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Valadbeigi H, Sadeghifard N, Kaviar VH, Haddadi MH, Ghafourian S, Maleki A. Effect of ZnO nanoparticles on biofilm formation and gene expression of the toxin-antitoxin system in clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob 2023; 22:89. [PMID: 37798613 PMCID: PMC10557154 DOI: 10.1186/s12941-023-00639-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is known to be characteristic of this organism. This bacterium is considered one of the most life-threatening bacteria and has been identified as a priority pathogen for research by WHO. Biofilm-producing P. aeruginosa is a concern in many parts of the world due to antibiotic resistance. Alginate also plays an important role in the biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa as well as the emergence of antibiotic resistance in biofilms. In addition, the systems of toxin-antitoxin( TA) play an important role in biofilm formation. Metal nanoparticle(NP) such as zinc oxide (ZnO) also have extensive biological properties, especially anti-biofilm properties. Therefore, this study was conducted in relation to the importance of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in biofilm formation and also the correlation of gene expression of TA systems in clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa. METHODS A total of 52 P. aeruginosa isolates were collected from burns (n = 15), UTI (n = 31), and trachea (n = 6) in hospitals in Ilam between May 2020 and October 2020. Biofilm formation was assessed using a microtiter plate assay. MIC and sub-MIC concentrations of ZnO NPs (10-30 nm with purity greater than 99.8%) in P. aeruginosa were determined. Subsequently, biofilm formation was investigated using sub-MIC concentrations of ZnO NPs. Finally, total RNA was extracted and RT- qPCR was used to determine the expression levels of genes of mazEF, mqsRA, and higBA of TA systems. RESULTS Six isolates of P. aeruginosa were found to form strong biofilms. The results showed that ZnO NPs were able to inhibit biofilm formation. In our experiments, we found that the sub-MIC concentration of ZnO NPs increased the gene expression of antitoxins mazE and mqsA and toxin higB of TA systems treated with ZnO NPs. CONCLUSIONS In the present study, ZnO NPs were shown to effectively inhibit biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa. Our results support the relationship between TA systems and ZnO NPs in biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa. Importantly, the expression of antitoxins mazE and mqsA was high after treatment with ZnO NPs, but not that of antitoxin higA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hassan Valadbeigi
- Clinical Microbiology Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.
| | - Nourkhoda Sadeghifard
- Clinical Microbiology Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
| | - Vahab Hassan Kaviar
- Clinical Microbiology Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
| | | | - Sobhan Ghafourian
- Clinical Microbiology Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
- Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
| | - Abbas Maleki
- Clinical Microbiology Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
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Tekintaş Y, Temel A. Antisense oligonucleotides: a promising therapeutic option against infectious diseases. Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids 2023; 43:1-39. [PMID: 37395450 DOI: 10.1080/15257770.2023.2228841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
Infectious diseases have been one of the biggest health problems of humanity for centuries. Nucleic acid-based therapeutics have received attention in recent years with their effectiveness in the treatment of various infectious diseases and vaccine development studies. This review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the basic properties underlying the mechanism of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), their applications, and their challenges. The efficient delivery of ASOs is the greatest challenge for their therapeutic success, but this problem is overcome with new-generation antisense molecules developed with chemical modifications. The types, carrier molecules, and gene regions targeted by sequences have been summarized in detail. Research and development of antisense therapy is still in its infancy; however, gene silencing therapies appear to have the potential for faster and longer-lasting activity than conventional treatment strategies. On the other hand, realizing the potential of antisense therapy will require a large initial economic investment to ascertain the pharmacological properties and learn how to optimize them. The ability of ASOs to be rapidly designed and synthesized to target different microbes can reduce drug discovery time from 6 years to 1 year. Since ASOs are not particularly affected by resistance mechanisms, they come to the fore in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. The design-based flexibility of ASOs has enabled it to be used for different types of microorganisms/genes and successful in vitro and in vivo results have been revealed. The current review summarized a comprehensive understanding of ASO therapy in combating bacterial and viral infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yamaç Tekintaş
- Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Izmir Katip Celebi University, Izmir, Türkiye
| | - Aybala Temel
- Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Izmir Katip Celebi University, Izmir, Türkiye
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Nazari MR, Mahmoodi MM, Kouhsari E, Shariati M, Maleki A. The novel putative target to the eradication of Acinetobacter baumannii persister cells. Gene Reports 2022; 28:101647. [DOI: 10.1016/j.genrep.2022.101647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Gaio V, Lima T, Vilanova M, Cerca N, França A. mazEF Homologue Has a Minor Role in Staphylococcus epidermidis 1457 Virulence Potential. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 11:803134. [PMID: 35096651 PMCID: PMC8792614 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.803134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm cells are characterized by increased antimicrobial tolerance and improved ability to evade host immune system defenses. These features are, in part, due to the presence of viable but non-culturable (VBNC) cells. A previous study identified genes potentially involved in VBNC cells formation in S. epidermidis biofilms, among which SERP1682/1681 raised special interest due to their putative role as a toxin–antitoxin system of the mazEF family. Herein, we constructed an S. epidermidis mutant lacking the mazEF genes homologues and determined their role in (i) VBNC state induction during biofilm formation, (ii) antimicrobial susceptibility, (iii) survival in human blood and plasma, and (iv) activation of immune cells. Our results revealed that mazEF homologue did not affect the proportion of VBNC cells in S. epidermidis 1457, refuting the previous hypothesis that mazEF homologue could be linked with the emergence of VBNC cells in S. epidermidis biofilms. Additionally, mazEF homologue did not seem to influence key virulence factors on this strain, since its deletion did not significantly affect the mutant biofilm formation capacity, antimicrobial tolerance or the response by immune cells. Surprisingly, our data suggest that mazEF does not behave as a toxin–antitoxin system in S. epidermidis strain 1457, since no decrease in the viability and culturability of bacteria was found when only the mazF toxin homologue was being expressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vânia Gaio
- Laboratory of Research in Biofilms Rosário Oliveira, Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
| | - Tânia Lima
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.,Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Manuel Vilanova
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.,Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.,Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Nuno Cerca
- Laboratory of Research in Biofilms Rosário Oliveira, Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
| | - Angela França
- Laboratory of Research in Biofilms Rosário Oliveira, Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
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Al Husseini LB, Maleki A, Al Marjani MF. Antisense mqsR-PNA as a putative target to the eradication of Pseudomonas aeruginosa persisters. New Microbes New Infect 2021; 41:100868. [PMID: 33996104 DOI: 10.1016/j.nmni.2021.100868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2020] [Revised: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Chemotherapy is frequently unsuccessful in fully eradicating bacterial biofilm infections. Persisters are a main cause for the failure of antibiotic therapies and are assumed to significantly impact the increased multidrug tolerance and unsuccessful elimination of chronic biofilm infections. Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections are frequently linked to high rates of drug-tolerant persisters, triggering a major challenge to human health. It is crucial to classify persisters to develop novel useful therapeutic strategies to fight infectious diseases. In this study, the mqsR gene was selected as a novel antimicrobial target, and silencing was with antisense peptide nucleic acid (PNA) assay to eradicate the P. aeruginosa persisters. First, they were analysed by experimental procedures. Functionality was assessed by stress conditions. We found that the expression of mqsR (as the toxin) compared with mqsA (as antitoxin) was increased under stress conditions. We demonstrated that when mqsR was targeted and treated with different concentrations of mqsR-PNA after 24 hours; the formation of P. aeruginosa persisters was eradicated. Antisense mqsR-PNA in concentrations of 35 μM or more could eradicate persister cell formation in P. aeruginosa. It was suggested that other toxin–antitoxin loci in P. aeruginosa are examined by antisense PNA to detect their functionality. However, considering the importance of persisters in human infections, ex vivo, in vivo, preclinical and clinical settings should be highlighted.
