Identification of Gene Products Involved in the Oxidative Stress Response of Moraxella catarrhalis

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Young adult chinchillas were atraumatically inoculated with Moraxella catarrhalis via the nasal route. Detailed histopathologic examination of nasopharyngeal tissues isolated from these M. catarrhalis-infected animals revealed the presence of significant inflammation within the epithelium. Absence of similar histopathologic findings in sham-inoculated animals confirmed that M. catarrhalis was exposed to significant host-derived factors in this environment. Twenty-four hours after inoculation, viable M. catarrhalis organisms were recovered from the nasal cavity and nasopharynx of the animals in numbers sufficient for DNA microarray analysis. More than 100 M. catarrhalis genes were upregulated in vivo, including open reading frames ( M oraxella catarrhalis is a Gram-negative mucosal pathogen that has attracted increased interest within the scientific and medical communities for its role in several clinically significant human infections. The bacterium is a cause of upper respiratory tract infections including sinusitis and otitis media in healthy children (10, 17, 62). More recently, M. catarrhalis has been shown to be involved in conjunctivitis in children (9) and in acute exacerbations of chronic sinusitis in adults (11). Additionally, in adults, it is an important etiologic agent of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (54,55,62). It has been estimated that M. catarrhalis is responsible for up to 10% of exacerbations of COPD in the United States, a finding which translates into as many as 4 million infections per year (43).For M. catarrhalis to cause clinical disease, it typically must spread from its initial site of colonization in the nasopharynx into either the middle ear or the lower respiratory tract. It is believed that biofilm formation is an important event involved in colonization of the nasopharynx, and a recent study demonstrated that M. catarrhalis was present in a biofilm in the middle ear of children with chronic otitis media (25). It is likely that M. catarrhalis exists in a biofilm together with other normal flora in the nasopharynx. Until relatively recently, no studies had been performed in an in vivo environment to identify and better characterize the bacterial factors involved with colonization of the nasopharynx by M. catarrhalis. However, utilizing a chinchilla model, Luke et al. (36) demonstrated that type IV pili are important for colonization by M. catarrhalis in this animal model.Previous studies have examined the human antibody response to known surface proteins of M. catarrhalis as a surrogate for identification of bacterial genes expressed in vivo (for a representative example, see reference 42), and one study was able to detect mRNA from a small number of selected M. catarrhalis genes in nasopharyngeal secretions from young children with acute respiratory tract illness (39). The demonstration that the chinchilla nasopharynx can be colonized by M. catarrhalis (5, 36), together with the development of M. catarrhalis DNA microarrays (19,65), presented the op...

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of the Chinchilla Model for Nasopharyngeal Colonization To Study Gene Expression by Moraxella catarrhalis

Hoopman

Liu

Joslin³

et al. 2012

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“…However, an H. cinaedi microarray (which is not available right now) will be needed to fully elucidate this possibility. This microarray strategy has been successfully used to determine oxidative stress genes that are affected in the transcriptome of WT Moraxella catarrhalis and the M. catarrhalis ⌬oxyR mutant, which has increased sensitivity to H 2 O 2 when exposed to high levels of H 2 O 2 (18). The H. cinaedi ahpC mutant showed roughly 3-fold reduction in the rate of organic hydroperoxide degradation, which severely affected the mutant's ability to degrade organic hydroperoxides.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alkyl Hydroperoxide Reductase Is Required for Helicobacter cinaedi Intestinal Colonization and Survival under Oxidative Stress in BALB/c and BALB/c Interleukin-10 ^−/− Mice

