The pore-forming α-toxin from clostridium septicum activates the MAPK pathway in a Ras-c-Raf-dependent and independent manner

Advances in gut microbiota-related treatment strategies for managing colorectal cancer in humans

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major contributor to global cancer-related mortality with increasing incidence rates in both developed and developing regions. Therefore, CRC presents a significant challenge to global health. The development of innovative tools for enhancing early CRC screening and diagnosis, along with novel treatments and therapies for improved management, remains an urgent necessity. CRC is intricately associated with the gut microbiota, which is integral to food digestion, nutrient generation, drug metabolism, metabolite production, immune enhancement, endocrine regulation, neurogenesis modulation, and the maintenance of physiologic and psychological equilibrium. Dysbiosis or imbalances in the gut microbiome have been implicated in various disorders, including CRC. Emerging evidence highlights the critical role of the gut microbiome in CRC pathogenesis and treatment, which presents potential opportunities for early detection and diagnosis. Despite substantial advances in understanding the relationship between the gut microbiota and CRC, significant challenges persist. Gaining a deeper and more detailed understanding of the interactions between the human microbiota and cancer is essential to fully realize the potential of the microbiota in cancer management. Unlike genetic factors, the gut microbiome is subject to modification, offering a promising avenue for the development of CRC treatments and drug discovery. This review provides an overview of the interactions between the human gut microbiome and CRC, while examining prospects for precision management of CRC.

Exotoxins secreted by Clostridium septicum induce macrophage death: Implications for bacterial immune evasion mechanisms at infection sites

The induction of macrophage death is considered a potential mechanism by which components secreted by Clostridium septicum are used to evade the innate immune response and cause tissue damage. This study aimed to determine the effects of partially purified fractions of extracellular proteins secreted by C. septicum on the death of mouse peritoneal macrophages. Elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages were incubated with partially purified fractions of proteins secreted by C. septicum into the culture medium. After incubation, the protein fraction with a molecular weight ≥100 kDa caused significant cell death in macrophages, altered cell morphology, increased the expression of markers of apoptosis and autophagy, and increased the expression (protein and mRNA) of IL-10 and TNFα. Our data suggest that the proteins secreted by C. septicum (MW, ≥100 kDa) induce cell death in macrophages by promoting autophagy-triggered apoptosis. This study may contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanism of immune evasion by C. septicum at the infection site.

Confinement energy landscape classification reveals membrane receptor nano-organization mechanisms

The cell membrane organization has an essential functional role through the control of membrane receptor confinement in micro- or nanodomains. Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for these properties, although some features have remained controversial, notably the nature, size, and stability of cholesterol- and sphingolipid-rich domains or lipid rafts. Here, we probed the effective energy landscape acting on single-nanoparticle-labeled membrane receptors confined in raft nanodomains- epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Clostridium perfringens ε-toxin receptor (CPεTR), and Clostridium septicum α-toxin receptor (CSαTR)-and compared it with hop-diffusing transferrin receptors. By establishing a new analysis pipeline combining Bayesian inference, decision trees, and clustering approaches, we systematically classified single-protein trajectories according to the type of effective confining energy landscape. This revealed the existence of only two distinct organization modalities: confinement in a quadratic energy landscape for EGFR, CPεTR, and CSαTR (A), and free diffusion in confinement domains resulting from the steric hindrance due to F-actin barriers for transferrin receptor (B). The further characterization of effective confinement energy landscapes by Bayesian inference revealed the role of interactions with the domain environment in cholesterol- and sphingolipid-rich domains with (EGFR) or without (CPεTR and CSαTR) interactions with F-actin to regulate the confinement energy depth. These two distinct mechanisms result in the same organization type (A). We revealed that the apparent domain sizes for these receptor trajectories resulted from Brownian exploration of the energy landscape in a steady-state-like regime at a common effective temperature, independently of the underlying molecular mechanisms. These results highlight that confinement domains may be adequately described as interaction hotspots rather than rafts with abrupt domain boundaries. Altogether, these results support a new model for functional receptor confinement in membrane nanodomains and pave the way to the constitution of an atlas of membrane protein organization.