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Karballaei Mirzahosseini H, Hadadi-Fishani M, Morshedi K, Khaledi A. Meta-Analysis of Biofilm Formation, Antibiotic Resistance Pattern, and Biofilm-Related Genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Clinical Samples. Microb Drug Resist 2020; 26:815-824. [PMID: 31976811 DOI: 10.1089/mdr.2019.0274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Resistant microorganisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa grow by developing biofilms in hospitals. We aimed to investigate the biofilm formation and the frequencies of biofilm-related genes and their associations with antibiotic resistance pattern in P. aeruginosa isolated from Iranians' clinical samples. This review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We conducted a systematic literature search in scientific databases using medical subject heading terms, including "Pseudomonas aeruginosa," "biofilm formation," "biofilm-related genes," "antibiotic resistance," and "prevalence," to obtain related articles published from 1st January, 2000, to 30th March, 2019. The studies reporting the prevalence of biofilm formation, the frequencies of biofilm-related genes, and the antibiotic resistance pattern in P. aeruginosa retrieved from Iranian patients were included. Meta-analysis was performed using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. The pooled rate of biofilm formation was calculated as 86.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 79-91.6). The combined frequencies of strong, moderate, and weak biofilms were 51% (95% CI: 37.4-64.4), 29.2% (95% CI: 20.9-39.1), and 25.4% (95% CI: 11.5-47.2), respectively. The pooled prevalence of laslR, algD, algU, ppyR, and pelF genes were 93.6% (95% CI: 88.1-96.6), 91.4% (95% CI: 80.8-96.4), 89.3% (95% CI: 85.2-92.3), 98.7% (95% CI: 96.5-99.6), and 93% (95% CI: 82.7-97.3), respectively. The highest combined antibiotic resistance rates of P. aeruginosa isolates were against piperacillin/tazobactam (90%). This study showed that biofilm formation was higher in multidrug-resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa than non-MDRs. A significant correlation was observed between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance in 50% of studies included in this review.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mehdi Hadadi-Fishani
- Department of Medical Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, I.R. Iran
| | - Korosh Morshedi
- Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, I.R. Iran
| | - Azad Khaledi
- Infectious Diseases Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, I.R. Iran.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, I.R. Iran
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Chan WT, Domenech M, Moreno-Córdoba I, Navarro-Martínez V, Nieto C, Moscoso M, García E, Espinosa M. The Streptococcus pneumoniaeyefM-yoeB and relBE Toxin-Antitoxin Operons Participate in Oxidative Stress and Biofilm Formation. Toxins (Basel) 2018; 10:toxins10090378. [PMID: 30231554 PMCID: PMC6162744 DOI: 10.3390/toxins10090378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2018] [Revised: 09/03/2018] [Accepted: 09/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Type II (proteic) toxin-antitoxin systems (TAs) are widely distributed among bacteria and archaea. They are generally organized as operons integrated by two genes, the first encoding the antitoxin that binds to its cognate toxin to generate a harmless protein–protein complex. Under stress conditions, the unstable antitoxin is degraded by host proteases, releasing the toxin to achieve its toxic effect. In the Gram-positive pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae we have characterized four TAs: pezAT, relBE, yefM-yoeB, and phD-doc, although the latter is missing in strain R6. We have assessed the role of the two yefM-yoeB and relBE systems encoded by S. pneumoniae R6 by construction of isogenic strains lacking one or two of the operons, and by complementation assays. We have analyzed the phenotypes of the wild type and mutants in terms of cell growth, response to environmental stress, and ability to generate biofilms. Compared to the wild-type, the mutants exhibited lower resistance to oxidative stress. Further, strains deleted in yefM-yoeB and the double mutant lacking yefM-yoeB and relBE exhibited a significant reduction in their ability for biofilm formation. Complementation assays showed that defective phenotypes were restored to wild type levels. We conclude that these two loci may play a relevant role in these aspects of the S. pneumoniae lifestyle and contribute to the bacterial colonization of new niches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wai Ting Chan
- i-DNA Biotechnology (M) Sdn Bhd. A-1-6 Pusat Perdagangan Kuchai, No. 2, Jalan 1/127, Kuchai Entrepreneurs Park, Kuala Lumpur 58200, Malaysia.
| | - Mirian Domenech
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
- CIBER de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Inmaculada Moreno-Córdoba
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Verónica Navarro-Martínez
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Concha Nieto
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Miriam Moscoso
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Ernesto García
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
- CIBER de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Manuel Espinosa
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
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