Charoenlap¹,

Shen

McBee³

et al. 2012

Helicobacter cinaedi, a common human intestinal bacterium, has been implicated in various enteric and systemic diseases in normal and immunocompromised patients. Protection against oxidative stress is a crucial component of bacterium-host interactions. Alkyl hydroperoxide reductase C (AhpC) is an enzyme responsible for detoxification of peroxides and is important in protection from peroxide-induced stress. H. cinaedi possesses a single ahpC, which was investigated with respect to its role in bacterial survival during oxidative stress. The H. cinaedi ahpC mutant had diminished resistance to organic hydroperoxide toxicity but increased hydrogen peroxide resistance compared with the wild-type (WT) strain. The mutant also exhibited an oxygen-sensitive phenotype and was more susceptible to killing by macrophages than the WT strain. In vivo experiments in BALB/c and BALB/c interleukin-10 (IL-10) ؊/؊ mice revealed that the cecal colonizing ability of the ahpC mutant was significantly reduced. The mutant also had diminished ability to induce bacterium-specific immune responses in vivo, as shown by immunoglobulin (IgG2a and IgG1) serum levels. Collectively, these data suggest that H. cinaedi ahpC not only contributes to protecting the organism against oxidative stress but also alters its pathogenic properties in vivo.

“…Immediately following the PCR, the cDNA template (1 l; 50 ng) was added to 10 l Sybr green master mix (Bio-Rad) with primers (1 l of 2.5 M stock) and H 2 O (7 l) to a final volume of 20 l according to the manufacturer's instructions for qRT-PCR in a CFX 384 or CFX Connect machine (Bio-Rad). Primers were designed to amplify a 150-to 190-bp product for oppB, oppC, oppD, oppF, oppA, and the gyrase B housekeeping gene (gyrB) (31). The resulting quantification cycle (C q ) values were converted to SQ values based on a standard curve.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expression of the Oligopeptide Permease Operon of Moraxella catarrhalis Is Regulated by Temperature and Nutrient Availability

Jones

Murphy

2015

Moraxella catarrhalis causes otitis media in children and exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adults. Together, these two conditions contribute to enormous morbidity and mortality worldwide. The oligopeptide permease (opp) ABC transport system is a nutritional virulence factor important for the utilization of peptides. The substrate binding protein OppA, which binds peptides for uptake, is a potential vaccine antigen, but little was known about the regulation of gene expression. The five opp genes oppB, oppC, oppD, oppF, and oppA are in the same open reading frame. Sequence analysis predicted two promoters, one located upstream of oppB and one within the intergenic region between oppF and oppA. We have characterized the gene cluster as an operon with two functional promoters and show that cold shock at 26°C for <0.5 h and the presence of a peptide substrate increase gene transcript levels. Additionally, the putative promoter upstream of oppA contributes to the transcription of oppA but is not influenced by the same environmental cues as the promoter upstream of oppB. We conclude that temperature and nutrient availability contribute to the regulation of the Opp system, which is an important nutritional virulence factor in M. catarrhalis. Moraxella catarrhalis is an increasingly important human-specific pathogen contributing to worldwide morbidity and mortality that has transitioned from an emerging to an established pathogen (1-3). Otitis media in children is the primary cause of new antibiotic prescriptions and pediatric office visits, with M. catarrhalis accounting for 10% to 20% of acute otitis media episodes (2, 4-6). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the United States, with M. catarrhalis contributing to at least 10% of exacerbations (7-11). The socioeconomic burden of otitis media and COPD is significant, with an estimated $50 billion dollars annually in health care expenses globally (5, 9, 12). In view of the morbidity and health care cost associated with M. catarrhalis, it is important to understand the mechanisms of pathogenesis in order to guide development of novel approaches to treatment and prevention (2,13,14). In previous work, we identified OppA as a promising vaccine antigen and a nutritional virulence factor for M. catarrhalis (15,16).We previously characterized the oligopeptide permease (opp) gene cluster as an ABC transport system vital for the utilization of peptide substrates. The gene cluster encodes two permeases, OppB and OppC; two ATPases, OppD and OppF; and a substrate binding protein, OppA (16). We hypothesized that this gene cluster was transcribed as an operon and that environmental factors, temperature and essential nutrients available as peptides, would alter the rate of transcription.The lower respiratory tract has a normal body temperature of 37°C, while the upper airways, specifically the nasopharynx, where M. catarrhalis first colonizes, ranges from 34°C at room temperature (25°C) down to 26°C after a short...