Anti-tumor Effects of Recombinant Clostridium α-Toxin on Breast Cancer: An In Vitro and In Vivo Study

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, surpassed only by cardiovascular diseases. This study investigated the anticancer effects of recombinant Clostridium α-toxin on breast cancer, both in vitro and in vivo. The entire coding sequence of a codon-optimized α-toxin was designed, cloned into the pET28a (+) vector, and expressed as recombinant α-toxin in Escherichia coli (E. coli) BL 21(DE3) cells transformed with the recombinant plasmid. The recombinant α-toxin was purified using Ni²⁺ affinity chromatography, and its accuracy and purity were confirmed through sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western blot analysis. The anticancer effects of purified α-toxin were then assessed in vitro and animal models against MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Protein analysis confirmed the presence of a 48 kDa band corresponding to the recombinant α-toxin. Additionally, the IC₅₀ values of α-toxin against MCF-7 cells at 24, 48, and 72 h were 407.3±2.392 μg/mL, 287.3±5.411 μg/mL, and 258.1±4.671 μg/mL, respectively. In vivo, results demonstrated a significant reduction in mean cancer nodule size following α-toxin treatment (p<0.001). These findings suggest that α-toxin may serve as a promising candidate for breast cancer therapy.

Isoliquiritigenin attenuates emodin-induced hepatotoxicity in vivo and in vitro through Nrf2 pathway

Emodin (EMO), the main bioactive component of Polygonum multiflorum, Rheum palmatum, Aloe vera and Cassia acutifolia, can cause severe hepatotoxicity. Isoliquiritigenin (ISL), a flavonoid compound from the Glycyrrhiza, has been reported to be the most potent antioxidant response element (ARE)-luciferase inducer among the main components of licorice. But the protective effect and underlying mechanism of ISL on liver injury induced by EMO has not been reported. This study aims to explore the role of nuclear transcription factor 2 (Nrf2) in EMO-induced hepatotoxicity and the protective effect of ISL. EMO treatment caused cytotoxicity in L-02 cells. Combined treatment of EMO with ISL effectively reversed changes in cell viability, reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and malondialdehyde (MDA) generation, enhanced the levels of glutathione (GSH) and super oxide dismutase (SOD) induced by EMO in L-02 cells. Furthermore, ISL could also phosphorylate mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and up-regulate Kelth-like ECH-associated protein (Keap1). The pathways of MAPKs and Keap1 lead to the separation of Keap1 and Nrf2. Free Nrf2 transferred to the nucleus and enhanced the expression of phase II detoxification enzymes. In conclusion, our results are the first to highlight the beneficial role and relevant mechanisms of ISL in EMO-induced liver injury and provide novel insight into its application.

Use of Personalized Biomarkers in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer and the Impact of AI

Colorectal cancer is a major cause of cancer-related death worldwide and is correlated with genetic and epigenetic alterations in the colonic epithelium. Genetic changes play a major role in the pathophysiology of colorectal cancer through the development of gene mutations, but recent research has shown an important role for epigenetic alterations. In this review, we try to describe the current knowledge about epigenetic alterations, including DNA methylation and histone modifications, as well as the role of non-coding RNAs as epigenetic regulators and the prognostic and predictive biomarkers in metastatic colorectal disease that can allow increases in the effectiveness of treatments. Additionally, the intestinal microbiota's composition can be an important biomarker for the response to strategies based on the immunotherapy of CRC. The identification of biomarkers in mCRC can be enhanced by developing artificial intelligence programs. We present the actual models that implement AI technology as a bridge connecting ncRNAs with tumors and conducted some experiments to improve the quality of the model used as well as the speed of the model that provides answers to users. In order to carry out this task, we implemented six algorithms: the naive Bayes classifier, the random forest classifier, the decision tree classifier, gradient boosted trees, logistic regression and SVM.

