la provincia de León:
Cistierna, Truchas y Villablino, con diversas problemáticas en el ámbito de la salud y medioambiente. El Proyecto
se realiza en tres fases: Preparación, Ejecución y Evaluación y Difusión. Durante la primera fase (curso 2021/22),
se realizaron reuniones con el alumnado para guiarlos en el diagnóstico de cada municipio. Los datos obtenidos
permitieron detectar los problemas que más preocupaban a la población de cada municipio. En una segunda fase
(curso 2022/23), los alumnos profundizarán en las distintas problemáticas mediante actuaciones propuestas por
ellos mismos y presentarán sus conclusiones en cada municipio. Esta experiencia pretende que los estudiantes
pongan los conocimientos y las competencias adquiridas al servicio de comunidades rurales, trabajando
directamente sobre varios Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS), mejorando su capacidad de iniciativa,
autonomía en la organización del trabajo, y responsabilidad para la resolución de problemas
Host-targeted therapeutics against multidrug-resistant intracellular Staphylococcus aureus
The mosquito microbiota reduces the vector competence of Anopheles to Plasmodium and affects host fitness; it is therefore considered as a potential target to reduce malaria transmission. While immune induction, secretion of antimicrobials and metabolic competition are three typical mechanisms of microbiota-mediated protection against invasive pathogens in mammals, the involvement of metabolic competition or mutualism in mosquito-microbiota and microbiota-Plasmodium interactions has not been investigated. Here, we describe a metabolome analysis of the midgut of Anopheles coluzzii provided with a sugar-meal or a non-infectious blood-meal, under conventional or antibiotic-treated conditions. We observed that the antibiotic treatment affects the tricarboxylic acid cycle and nitrogen metabolism, notably resulting in decreased abundance of free amino acids. Linking our results with published data, we identified pathways which may participate in microbiota-Plasmodium interactions via metabolic interactions or immune modulation and thus would be interesting candidates for future functional studies
Acetaminophen cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells is associated with a decoupling of glycolysis from the TCA cycle, loss of NADPH production, and suppression of anabolism
Acetaminophen (APAP) is one of the most commonly used analgesics worldwide, and overdoses are associated with lactic acidosis, hepatocyte toxicity, and acute liver failure due to oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Hepatoma cell lines typically lack the CYP450 activity to generate the reactive metabolite of APAP observed in vivo, but are still subject to APAP cytotoxicity. In this study, we employed metabolic profiling and isotope labelling approaches to investigate the metabolic impact of acute exposure to cytotoxic doses of APAP on the widely used HepG2 cell model. We found that APAP exposure leads to limited cellular death and substantial growth inhibition. Metabolically, we observed an up-regulation of glycolysis and lactate production with a concomitant reduction in carbon from glucose entering the pentose-phosphate pathway and the TCA cycle. This was accompanied by a depletion of cellular NADPH and a reduction in the de novo synthesis of fatty acids and the amino acids serine and glycine. These events were not associated with lower reduced glutathione levels and no glutathione conjugates were seen in cell extracts. Co-treatment with a specific inhibitor of the lactate/H+ transporter MCT1, AZD3965, led to increased apoptosis in APAP-treated cells, suggesting that lactate accumulation could be a cause of cell death in this model. In conclusion, we show that APAP toxicity in HepG2 cells is largely independent of oxidative stress, and is linked instead to a decoupling of glycolysis from the TCA cycle, lactic acidosis, reduced NADPH production, and subsequent suppression of the anabolic pathways required for rapid growth
Repetitive Exposure of IL-17 Into the Murine Air Pouch Favors the Recruitment of Inflammatory Monocytes and the Release of IL-16 and TREM-1 in the Inflammatory Fluids
The infiltration of Th17 cells in tissues and organs during the development of many autoimmune diseases is considered a key step toward the establishment of chronic inflammation. Indeed, the localized and prolonged release of IL-17 in specific tissues has been associated with an increased severity of the inflammatory response that remains sustained over time. The cellular and molecular mechanisms behind these effects are far from being clear. In this study we investigated the effects of two repetitive administration of recombinant IL-17 into the murine air pouch to simulate a scenario where IL-17 is released over time in a pre-inflamed tissue. Consistent with our previous observations, mice receiving a single dose of IL-17 showed a transitory influx of neutrophils into the air pouch that peaked at 24 h and declined at 48 h. Conversely, mice receiving a double dose of the cytokine-one at time 0 and the second after 24 h-showed a more dramatic inflammatory response with almost 2-fold increase in the number of infiltrated leukocytes and significant higher levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the inflammatory fluids. Further analysis of the exacerbated inflammatory response of double-injected IL-17 mice showed a unique cellular and biochemical profile with inflammatory monocytes as the second main population emigrating to the pouch and IL-16 and TREM-1 as the most upregulated cytokines found in the inflammatory fluids. Most interestingly, mice receiving a double injection of IL-1β did not show any change in the cellular or biochemical inflammatory response compared to those receiving a single injection or just vehicle. Collectively these results shed some light on the function of IL-17 as pro-inflammatory cytokine and provide possible novel ways to target therapeutically the pathogenic effects of IL-17 in autoimmune conditions
Identification of novel targets for host-directed therapeutics against intracellular Staphylococcus aureus
During patient colonization, Staphylococcus aureus is able to invade and proliferate within human cells to evade the immune system and last resort drugs such as vancomycin. Hijacking specific host molecular factors and/or pathways is necessary for pathogens to successfully establish an intracellular infection. In this study, we employed an unbiased shRNA screening coupled with ultra-fast sequencing to screen 16,000 human genes during S. aureus infection and we identified several host genes important for this intracellular pathogen. In addition, we interrogated our screening results to find novel host-targeted therapeutics against intracellular S. aureus. We found that silencing the human gene TRAM2 resulted in a significant reduction of intracellular bacterial load while host cell viability was restored, showing its importance during intracellular infection. Furthermore, TRAM2 is an interactive partner of the endoplasmic reticulum SERCA pumps and treatment with the SERCA-inhibitor Thapsigargin halted intracellular MRSA survival. Our results suggest that Thapsigargin could be repurposed to tackle S. aureus host cell infection in combination with conventional antibiotics
Intracellular Staphylococcus aureus elicits the production of host very long-chain saturated fatty acids with antimicrobial activity
As a facultative intracellular pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus is able to invade and proliferate within many types of mammalian cells. Intracellular bacterial replication relies on host nutrient supplies and, therefore, cell metabolism is closely bound to intracellular infection. Here, we investigated how S. aureus invasion affects the host membrane-bound fatty acids. We quantified the relative levels of fatty acids and their labelling pattern after intracellular infection by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Interestingly, we observed that the levels of three host fatty acids—docosanoic, eicosanoic and palmitic acids—were significantly increased in response to intracellular S. aureus infection. Accordingly, labelling carbon distribution was also affected in infected cells, in comparison to the uninfected control. In addition, treatment of HeLa cells with these three fatty acids showed a cytoprotective role by directly reducing S. aureus growth