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Luu LDW, Kasimov V, Phillips S, Myers GSA, Jelocnik M. Genome organization and genomics in Chlamydia: whole genome sequencing increases understanding of chlamydial virulence, evolution, and phylogeny. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1178736. [PMID: 37287464 PMCID: PMC10242142 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1178736] [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] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The genus Chlamydia contains important obligate intracellular bacterial pathogens to humans and animals, including C. trachomatis and C. pneumoniae. Since 1998, when the first Chlamydia genome was published, our understanding of how these microbes interact, evolved and adapted to different intracellular host environments has been transformed due to the expansion of chlamydial genomes. This review explores the current state of knowledge in Chlamydia genomics and how whole genome sequencing has revolutionised our understanding of Chlamydia virulence, evolution, and phylogeny over the past two and a half decades. This review will also highlight developments in multi-omics and other approaches that have complemented whole genome sequencing to advance knowledge of Chlamydia pathogenesis and future directions for chlamydial genomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurence Don Wai Luu
- School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Vasilli Kasimov
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia
| | - Samuel Phillips
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia
| | - Garry S. A. Myers
- Australian Institute for Microbiology and Infection, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Martina Jelocnik
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia
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Weyant KB, Oloyede A, Pal S, Liao J, Jesus MR, Jaroentomeechai T, Moeller TD, Hoang-Phou S, Gilmore SF, Singh R, Pan DC, Putnam D, Locher C, de la Maza LM, Coleman MA, DeLisa MP. A modular vaccine platform enabled by decoration of bacterial outer membrane vesicles with biotinylated antigens. Nat Commun 2023; 14:464. [PMID: 36709333 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36101-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 01/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Engineered outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) derived from Gram-negative bacteria are a promising technology for the creation of non-infectious, nanoparticle vaccines against diverse pathogens. However, antigen display on OMVs can be difficult to control and highly variable due to bottlenecks in protein expression and localization to the outer membrane of the host cell, especially for bulky and/or complex antigens. Here, we describe a universal approach for avidin-based vaccine antigen crosslinking (AvidVax) whereby biotinylated antigens are linked to the exterior of OMVs whose surfaces are remodeled with multiple copies of a synthetic antigen-binding protein (SNAP) comprised of an outer membrane scaffold protein fused to a biotin-binding protein. We show that SNAP-OMVs can be readily decorated with a molecularly diverse array of biotinylated subunit antigens, including globular and membrane proteins, glycans and glycoconjugates, haptens, lipids, and short peptides. When the resulting OMV formulations are injected in mice, strong antigen-specific antibody responses are observed that depend on the physical coupling between the antigen and SNAP-OMV delivery vehicle. Overall, these results demonstrate AvidVax as a modular platform that enables rapid and simplified assembly of antigen-studded OMVs for application as vaccines against pathogenic threats.
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Huynh DT, Jong WSP, Koningstein GM, van Ulsen P, Luirink J. Overexpression of the Bam Complex Improves the Production of Chlamydia trachomatis MOMP in the E. coli Outer Membrane. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23. [PMID: 35806397 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23137393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [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: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
A licensed Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) vaccine is not yet available. Recombinant Chlamydia trachomatis major outer membrane protein (Ct-MOMP), the most abundant constituent of the chlamydial outer membrane complex, is considered the most attractive candidate for subunit-based vaccine formulations. Unfortunately, Ct-MOMP is difficult to express in its native structure in the E. coli outer membrane (OM). Here, by co-expression of the Bam complex, we improved the expression and localization of recombinant Ct-MOMP in the E. coli OM. Under these conditions, recombinant Ct-MOMP appeared to assemble into a β-barrel conformation and express domains at the cell surface indicative of correct folding. The data indicate that limited availability of the Bam complex can be a bottleneck for the production of heterologous OM vaccine antigens, information that is also relevant for strategies aimed at producing recombinant OMV-based vaccines.