Membrane repair triggered by cholesterol-dependent cytolysins is activated by mixed lineage kinases and MEK

Repair of plasma membranes damaged by bacterial pore-forming toxins, such as streptolysin O or perfringolysin O, during septic cardiomyopathy or necrotizing soft tissue infections is mediated by several protein families. However, the activation of these proteins downstream of ion influx is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that following membrane perforation by bacterial cholesterol-dependent cytolysins, calcium influx activates mixed lineage kinase 3 independently of protein kinase C or ceramide generation. Mixed lineage kinase 3 uncouples mitogen-activated kinase kinase (MEK) and extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling. MEK signals via an ERK-independent pathway to promote rapid annexin A2 membrane recruitment and enhance microvesicle shedding. This pathway accounted for 70% of all calcium ion-dependent repair responses to streptolysin O and perfringolysin O, but only 50% of repair to intermedilysin. We conclude that mixed lineage kinase signaling via MEK coordinates microvesicle shedding, which is critical for cellular survival against cholesterol-dependent cytolysins.

First Comparative Analysis of Clostridium septicum Genomes Provides Insights Into the Taxonomy, Species Genetic Diversity, and Virulence Related to Gas Gangrene

Clostridium septicum is a Gram-positive, toxin-producing, and spore-forming bacterium that is recognized, together with C. perfringens, as the most important etiologic agent of progressive gas gangrene. Clostridium septicum infections are almost always fatal in humans and animals. Despite its clinical and agricultural relevance, there is currently limited knowledge of the diversity and genome structure of C. septicum. This study presents the complete genome sequence of C. septicum DSM 7534T type strain as well as the first comparative analysis of five C. septicum genomes. The taxonomy of C. septicum, as revealed by 16S rRNA analysis as well as by genomic wide indices such as protein-based phylogeny, average nucleotide identity, and digital DNA–DNA hybridization indicates a stable clade. The composition and presence of prophages, CRISPR elements and accessory genetic material was variable in the investigated genomes. This is in contrast to the limited genetic variability described for the phylogenetically and phenotypically related species Clostridium chauvoei. The restriction-modification (RM) systems between two C. septicum genomes were heterogeneous for the RM types they encoded. C. septicum has an open pangenome with 2,311 genes representing the core genes and 1,429 accessory genes. The core genome SNP divergence between genome pairs varied up to 4,886 pairwise SNPs. A vast arsenal of potential virulence genes was detected in the genomes studied. Sequence analysis of these genes revealed that sialidase, hemolysin, and collagenase genes are conserved compared to the α-toxin and hyaluronidase genes. In addition, a conserved gene found in all C. septicum genomes was predicted to encode a leucocidin homolog (beta-channel forming cytolysin) similar (71.10% protein identity) to Clostridium chauvoei toxin A (CctA), which is a potent toxin. In conclusion, our results provide first, valuable insights into strain relatedness and genomic plasticity of C. septicum and contribute to our understanding of the virulence mechanisms of this important human and animal pathogen.

Gut microbiota-derived metabolites in CRC progression and causation

BACKGROUND

Based on recent research reports, dysbiosis and improper concentrations of microbial metabolites in the gut may result into the carcinogenesis of colorectal cancer. Recent advancement also highlights the involvement of bacteria and their secreted metabolites in the cancer causation. Gut microbial metabolites are functional output of the host-microbiota interactions and produced by anaerobic fermentation of food components in the diet. They contribute to influence variety of biological mechanisms including inflammation, cell signaling, cell-cycle disruption which are majorly disrupted in carcinogenic activities.

PURPOSE

In this review, we intend to discuss recent updates and possible molecular mechanisms to provide the role of bacterial metabolites, gut bacteria and diet in the colorectal carcinogenesis. Recent evidences have proposed the role of bacteria, such as Fusobacterium nucleaturm, Streptococcus bovis, Helicobacter pylori, Bacteroides fragilis and Clostridium septicum, in the carcinogenesis of CRC. Metagenomic study confirmed that these bacteria are in increased abundance in CRC patient as compared to healthy individuals and can cause inflammation and DNA damage which can lead to development of cancer. These bacteria produce metabolites, such as secondary bile salts from primary bile salts, hydrogen sulfide, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), which are likely to promote inflammation and subsequently cancer development.

