Biofilms are bacterial communities residing within a polysaccharide matrix that are associated with persistence and antibiotic resistance in chronic infections. We show that the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa forms biofilms within 8 h of infection in thermally injured mice, demonstrating that biofilms contribute to bacterial colonization in acute infections as well. Using light, electron, and confocal scanning laser microscopy, P. aeruginosa biofilms were visualized within burned tissue surrounding blood vessels and adipose cells. Although quorum sensing (QS), a bacterial signaling mechanism, coordinates differentiation of biofilms in vitro, wild-type and QS-deficient P. aeruginosa strains formed similar biofilms in vivo. Our findings demonstrate that P. aeruginosa forms biofilms on specific host tissues independently of QS.Bacterial biofilms are communities of microorganisms residing within a polysaccharide matrix that have been imaged in dental plaques, medical prostheses, and contact lenses (7,31,33). It is well accepted that biofilms play important roles in bacterial persistence and antibiotic resistance in chronic infections, such as cystic fibrosis and otitis media (3,8,9,30). However, the existence and/or roles of biofilms in acute infections, which are defined by short time courses and high severity, have not been examined. The opportunistic gram-negative pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes both chronic and acute infections and is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in thermally injured patients (27,37). In this study we examined the production of P. aeruginosa biofilms in the thermally injured mouse model of acute infections.The differentiation or maturation of P. aeruginosa biofilms in vitro depends on intercellular signaling systems or quorum sensing (QS) (5,22). QS systems in many gram-negative bacteria rely on acylated homoserine lactones (AHLs), which are produced at high levels when cell density is high and act as ligands for transcriptional regulators. The P. aeruginosa synthases LasI and RhlI synthesize two AHLs, N-3-oxododecanoyl homoserine lactone (3OC 12 -HSL) and N-butyryl-homoserine lactone (C 4 -HSL), which bind and modulate the activity of the transcriptional regulators LasR and RhlR, respectively (28). These transcriptional regulators then regulate the transcription of many genes whose products, including proteases, elastases, toxins, and hemolysins, are thought to be crucial for virulence (28). P. aeruginosa strains lacking functional QS systems are less virulent than wild-type strains (29) and form flat, undifferentiated biofilms on glass surfaces (5). These undifferentiated biofilms are less stable than the differentiated biofilms formed by wild-type P. aeruginosa as they can be easily disrupted by the detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate (5). However, the role of QS in biofilm formation has not previously been examined in vivo. Therefore, in this study we have also examined the role of QS in P. aeruginosa biofilm formation in the acute infection model. ...

BackgroundMutations in PKD1 or PKD2 cause typical autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), the most common monogenic kidney disease. Dominantly inherited polycystic kidney and liver diseases on the ADPKD spectrum are also caused by mutations in at least six other genes required for protein biogenesis in the endoplasmic reticulum, the loss of which results in defective production of the PKD1 gene product, the membrane protein polycystin-1 (PC1).MethodsWe used whole-exome sequencing in a cohort of 122 patients with genetically unresolved clinical diagnosis of ADPKD or polycystic liver disease to identify a candidate gene, ALG9, and in vitro cell-based assays of PC1 protein maturation to functionally validate it. For further validation, we identified carriers of ALG9 loss-of-function mutations and noncarrier matched controls in a large exome-sequenced population-based cohort and evaluated the occurrence of polycystic phenotypes in both groups.ResultsTwo patients in the clinically defined cohort had rare loss-of-function variants in ALG9, which encodes a protein required for addition of specific mannose molecules to the assembling N-glycan precursors in the endoplasmic reticulum lumen. In vitro assays showed that inactivation of Alg9 results in impaired maturation and defective glycosylation of PC1. Seven of the eight (88%) cases selected from the population-based cohort based on ALG9 mutation carrier state who had abdominal imaging after age 50; seven (88%) had at least four kidney cysts, compared with none in matched controls without ALG9 mutations.ConclusionsALG9 is a novel disease gene in the genetically heterogeneous ADPKD spectrum. This study supports the utility of phenotype characterization in genetically-defined cohorts to validate novel disease genes, and provide much-needed genotype-phenotype correlations.

Mutations in the CLRN1 gene cause Usher syndrome type 3 (USH3), a human disease characterized by progressive blindness and deafness. Clarin 1, the protein product of CLRN1, is a four-transmembrane protein predicted to be associated with ribbon synapses of photoreceptors and cochlear hair cells, and recently demonstrated to be associated with the cytoskeleton. To study Clrn1, we created a Clrn1 knockout (KO) mouse and characterized the histological and functional consequences of Clrn1 deletion in the retina and cochlea. Clrn1 KO mice do not develop a retinal degeneration phenotype, but exhibit progressive loss of sensory hair cells in the cochlea and deterioration of the organ of Corti by 4 months. Hair cell stereocilia in KO animals were longer and disorganized by 4 months, and some Clrn1 KO mice exhibited circling behavior by 5–6 months of age. Clrn1 mRNA expression was localized in the retina using in situ hybridization (ISH), laser capture microdissection (LCM), and RT–PCR. Retinal Clrn1 transcripts were found throughout development and adulthood by RT–PCR, although expression peaked at P7 and declined to undetectable levels in adult retina by ISH. LCM localized Clrn1 transcripts to the retinas inner nuclear layer, and WT levels of retinal Clrn1 expression were observed in photoreceptor-less retinas. Examination of Clrn1 KO mice suggests that CLRN1 is unnecessary in the murine retina but essential for normal cochlear development and function. This may reflect a redundancy in the mouse retina not present in human retina. In contrast to mouse KO models of USH1 and USH2, our data indicate that Clrn1 expression in the retina is restricted to the Müller glia. This is a novel finding, as most retinal degeneration associated proteins are expressed in photoreceptors, not in glia. If CLRN1 expression in humans is comparable to the expression pattern observed in mice, this is the first report of an inner retinal protein that, when mutated, causes retinal degeneration.

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