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Ghasemian E, Inic-Kanada A, Collingro A, Mejdoubi L, Alchalabi H, Keše D, Elshafie BE, Hammou J, Barisani-Asenbauer T. Comparison of genovars and Chlamydia trachomatis infection loads in ocular samples from children in two distinct cohorts in Sudan and Morocco. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2021; 15:e0009655. [PMID: 34370735 PMCID: PMC8376198 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Revised: 08/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Trachoma is a blinding disease caused by repeated conjunctival infection with different Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) genovars. Ct B genovars have been associated with more severe trachoma symptoms. Here, we investigated associations between Ct genovars and bacterial loads in ocular samples from two distinct geographical locations in Africa, which are currently unclear. We tested ocular swabs from 77 Moroccan children (28 with trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) and 49 healthy controls), and 96 Sudanese children (54 with TF and 42 healthy controls) with a Ct-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. To estimate bacterial loads, Ct-positive samples were further processed by multiplex real-time qPCR to amplify the chromosomal outer membrane complex B and plasmid open reading frame 2 of Ct. Genotyping was performed by PCR-based amplification of the outer membrane protein A gene (~1120 base pairs) of Ct and Sanger sequencing. Ct-positivities among the Moroccan and Sudanese patient groups were 60·7% and 31·5%, respectively. Significantly more Sudanese patients than Moroccan patients were genovar A-positive. In contrast, B genovars were significantly more prevalent in Moroccan patients than in Sudanese patients. Significantly higher Ct loads were found in samples positive for B genovars (598596) than A genovar (51005). Geographical differences contributed to the distributions of different ocular Ct genovars. B genovars may induce a higher bacterial load than A genovars in trachoma patients. Our findings emphasize the importance of conducting broader studies to elucidate if the noted difference in multiplication abilities are genovar and/or endemicity level dependent. We investigated the association between different Ct genovars, the approximate load of infection, and the distribution of Chlamydia genovars by comparing samples from one trachoma-endemic area (i.e., the city of El-Gadaref in Al Qadarif, Sudan) and one previously endemic area (i.e., the Zagora Province in Morocco), currently considered as non-endemic. This study is the first to reveal a significant difference between the genome copy numbers of Ct genovar A and B/Ba in children with TF. Evidence that Ct is still circulating in rural foci of countries like Morocco that are no longer considered endemic implies that the continuation of the trachoma surveillance must be warranted in future to avoid further spreading of Ct. The clinical significance of different infectious loads in the development of sequelae has to be determined as well as whether these differences are genovar specific or related to the given endemicity level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ehsan Ghasemian
- Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Aleksandra Inic-Kanada
- Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Astrid Collingro
- Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Division of Microbial Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lamiss Mejdoubi
- Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hadeel Alchalabi
- Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Darja Keše
- Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | | | - Jaouad Hammou
- Medicine and Pharmacy Faculty, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
| | - Talin Barisani-Asenbauer
- Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- * E-mail:
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Shi J, Chi H, Cao A, Song Y, Zhu M, Zhang L, Xu F, Huang J. Development of IMBs-qPCR detection method for Yersinia enterocolitica based on the foxA gene. Arch Microbiol 2021; 203:4653-4662. [PMID: 34173855 DOI: 10.1007/s00203-021-02459-4] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2020] [Revised: 06/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Yersinia enterocolitica is an important zoonotic pathogen, which seriously endangers food-safety risk. In this study, the recombinant outer membrane protein OmpF and its antibody were prepared and coupled with immunomagnetic beads (IMBs) to capture Y. enterocolitica in food samples, combining the quantitative PCR detection with primers of virulence factor gene foxA for Yersinia enterocolitica contamination. The results showed that the capture efficiency of approximately 80% using anti-OmpF antibody-immunomagnetic beads and linearly dependent capture under 101-105 CFU/mL Y. enterocolitica compared with less than 10% capture of other bacteria. The detection limit of 64 CFU/mL was obtained based on foxA gene PCR detection combined with capture of the anti-OmpF antibody-immunomagnetic beads to detect Yersinia enterocolitica in artificially contaminated milk and pork samples. Compared to the culture method, the developed IMBs-qPCR method has higher consistency, was less time consuming, which taken together provides an effective alternative method for rapid detection of Y. enterocolitica in food.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingxuan Shi
- School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, China. No. 92, Weijin road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Heng Chi
- School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, China. No. 92, Weijin road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Aiping Cao
- School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, China. No. 92, Weijin road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Yinna Song
- School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, China. No. 92, Weijin road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Min Zhu
- School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, China. No. 92, Weijin road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Lilin Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, China. No. 92, Weijin road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Fuzhou Xu
- Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, 100097, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
| | - Jinhai Huang
- School of Life Sciences, Tianjin University, China. No. 92, Weijin road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300072, China.
