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Riebold D, Mahnkopf M, Wicht K, Zubiria-Barrera C, Heise J, Frank M, Misch D, Bauer T, Stocker H, Slevogt H. Axenic Long-Term Cultivation of Pneumocystis jirovecii. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:903. [PMID: 37755011 PMCID: PMC10533121 DOI: 10.3390/jof9090903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Revised: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Pneumocystis jirovecii, a fungus causing severe Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in humans, has long been described as non-culturable. Only isolated short-term experiments with P. jirovecii and a small number of experiments involving animal-derived Pneumocystis species have been published to date. However, P. jirovecii culture conditions may differ significantly from those of animal-derived Pneumocystis, as there are major genotypic and phenotypic differences between them. Establishing a well-performing P. jirovecii cultivation is crucial to understanding PCP and its pathophysiological processes. The aim of this study, therefore, was to develop an axenic culture for Pneumocystis jirovecii. To identify promising approaches for cultivation, a literature survey encompassing animal-derived Pneumocystis cultures was carried out. The variables identified, such as incubation time, pH value, vitamins, amino acids, and other components, were trialed and adjusted to find the optimum conditions for P. jirovecii culture. This allowed us to develop a medium that produced a 42.6-fold increase in P. jirovecii qPCR copy numbers after a 48-day culture. Growth was confirmed microscopically by the increasing number and size of actively growing Pneumocystis clusters in the final medium, DMEM-O3. P. jirovecii doubling time was 8.9 days (range 6.9 to 13.6 days). In conclusion, we successfully cultivated P. jirovecii under optimized cell-free conditions in a 70-day long-term culture for the first time. However, further optimization of the culture conditions for this slow grower is indispensable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Riebold
- Research Centre of Medical Technology and Biotechnology (FZMB), 99947 Bad Langensalza, Germany; (M.M.); (J.H.)
| | - Marie Mahnkopf
- Research Centre of Medical Technology and Biotechnology (FZMB), 99947 Bad Langensalza, Germany; (M.M.); (J.H.)
| | - Kristina Wicht
- Separation Science Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University, B-9000 Gent, Belgium;
| | - Cristina Zubiria-Barrera
- Respiratory Infection Dynamics Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany; (C.Z.-B.); (H.S.)
- Department of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Hannover Medical School, German Center for Lung Research (DZL), BREATH, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Jan Heise
- Research Centre of Medical Technology and Biotechnology (FZMB), 99947 Bad Langensalza, Germany; (M.M.); (J.H.)
| | - Marcus Frank
- Medical Biology and Electron Microscopy Centre (EMZ), University Medicine Rostock, 18057 Rostock, Germany;
| | - Daniel Misch
- Lungenklinik Heckeshorn, Helios Klinikum Emil-von-Behring, 14165 Berlin, Germany; (D.M.); (T.B.)
| | - Torsten Bauer
- Lungenklinik Heckeshorn, Helios Klinikum Emil-von-Behring, 14165 Berlin, Germany; (D.M.); (T.B.)
| | - Hartmut Stocker
- Clinic for Infectiology, St. Joseph’s Hospital Berlin, 12101 Berlin, Germany;
| | - Hortense Slevogt
- Respiratory Infection Dynamics Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany; (C.Z.-B.); (H.S.)
