The C-terminal region of Bacteroides fragilis toxin is essential to its biological activity

A systemic review of the role of enterotoxic Bacteroides fragilis in colorectal cancer

Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) has received significant attention for a possible association with, or causal role in, colorectal cancer (CRC). The goal of this review was to assess the status of the published evidence supporting (i) the association between ETBF and CRC and (ii) the causal role of ETBF in CRC. PubMed and Scopus searches were performed in August 2021 to identify human, animal, and cell studies pertaining to the role of ETBF in CRC. Inclusion criteria included the use of cell lines, mice, exposure to BFT or ETBF, and detection of bft. Review studies were excluded, and studies were limited to the English language. Quality of study design and risk of bias analysis was performed on the cell, animal, and human studies using ToxRTools, SYRCLE, and NOS, respectively. Ninety-five eligible studies were identified, this included 22 human studies, 24 animal studies, 43 cell studies, and 6 studies that included both cells and mice studies. We found that a large majority of studies supported an association or causal role of ETBF in CRC, as well as high levels of study bias was detected in the in vitro and in vivo studies. The high-level heterogeneity in study design and reporting made it difficult to synthesize these findings into a unified conclusion, suggesting that the need for future studies that include improved mechanistic models, longitudinal in vitro and in vivo evidence, and appropriate control of confounding factors will be required to confirm whether ETBF has a direct role in CRC etiopathogenesis.

Good Gone Bad: One Toxin Away From Disease for Bacteroides fragilis

The human gut is colonized by hundreds of trillions of microorganisms whose acquisition begins during early infancy. Species from the Bacteroides genus are ubiquitous commensals, comprising about thirty percent of the human gut microbiota. Bacteroides fragilis is one of the least abundant Bacteroides species, yet is the most common anaerobe isolated from extraintestinal infections in humans. A subset of B. fragilis strains carry a genetic element that encodes a metalloprotease enterotoxin named Bacteroides fragilis toxin, or BFT. Toxin-bearing strains, or Enterotoxigenic B. fragilis (ETBF) cause acute and chronic intestinal disease in children and adults. Despite this association with disease, around twenty percent of the human population appear to be asymptomatic carriers of ETBF. BFT damages the colonic epithelial barrier by inducing cleavage of the zonula adherens protein E-cadherin and initiating a cell signaling response characterized by inflammation and c-Myc-dependent pro-oncogenic hyperproliferation. As a consequence, mice harboring genetic mutations that predispose to colonic inflammation or tumor formation are uniquely susceptible to toxin-mediated injury. The recent observation of ETBF-bearing biofilms in colon biopsies from humans with colon cancer susceptibility loci strongly suggests that ETBF is a driver of colorectal cancer. This article will address ETBF biology from a host-pathobiont perspective, including clinical data, analysis of molecular mechanisms of disease, and the complex ecological context of the human gut.

Peptide Sequence Region That is Essential for the Interactions of the Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis Metalloproteinase II with E-cadherin

Bacteroides fragilis is a valuable anaerobic commensal and an essential component of the gut microbiome in humans. The presence of a short pathogenicity island in the genome is predominantly associated with the enterotoxigenic strains of B. fragilis. Metallopro-teinase II (MPII) and fragilysin (FRA) are the structurally related enzymes encoded by the pathogenicity island in the enterotoxigenic strains. Accordingly, there is a significant overlap between the cleavage preferences of MPII and FRA. These proteinases, however, are counter-transcribed in the bacterial genome suggesting their distinct and specialized functions in the course of infection. It is well established that FRA directly cleaves E-cadherin, a key protein of the cell-to-cell adhesion junctions in the intestinal epithelium. Counterintuitively, MPII directly binds to, rather than cleaves, E-cadherin. Structural modeling suggested that a potential E-cadherin binding site involves the C-terminal -helical region of the MPII catalytic domain. The sequence of this region is different in MPII and FRA. Here, we employed substitution mutagenesis of this C-terminal -helical region to isolate the MPII mutants with the potentially inactivated E-cadherin binding site. Overall, as a result of our modeling, mutagenesis and binding studies, we determined that the C-terminal ten residue segment is essential for the binding of MPII, but not of FRA3, to E-cadherin, and that the resulting MPII•E-cadherin complex does not impair E-cadherin-dependent cell-to-cell contacts. It is possible to envision that the putative cleavage targets of MPII should be explored not only on the host cell surface but also in B. fragilis.