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Duncan SA, Sahu R, Dixit S, Singh SR, Dennis VA. Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS)1 and SOCS3 Proteins Are Mediators of Interleukin-10 Modulation of Inflammatory Responses Induced by Chlamydia muridarum and Its Major Outer Membrane Protein (MOMP) in Mouse J774 Macrophages. Mediators Inflamm 2020; 2020:7461742. [PMID: 32684836 PMCID: PMC7333066 DOI: 10.1155/2020/7461742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 04/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The immunopathology of chlamydial diseases is exacerbated by a broad-spectrum of inflammatory mediators, which we reported are inhibited by IL-10 in macrophages. However, the chlamydial protein moiety that induces the inflammatory mediators and the mechanisms by which IL-10 inhibits them are unknown. We hypothesized that Chlamydia major outer membrane protein (MOMP) mediates its disease pathogenesis, and the suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)1 and SOCS3 proteins are mediators of the IL-10 inhibitory actions. Our hypothesis was tested by exposing mouse J774 macrophages to chlamydial stimulants (live Chlamydia muridarum and MOMP) with and without IL-10. MOMP significantly induced several inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, CCL5, CXCL10), which were dose-dependently inhibited by IL-10. Chlamydial stimulants induced the mRNA gene transcripts and protein expression of SOCS1 and SOCS3, with more SOCS3 expression. Notably, IL-10 reciprocally regulated their expression by reducing SOCS1 and increasing SOCS3. Specific inhibitions of MAPK pathways revealed that p38, JNK, and MEK1/2 are required for inducing inflammatory mediators as well as SOCS1 and SOCS3. Chlamydial stimulants triggered an M1 pro-inflammatory phenotype evidently by an enhanced nos2 (M1 marker) expression, which was skewed by IL-10 towards a more M2 anti-inflammatory phenotype by the increased expression of mrc1 and arg1 (M2 markers) and the reduced SOCS1/SOCS3 ratios. Neutralization of endogenously produced IL-10 augmented the secretion of inflammatory mediators, reduced SOCS3 expression, and skewed the chlamydial M1 to an M2 phenotype. Inhibition of proteasome degradation increased TNF but decreased IL-10, CCL5, and CXCL10 secretion by suppressing SOCS1 and SOCS3 expressions and dysregulating their STAT1 and STAT3 transcription factors. Our data show that SOCS1 and SOCS3 are regulators of IL-10 inhibitory actions, and underscore SOCS proteins as therapeutic targets for IL-10 control of inflammation for Chlamydia and other bacterial inflammatory diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Skyla A. Duncan
- Center for NanoBiotechnology Research (CNBR), Department of Biological Sciences, Alabama State University, 1627 Harris Way, Montgomery, AL 36104, USA
| | - Rajnish Sahu
- Center for NanoBiotechnology Research (CNBR), Department of Biological Sciences, Alabama State University, 1627 Harris Way, Montgomery, AL 36104, USA
| | - Saurabh Dixit
- Center for NanoBiotechnology Research (CNBR), Department of Biological Sciences, Alabama State University, 1627 Harris Way, Montgomery, AL 36104, USA
| | - Shree R. Singh
- Center for NanoBiotechnology Research (CNBR), Department of Biological Sciences, Alabama State University, 1627 Harris Way, Montgomery, AL 36104, USA
| | - Vida A. Dennis
- Center for NanoBiotechnology Research (CNBR), Department of Biological Sciences, Alabama State University, 1627 Harris Way, Montgomery, AL 36104, USA
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Yu H, Karunakaran KP, Jiang X, Chan Q, Rose C, Foster LJ, Johnson RM, Brunham RC. Comparison of Chlamydia outer membrane complex to recombinant outer membrane proteins as vaccine. Vaccine 2020; 38:3280-91. [PMID: 32151463 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.02.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Revised: 01/02/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The Chlamydial outer membrane complex (COMC) from the elementary body (EB) is a protein rich insoluble outer membrane shell from which cytosolic proteins have been extracted with detergent. In this study we conducted mass spectrometry experiments to detect proteins in the COMC prepared from C. muridarum EB. Proteomic analysis showed that the COMC contained 75 proteins that included 10 outer membrane proteins (OMPs) such as the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) and polymorphic membrane proteins (Pmps) that were previously identified as CD4 T cell vaccine candidates. We tested the vaccine efficacy of COMC in comparison to individual or combination of recombinant OMPs formulated with Th1 polarizing adjuvant DDA/MPL in two