- Department of Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Hannover Medical School, German Center for Lung Research (DZL), BREATH, 30625 Hannover, Germany
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Ma L, Chen Z, Huang DW, Cissé OH, Rothenburger JL, Latinne A, Bishop L, Blair R, Brenchley JM, Chabé M, Deng X, Hirsch V, Keesler R, Kutty G, Liu Y, Margolis D, Morand S, Pahar B, Peng L, Van Rompay KKA, Song X, Song J, Sukura A, Thapar S, Wang H, Weissenbacher-Lang C, Xu J, Lee CH, Jardine C, Lempicki RA, Cushion MT, Cuomo CA, Kovacs JA. Diversity and Complexity of the Large Surface Protein Family in the Compacted Genomes of Multiple Pneumocystis Species. mBio 2020; 11:e02878-19. [PMID: 32127451 PMCID: PMC7064768 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.02878-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 01/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Pneumocystis, a major opportunistic pathogen in patients with a broad range of immunodeficiencies, contains abundant surface proteins encoded by a multicopy gene family, termed the major surface glycoprotein (Msg) gene superfamily. This superfamily has been identified in all Pneumocystis species characterized to date, highlighting its important role in Pneumocystis biology. In this report, through a comprehensive and in-depth characterization of 459 msg genes from 7 Pneumocystis species, we demonstrate, for the first time, the phylogeny and evolution of conserved domains in Msg proteins and provide a detailed description of the classification, unique characteristics, and phylogenetic relatedness of five Msg families. We further describe, for the first time, the relative expression levels of individual msg families in two rodent Pneumocystis species, the substantial variability of the msg repertoires in P. carinii from laboratory and wild rats, and the distinct features of the expression site for the classic msg genes in Pneumocystis from 8 mammalian host species. Our analysis suggests multiple functions for this superfamily rather than just conferring antigenic variation to allow immune evasion as previously believed. This study provides a rich source of information that lays the foundation for the continued experimental exploration of the functions of the Msg superfamily in Pneumocystis biology.IMPORTANCEPneumocystis continues to be a major cause of disease in humans with immunodeficiency, especially those with HIV/AIDS and organ transplants, and is being seen with increasing frequency worldwide in patients treated with immunodepleting monoclonal antibodies. Annual health care associated with Pneumocystis pneumonia costs ∼$475 million dollars in the United States alone. In addition to causing overt disease in immunodeficient individuals, Pneumocystis can cause subclinical infection or colonization in healthy individuals, which may play an important role in species preservation and disease transmission. Our work sheds new light on the diversity and complexity of the msg superfamily and strongly suggests that the versatility of this superfamily reflects multiple functions, including antigenic variation to allow immune evasion and optimal adaptation to host environmental conditions to promote efficient infection and transmission. These findings are essential to consider in developing new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Ma
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Zehua Chen
- Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Da Wei Huang
- Leidos BioMedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Ousmane H Cissé
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Jamie L Rothenburger
- Department of Pathobiology, Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Lisa Bishop
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Robert Blair
- Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
| | - Jason M Brenchley
- Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Magali Chabé
- Université Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1019-UMR 8204-CIIL-Centre d'Infection et d'Immunité de Lille, Lille, France
| | - Xilong Deng
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Vanessa Hirsch
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Rebekah Keesler
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Geetha Kutty
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Yueqin Liu
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Daniel Margolis
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Serge Morand
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Université de Montpellier 2, Montpellier, France
| | - Bapi Pahar
- Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
| | - Li Peng
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Koen K A Van Rompay
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Xiaohong Song
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Jun Song
- Center for Advanced Models for Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan Medical Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Antti Sukura
- Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sabrina Thapar
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Honghui Wang
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Jie Xu
- Center for Advanced Models for Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan Medical Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Chao-Hung Lee
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
| | - Claire Jardine
- Department of Pathobiology, Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Richard A Lempicki
- Leidos BioMedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Melanie T Cushion
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Christina A Cuomo
- Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Joseph A Kovacs
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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Ma L, Cissé OH, Kovacs JA. A Molecular Window into the Biology and Epidemiology of Pneumocystis spp. Clin Microbiol Rev 2018; 31:e00009-18. [PMID: 29899010 PMCID: PMC6056843 DOI: 10.1128/cmr.00009-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Pneumocystis, a unique atypical fungus with an elusive lifestyle, has had an important medical history. It came to prominence as an opportunistic pathogen that not only can cause life-threatening pneumonia in patients with HIV infection and other immunodeficiencies but also can colonize the lungs of healthy individuals from a very early age. The genus Pneumocystis includes a group of closely related but heterogeneous organisms that have a worldwide distribution, have been detected in multiple mammalian species, are highly host species specific, inhabit the lungs almost exclusively, and have never convincingly been cultured in vitro, making Pneumocystis a fascinating but difficult-to-study organism. Improved molecular biologic methodologies have opened a new window into the biology and epidemiology of Pneumocystis. Advances include an improved taxonomic classification, identification of an extremely reduced genome and concomitant inability to metabolize and grow independent of the host lungs, insights into its transmission mode, recognition of its widespread colonization in both immunocompetent and immunodeficient hosts, and utilization of strain variation to study drug resistance, epidemiology, and outbreaks of infection among transplant patients. This review summarizes these advances and also identifies some major questions and challenges that need to be addressed to better understand Pneumocystis biology and its relevance to clinical care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Ma
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Ousmane H Cissé
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Joseph A Kovacs
- Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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