CONCLUSION

Recent studies suggest that gut microbiota-derived metabolites have a role in CRC progression and causation and hence, could be implicated in CRC diagnosis, prognosis and therapy.

Panorama of the Intracellular Molecular Concert Orchestrated by Actinoporins, Pore-Forming Toxins from Sea Anemones

Actinoporins (APs) are soluble pore-forming proteins secreted by sea anemones that experience conformational changes originating in pores in the membranes that can lead to cell death. The processes involved in the binding and pore-formation of members of this protein family have been deeply examined in recent years; however, the intracellular responses to APs are only beginning to be understood. Unlike pore formers of bacterial origin, whose intracellular impact has been studied in more detail, currently, we only have knowledge of a few poorly integrated elements of the APs’ intracellular action. In this review, we present and discuss an updated landscape of the studies aimed at understanding the intracellular pathways triggered in response to APs attack with particular reference to sticholysin II, the most active isoform produced by the Caribbean Sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus. To achieve this, we first describe the major alterations these cytolysins elicit on simpler cells, such as non-nucleated mammalian erythrocytes, and then onto more complex eukaryotic cells, including tumor cells. This understanding has provided the basis for the development of novel applications of sticholysins such as the construction of immunotoxins directed against undesirable cells, such as tumor cells, and the design of a cancer vaccine platform. These are among the most interesting potential uses for the members of this toxin family that have been carried out in our laboratory.

Improvement in the Growth and α-toxin Production of Clostridium septicum by Magnesium Sulfate

Clostridium septicum, the anaerobic toxigenic bacterium is the agent that causes dangerous disease in man and animals. There is a lethal toxin of the bacterium namely alpha toxin. The ɑ-toxin has hemolytic, necrotic and lethal activities. Today, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute of Iran produced the C. septicum vaccine in the form of bacterin/toxoid. Because of some problems, the vaccine needs to improve on an industrial scale. The study is going to find an appropriate supplement to improve growth and ɑ-toxin production. Three strains of C. septicum (vaccine, NH1 and NH8 strains) were cultured in the basic vaccine media. Magnesium sulfate, Copper, Ferrous, yeast extract, and trace elements plus vitamins&amp;#39; solution were added to the basic vaccine media in different cultures. The effect of the ingredients on the growth was measured by a spectrophotometer and the &amp;alpha;-toxin secretion was assayed by hemolysin test. Growth of the bacterium and &amp;alpha;-toxin secretion were increased by Magnesium (80 mg/l) in NH8 and vaccine strains significantly. The black precipitate was difficult to dissolve in magnesium media that must be solved. Trace elements plus vitamins solution mildly influence on NH1strain growth and toxin secretion. Other supplements (Cu, Fe, yeast extract) were not showen any significant changes in the growth and &amp;alpha;-toxin production of C. septicum. Overflowing peptone (4%) in the vaccine media, fixes essentials of proteolysis activity, allows the sufficient growth and toxin production without Cu, Fe, and yeast extract. Due to essentially of Mg for growth, extra magnesium was added for improvement of media culture. The study suggests for Magnesium addition in the C. septicum vaccine media during production procedure after precipitation solving problem.