Structural and functional diversity of metalloproteinases encoded by the Bacteroides fragilis pathogenicity island

Bacteroides fragilis causes the majority of anaerobic infections in humans. The presence of a pathogenicity island in the genome discriminates pathogenic and commensal B. fragilis strains. The island encodes metalloproteinase II (MPII), a potential virulence protein, and one of three homologous fragilysin isozymes (FRA; also termed B. fragilis toxin or BFT). Here, we report biochemical data on the structural-functional characteristics of the B. fragilis pathogenicity island proteases by reporting the crystal structure of MPII at 2.13 Å resolution, combined with detailed characterization of the cleavage preferences of MPII and FRA3 (as a representative of the FRA isoforms), identified using a high-throughput peptide cleavage assay with 18 583 substrate peptides. We suggest that the evolution of the MPII catalytic domain can be traced to human and archaebacterial proteinases, whereas the prodomain fold is a feature specific to MPII and FRA. We conclude that the catalytic domain of both MPII and FRA3 evolved differently relative to the prodomain, and that the prodomain evolved specifically to fit the B. fragilis pathogenicity. Overall, our data provide insights into the evolution of cleavage specificity and activation mechanisms in the virulent metalloproteinases.

Substrate cleavage profiling suggests a distinct function of Bacteroides fragilis metalloproteinases (fragilysin and metalloproteinase II) at the microbiome-inflammation-cancer interface

Enterotoxigenic anaerobic Bacteroides fragilis is a significant source of inflammatory diarrheal disease and a risk factor for colorectal cancer. Two distinct metalloproteinase types (the homologous 1, 2, and 3 isoforms of fragilysin (FRA1, FRA2, and FRA3, respectively) and metalloproteinase II (MPII)) are encoded by the B. fragilis pathogenicity island. FRA was demonstrated to be important to pathogenesis, whereas MPII, also a potential virulence protein, remained completely uncharacterized. Here, we, for the first time, extensively characterized MPII in comparison with FRA3, a representative of the FRA isoforms. We employed a series of multiplexed peptide cleavage assays to determine substrate specificity and proteolytic characteristics of MPII and FRA. These results enabled implementation of an efficient assay of MPII activity using a fluorescence-quenched peptide and contributed to structural evidence for the distinct substrate cleavage preferences of MPII and FRA. Our data imply that MPII specificity mimics the dibasic Arg↓Arg cleavage motif of furin-like proprotein convertases, whereas the cleavage motif of FRA (Pro-X-X-Leu-(Arg/Ala/Leu)↓) resembles that of human matrix metalloproteinases. To the best of our knowledge, MPII is the first zinc metalloproteinase with the dibasic cleavage preferences, suggesting a high level of versatility of metalloproteinase proteolysis. Based on these data, we now suggest that the combined (rather than individual) activity of MPII and FRA is required for the overall B. fragilis virulence in vivo.

Structure, function and latency regulation of a bacterial enterotoxin potentially derived from a mammalian adamalysin/ADAM xenolog

Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis is the most frequent disease-causing anaerobe in the intestinal tract of humans and livestock and its specific virulence factor is fragilysin, also known as B. fragilis toxin. This is a 21-kDa zinc-dependent metallopeptidase existing in three closely related isoforms that hydrolyze E-cadherin and contribute to secretory diarrhea, and possibly to inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Here we studied the function and zymogenic structure of fragilysin-3 and found that its activity is repressed by a ∼170-residue prodomain, which is the largest hitherto structurally characterized for a metallopeptidase. This prodomain plays a role in both the latency and folding stability of the catalytic domain and it has no significant sequence similarity to any known protein. The prodomain adopts a novel fold and inhibits the protease domain via an aspartate-switch mechanism. The catalytic fragilysin-3 moiety is active against several protein substrates and its structure reveals a new family prototype within the metzincin clan of metallopeptidases. It shows high structural similarity despite negligible sequence identity to adamalysins/ADAMs, which have only been described in eukaryotes. Because no similar protein has been found outside enterotoxigenic B. fragilis, our findings support that fragilysins derived from a mammalian adamalysin/ADAM xenolog that was co-opted by B. fragilis through a rare case of horizontal gene transfer from a eukaryotic cell to a bacterial cell. Subsequently, this co-opted peptidase was provided with a unique chaperone and latency maintainer in the time course of evolution to render a robust and dedicated toxin to compromise the intestinal epithelium of mammalian hosts.

Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis

Bacteroides fragilis is a minor component of the microbial flora of the intestine but the most frequent disease--causing anaerobe. Virulence characteristics are its capsule, which induces abscess formation, and the production of fragilysin, a Zn-metalloprotease. This toxin's action is to hydrolyze the extracellular domain of E-cadherin, the effect of which is to disrupt intercellular adhesion and thus increase permeability of the epithelium, causing intracellular redistribution of actin with morphologic changes to the cells and release of beta-catenin, which translocates to the nucleus and ultimately increases cellular proliferation. Clinically, enterotoxigenic B. fragilis is linked to secretory diarrhea, particularly in children. Preliminary evidence suggests that enterotoxigenic B. fragilis may also be linked to inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer.

Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis: a rogue among symbiotes

Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) strains are strains of B. fragilis that secrete a 20-kDa heat-labile zinc-dependent metalloprotease toxin termed the B. fragilis toxin (BFT). BFT is the only recognized virulence factor specific for ETBF. ETBF strains are associated with inflammatory diarrheal disease in children older than 1 year of age and in adults; limited data suggest an association of ETBF colonization with inflammatory bowel disease flare-ups and colorectal cancer. ETBF secretes one of three highly related BFT isoforms. The relationship between BFT isoform and disease expression is unknown. Although the mechanism of action of BFT is incompletely understood, available data suggest that BFT binds to a specific intestinal epithelial cell receptor, stimulating intestinal cell signal transduction pathways that result in cell morphology changes, cleavage of E-cadherin, reduced colonic barrier function, and increased epithelial cell proliferation and cytokine expression (such as the proinflammatory chemokine interleukin-8). Together, the data suggest that in some hosts, ETBF acts via secretion of BFT to induce colitis. However, the full spectrum of clinical disease related to ETBF and the impact of chronic ETBF colonization on the host remain to be defined.

Enterotoxigenic and nontoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis strains isolated in Brazil

The presence of enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis and nontoxigenic B. fragilis (NTBF) among 109 strains isolated from 1980-2008 in Brazil were investigated by PCR. One strain, representing 0.9% of the total analyzed strains, harbored the bft gene which was identified as bft-1 isoform based on PCR-RFLP and sequencing. Forty-nine strains (44.9%) exhibited the NTBF pattern III which possesses the flanking region required for pathogenicity island acquisition in which the bft gene is codified. These data reinforce the potential of B. fragilis as an emerging enteropathogen in our country.

A TonB-dependent outer membrane protein as a Bacteroides fragilis fibronectin-binding molecule

The binding of Bacteroides fragilis to plasmatic fibronectin was investigated using strains isolated from healthy subjects and from patients with bacteremia. They were cultivated in a synthetic media in which variations in cysteine concentrations determined alterations in the oxidation-reduction potential (Eh). All the strains assayed were capable of adhering to plasmatic fibronectin when cultivated under oxidizing and reducing conditions. Bacteroides fragilis 1405 showed the greatest difference when the results under these conditions were compared and it was selected for further investigations. Chemical treatments suggested the involvement of a protein in the interaction between B. fragilis and plasmatic fibronectin. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) revealed differences between the extracts obtained from cultures grown under the two conditions. Protein bands of c. 102, 100, 77, 73, 50 and 40 kDa were more highly expressed under oxidizing than reducing conditions. Dot blot analysis showed a stronger recognition of plasmatic fibronectin by OMPs obtained from cultures grown under higher Eh, and Western blot assays confirmed a band of c. 102 kDa as fibronectin-binding protein. This protein was sequenced and revealed to be a putative TonB-dependent OMPs. PCR analysis confirmed the presence of this gene in all the studied strains.

Bacteroides fragilis toxin stimulates intestinal epithelial cell shedding and gamma-secretase-dependent E-cadherin cleavage

Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis - organisms that live in the colon - secrete a metalloprotease toxin, B. fragilis toxin. This toxin binds to a specific intestinal epithelial cell receptor and stimulates cell proliferation, which is dependent, in part, on E-cadherin degradation and beta-catenin-T-cell-factor nuclear signaling. Gamma-secretase (or presenilin-1) is an intramembrane cleaving protease and is a positive regulator of E-cadherin cleavage and a negative regulator of beta-catenin signaling. Here we examine the mechanistic details of toxin-initiated E-cadherin cleavage. B. fragilis toxin stimulated shedding of cell membrane proteins, including the 80 kDa E-cadherin ectodomain. Shedding of this domain required biologically active toxin and was not mediated by MMP-7, ADAM10 or ADAM17. Inhibition of gamma-secretase blocked toxin-induced proteolysis of the 33 kDa intracellular E-cadherin domain causing cell membrane retention of a distinct beta-catenin pool without diminishing toxin-induced cell proliferation. Unexpectedly, gamma-secretase positively regulated basal cell proliferation dependent on the beta-catenin-T-cell-factor complex. We conclude that toxin induces step-wise cleavage of E-cadherin, which is dependent on toxin metalloprotease and gamma-secretase. Our results suggest that differentially regulated beta-catenin pools associate with the E-cadherin-gamma-secretase adherens junction complex; one pool regulated by gamma-secretase is important to intestinal epithelial cell homeostasis.