murine genital tract models (C. muridarum and C. trachomatis) by measuring organismal shedding, tubal pathology and immune responses including neutralizing antibodies. In the C. muridarum model, the COMC vaccine generated broadly reactive immune responses against multiple outer membrane proteins, high levels of EB binding and neutralizing antibody and exhibited superior protection against genital infection and pathology when compared to the recombinant PmpG vaccine. Denaturing the COMC by boiling significantly reduced protection. In the C. trachomatis model, the COMC vaccine also conferred greater protection compared to individual or multiple recombinant outer membrane proteins. Immunization with multiple COMCs from C. trachomatis serovars D, F and J generated neutralizing antibodies against multiple C. trachomatis serovars. We conclude that broader immunogenicity and generation of neutralizing antibody may explain the superior efficacy of COMC vaccine. The study suggests that conformationally intact proteins will be necessary for a successful recombinant OMP vaccine.
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Hepler RW, Nahas DD, Lucas B, Kaufhold R, Flynn JA, Galli JD, Swoyer R, Wagner JM, Espeseth AS, Joyce JG, Cook JC, Durr E. Spectroscopic analysis of chlamydial major outer membrane protein in support of structure elucidation. Protein Sci 2019; 27:1923-1941. [PMID: 30144190 PMCID: PMC6201732 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [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: 06/08/2018] [Revised: 07/17/2018] [Accepted: 08/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Chlamydial major outer membrane protein (MOMP) is the major protein constituent of the bacterial pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis. Chlamydia trachomatis Serovars D–K are the leading cause of genital tract infections which can lead to infertility or ectopic pregnancies. A vaccine against Chlamydia is highly desirable but currently not available. MOMP accounts for ~ 60% of the chlamydial protein mass and is considered to be one of the lead vaccine candidates against C. trachomatis. We report on the spectroscopic analysis of C. trachomatis native MOMP Serovars D, E, F, and J as well as C. muridarum MOMP by size exclusion chromatography multi angle light scattering (SEC MALS), circular dichroism (CD) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐FTIR). MOMP was purified from the native bacterium grown in either adherent HeLa cells or in different suspension cell lines. Our results confirm that MOMP forms homo‐trimers in detergent micelles. The secondary structure composition of C. trachomatis MOMP was conserved across serovars, but different from composition of C. muridarum MOMP with a 13% (CD) to 18% (ATR‐FTIR) reduction in β‐sheet conformation for C. trachomatis MOMP. When Serovar E MOMP was isolated from suspension cell lines the α‐helix content increased by 7% (CD) to 13% (ATIR‐FTIR). Maintenance of a native‐like tertiary and quaternary structure in subunit vaccines is important for the generation of protective antibodies. This biophysical characterization of MOMP presented here serves, in the absence of functional assays, as a method for monitoring the structural integrity of MOMP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert W Hepler
- Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Discovery, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
| | - Debbie D Nahas
- Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Discovery, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
| | - Bob Lucas
- Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Discovery, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
| | - Robin Kaufhold
- Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Discovery, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
| | - Jessica A Flynn
- Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Discovery, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
| | - Jennifer D Galli
- Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Discovery, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
| | - Ryan Swoyer
- Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Discovery, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
| | - James M Wagner
- Vaccine Process Development, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
| | - Amy S Espeseth
- Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Discovery, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
| | - Joseph G Joyce
- Vaccine Process Development, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
| | - James C Cook
- Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Discovery, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