Vaccine Production to Protect Animals Against Pathogenic Clostridia

Clostridium is a broad genus of anaerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped, Gram-positive bacteria that can be found in different environments all around the world. The genus includes human and animal pathogens that produce potent exotoxins that cause rapid and potentially fatal diseases responsible for countless human casualties and billion-dollar annual loss to the agricultural sector. Diseases include botulism, tetanus, enterotoxemia, gas gangrene, necrotic enteritis, pseudomembranous colitis, blackleg, and black disease, which are caused by pathogenic Clostridium. Due to their ability to sporulate, they cannot be eradicated from the environment. As such, immunization with toxoid or bacterin-toxoid vaccines is the only protective method against infection. Toxins recovered from Clostridium cultures are inactivated to form toxoids, which are then formulated into multivalent vaccines. This review discusses the toxins, diseases, and toxoid production processes of the most common pathogenic Clostridium species, including Clostridiumbotulinum, Clostridiumtetani, Clostridiumperfringens, Clostridiumchauvoei, Clostridiumsepticum, Clostridiumnovyi and Clostridiumhemolyticum.

Histotoxic Clostridial Infections

The pathogenesis of clostridial myonecrosis or gas gangrene involves an interruption to the blood supply to the infected tissues, often via a traumatic wound, anaerobic growth of the infecting clostridial cells, the production of extracellular toxins, and toxin-mediated cell and tissue damage. This review focuses on host-pathogen interactions in Clostridium perfringens-mediated and Clostridium septicum-mediated myonecrosis. The major toxins involved are C. perfringens α-toxin, which has phospholipase C and sphingomyelinase activity, and C. septicum α-toxin, a β-pore-forming toxin that belongs to the aerolysin family. Although these toxins are cytotoxic, their effects on host cells are quite complex, with a range of intracellular cell signaling pathways induced by their action on host cell membranes.

Transcriptomic analysis of Spodoptera frugiperda Sf9 cells resistant to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ca toxin reveals that extracellular Ca2+, Mg2+ and production of cAMP are involved in toxicity

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) produces pore forming toxins that have been used for pest control in agriculture for many years. However, their molecular and cellular mode of action is still unclear. While a first model - referred to as the pore forming model - is the most widely accepted scenario, a second model proposed that toxins could trigger an Mg²⁺-dependent intracellular signalling pathway leading to cell death. Although Cry1Ca has been shown to form ionic pores in the plasma membrane leading to cell swelling and death, we investigated the existence of other cellular or molecular events involved in Cry1Ca toxicity. The Sf9 insect cell line, derived from Spodoptera frugiperda, is highly and specifically sensitive to Cry1Ca. Through a selection program we developed various levels of laboratory-evolved Cry1Ca-resistant Sf9 cell lines. Using a specific S. frugiperda microarray we performed a comparative transcriptomic analysis between sensitive and resistant cells and revealed genes differentially expressed in resistant cells and related to cation-dependent signalling pathways. Ion chelators protected sensitive cells from Cry1Ca toxicity suggesting the necessity of both Ca²⁺ and/or Mg²⁺ for toxin action. Selected cells were highly resistant to Cry1Ca while toxin binding onto their plasma membrane was not affected. This suggested a resistance mechanism different from the classical 'loss of toxin binding'. We observed a correlation between Cry1Ca cytotoxicity and the increase of intracellular cAMP levels. Indeed, Sf9 sensitive cells produced high levels of cAMP upon toxin stimulation, while Sf9 resistant cells were unable to increase their intracellular cAMP. Together, these results provide new information about the mechanism of Cry1Ca toxicity and clues to potential resistance factors yet to discover.

The Unexpected Tuners: Are LncRNAs Regulating Host Translation during Infections?

Pathogenic bacteria produce powerful virulent factors, such as pore-forming toxins, that promote their survival and cause serious damage to the host. Host cells reply to membrane stresses and ionic imbalance by modifying gene expression at the epigenetic, transcriptional and translational level, to recover from the toxin attack. The fact that the majority of the human transcriptome encodes for non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) raises the question: do host cells deploy non-coding transcripts to rapidly control the most energy-consuming process in cells-i.e., host translation-to counteract the infection? Here, we discuss the intriguing possibility that membrane-damaging toxins induce, in the host, the expression of toxin-specific long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which act as sponges for other molecules, encoding small peptides or binding target mRNAs to depress their translation efficiency. Unravelling the function of host-produced lncRNAs upon bacterial infection or membrane damage requires an improved understanding of host lncRNA expression patterns, their association with polysomes and their function during this stress. This field of investigation holds a unique opportunity to reveal unpredicted scenarios and novel approaches to counteract antibiotic-resistant infections.

Microbiota, Inflammation and Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer, the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, is a multifactorial disease involving genetic, environmental and lifestyle risk factors. In addition, increased evidence has established a role for the intestinal microbiota in the development of colorectal cancer. Indeed, changes in the intestinal microbiota composition in colorectal cancer patients compared to control subjects have been reported. Several bacterial species have been shown to exhibit the pro-inflammatory and pro-carcinogenic properties, which could consequently have an impact on colorectal carcinogenesis. This review will summarize the current knowledge about the potential links between the intestinal microbiota and colorectal cancer, with a focus on the pro-carcinogenic properties of bacterial microbiota such as induction of inflammation, the biosynthesis of genotoxins that interfere with cell cycle regulation and the production of toxic metabolites. Finally, we will describe the potential therapeutic strategies based on intestinal microbiota manipulation for colorectal cancer treatment.

Damage of eukaryotic cells by the pore-forming toxin sticholysin II: Consequences of the potassium efflux

Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) form holes in membranes causing one of the most catastrophic damages to a target cell. Target organisms have evolved a regulated response against PFTs damage including cell membrane repair. This ability of cells strongly depends on the toxin concentration and the properties of the pores. It has been hypothesized that there is an inverse correlation between the size of the pores and the time required to repair the membrane, which has been for long a non-intuitive concept and far to be completely understood. Moreover, there is a lack of information about how cells react to the injury triggered by eukaryotic PFTs. Here, we investigated some molecular events related with eukaryotic cells response against the membrane damage caused by sticholysin II (StII), a eukaryotic PFT produced by a sea anemone. We evaluated the change in the cytoplasmic potassium, identified the main MAPK pathways activated after pore-formation by StII, and compared its effect with those from two well-studied bacterial PFTs: aerolysin and listeriolysin O (LLO). Strikingly, we found that membrane recovery upon StII damage takes place in a time scale similar to LLO in spite of the fact that they form pores by far different in size. Furthermore, our data support a common role of the potassium ion, as well as MAPKs in the mechanism that cells use to cope with these toxins injury.

Non-hemolytic enterotoxin of Bacillus cereus induces apoptosis in Vero cells

Bacillus cereus is an opportunistic pathogen that often causes foodborne infectious diseases and food poisoning. Non-hemolytic enterotoxin (Nhe) is the major toxin found in almost all enteropathogenic B. cereus and B. thuringiensis isolates. However, little is known about the cellular response after Nhe triggered pore formation on cell membrane. Here, we demonstrate that Nhe induced cell cycle arrest at G₀ /G₁ phase and provoked apoptosis in Vero cells, most likely associated with mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and death receptor pathways. The influx of extracellular calcium ions and increased level of reactive oxygen species in cytoplasm were sensed by apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) and p38 MAPK. Extrinsic death receptor Fas could also promote the activation of p38 MAPK. Subsequently, ASK1 and p38 MAPK triggered downstream caspase-8 and 3 to initiate apoptosis. Our results clearly demonstrate that ASK1, and Fas-p38 MAPK-mediated caspase-8 dependent pathways are involved in apoptotic cell death provoked by the pore-forming enterotoxin Nhe.

Complete Genome Sequence of Clostridium septicum Strain CSUR P1044, Isolated from the Human Gut Microbiota

Clostridium septicum is one of the first pathogenic anaerobes to be identified. Here, we announce the genome draft sequence of C. septicum strain CSUR P1044 isolated from the gut of a healthy adult. Its chromosome genome consists of 3.2 Mbp with a plasmid of 32 Kbp. C. septicum strain CSUR P1044 has a G+C content of 27.5%, and is composed of 3,125 protein-coding genes together with 103 RNA genes, including 22 rRNA genes.