| | - Eberhard Durr
- Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Discovery, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey
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Pedro AQ, Queiroz JA, Passarinha LA. Smoothing membrane protein structure determination by initial upstream stage improvements. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2019; 103:5483-5500. [PMID: 31127356 PMCID: PMC7079970 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-019-09873-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [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: 01/15/2019] [Revised: 04/25/2019] [Accepted: 04/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Membrane proteins (MP) constitute 20–30% of all proteins encoded by the genome of various organisms and perform a wide range of essential biological functions. However, despite they represent the largest class of protein drug targets, a relatively small number high-resolution 3D structures have been obtained yet. Membrane protein biogenesis is more complex than that of the soluble proteins and its recombinant biosynthesis has been a major drawback, thus delaying their further structural characterization. Indeed, the major limitation in structure determination of MP is the low yield achieved in recombinant expression, usually coupled to low functionality, pinpointing the optimization target in recombinant MP research. Recently, the growing attention that have been dedicated to the upstream stage of MP bioprocesses allowed great advances, permitting the evolution of the number of MP solved structures. In this review, we analyse and discuss effective solutions and technical advances at the level of the upstream stage using prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms foreseeing an increase in expression yields of correctly folded MP and that may facilitate the determination of their three-dimensional structure. A section on techniques used to protein quality control and further structure determination of MP is also included. Lastly, a critical assessment of major factors contributing for a good decision-making process related to the upstream stage of MP is presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Augusto Quaresma Pedro
- CICS-UBI - Centro de Investigação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, 6201-001, Covilhã, Portugal
- CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, Department of Chemistry, Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - João António Queiroz
- CICS-UBI - Centro de Investigação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, 6201-001, Covilhã, Portugal
| | - Luís António Passarinha
- CICS-UBI - Centro de Investigação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, 6201-001, Covilhã, Portugal.
- UCIBIO@REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal.
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de Haro-Cruz MJ, Guadarrama-Macedo SI, López-Hurtado M, Escobedo-Guerra MR, Guerra-Infante FM. Obtaining an ELISA test based on a recombinant protein of Chlamydia trachomatis. Int Microbiol 2019; 22:471-8. [PMID: 30976995 DOI: 10.1007/s10123-019-00074-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2018] [Revised: 03/28/2019] [Accepted: 03/29/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Chlamydia trachomatis is considered as a public health problem due to its high prevalence and increased rates of gynecological disorders. The major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of this bacterium is the most abundant protein in its membrane and has been evaluated not only as a vaccine development candidate but also is used in many diagnostic tests. The MOMP weighs 69 kDa and contains four variable segments (VS 1-4) separated by constant regions. Several research groups have developed recombinant single-variable segments of MOMP expressed in Escherichia coli cytoplasm. But, all variable segments have been used minimally for the diagnosis of a chlamydial infection. In this experiment, the authors obtained the recombinant MOMP of C. trachomatis (rMOMP) in E. coli rMOMP and extracted, purified, and partially characterized it. This was later used to identify anti-Chlamydia trachomatis antibodies in sera of infertile patients by immunodetection assays, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and indirect immunofluorescence tests. The ELISA test showed high sensitivity and low specificity of 100 and 58.3%, respectively. The above results obtained were linked to the cross-reactivity of antibodies against C. pneumoniae or C. psittaci. Hence, an evaluation was performed to obtain an optimized test for the diagnosis of C. trachomatis infection.
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11
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Pellizza L, Smal C, Rodrigo G, Arán M. Codon usage clusters correlation: towards protein solubility prediction in heterologous expression systems in E. coli. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10618. [PMID: 30006617 PMCID: PMC6045634 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-29035-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2018] [Accepted: 06/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Production of soluble recombinant proteins is crucial to the development of industry and basic research. However, the aggregation due to the incorrect folding of the nascent polypeptides is still a mayor bottleneck. Understanding the factors governing protein solubility is important to grasp the underlying mechanisms and improve the design of recombinant proteins. Here we show a quantitative study of the expression and solubility of a set of proteins from Bizionia argentinensis. Through the analysis of different features known to modulate protein production, we defined two parameters based on the %MinMax algorithm to compare codon usage clusters between the host and the target genes. We demonstrate that the absolute difference between all %MinMax frequencies of the host and the target gene is significantly negatively correlated with protein expression levels. But most importantly, a strong positive correlation between solubility and the degree of conservation of codons usage clusters is observed for two independent datasets. Moreover, we evince that this correlation is higher in codon usage clusters involved in less compact protein secondary structure regions. Our results provide important tools for protein design and support the notion that codon usage may dictate translation rate and modulate co-translational folding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Pellizza
- Laboratory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Fundación Instituto Leloir, IIBBA-CONICET, Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, C1405BWE, CABA, Argentina
| | - Clara Smal
- Laboratory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Fundación Instituto Leloir, IIBBA-CONICET, Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, C1405BWE, CABA, Argentina
| | - Guido Rodrigo
- Laboratory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Fundación Instituto Leloir, IIBBA-CONICET, Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, C1405BWE, CABA, Argentina
| | - Martín Arán
- Laboratory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Fundación Instituto Leloir, IIBBA-CONICET, Av. Patricias Argentinas 435, C1405BWE, CABA, Argentina.
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Hafner LM, Timms P. Development of a Chlamydia trachomatis vaccine for urogenital infections: novel tools and new strategies point to bright future prospects. Expert Rev Vaccines 2017; 17:57-69. [PMID: 29264970 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2018.1417044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [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: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The "cloaked" bacterial pathogen that is Chlamydia trachomatis continues to cause sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that adversely affect the health and well-being of children, adolescents and adults globally. The reproductive disease sequelae follow unresolved or untreated chronic or recurrent asymptomatic C.trachomatis infections of the lower female genital tract (FGT) and can include pelvic pain, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and ectopic pregnancy. Tubal Factor Infertility (TFI) can also occur since protective and long-term natural immunity to chlamydial infection is incomplete, allowing for ascension of the organism to the upper FGT. Developing countries including the WHO African (8.3 million cases) and South-East Asian regions (7.2 million cases) bear the highest burden of chlamydial STIs. AREAS COVERED Genetic advances for Chlamydia have provided tools for transformation (including dendrimer-enabled transformation), lateral gene transfer and chemical mutagenesis. Recent progress in these areas is reviewed with a focus on vaccine development for Chlamydia infections of the female genital tract. EXPERT COMMENTARY A vaccine that can elicit immuno-protective responses whilst avoiding adverse immuno-pathologic host responses is required. The current technological advances in chlamydial genetics and proteomics, as well as novel and improved adjuvants and delivery systems, provide new hope that the elusive chlamydial vaccine is an imminent and realistic goal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise M Hafner
- a School of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Faculty of Health , Queensland University of Technology , Brisbane , Australia
| | - Peter Timms
- b Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering , University of the Sunshine Coast , Maroochydore DC , Australia
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He W, Felderman M, Evans AC, Geng J, Homan D, Bourguet F, Fischer NO, Li Y, Lam KS, Noy A, Xing L, Cheng RH, Rasley A, Blanchette CD, Kamrud K, Wang N, Gouvis H, Peterson TC, Hubby B, Coleman MA. Cell-free production of a functional oligomeric form of a Chlamydia major outer-membrane protein (MOMP) for vaccine development. J Biol Chem 2017; 292:15121-15132. [PMID: 28739800 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m117.784561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2017] [Revised: 07/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Chlamydia is a prevalent sexually transmitted disease that infects more than 100 million people worldwide. Although most individuals infected with Chlamydia trachomatis are initially asymptomatic, symptoms can arise if left undiagnosed. Long-term infection can result in debilitating conditions such as pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and blindness. Chlamydia infection, therefore, constitutes a significant public health threat, underscoring the need for a Chlamydia-specific vaccine. Chlamydia strains express a major outer-membrane protein (MOMP) that has been shown to be an effective vaccine antigen. However, approaches to produce a functional recombinant MOMP protein for vaccine development are limited by poor solubility, low yield, and protein misfolding. Here, we used an Escherichia coli-based cell-free system to express a MOMP protein from the mouse-specific species Chlamydia muridarum (MoPn-MOMP or mMOMP). The codon-optimized mMOMP gene was co-translated with Δ49apolipoprotein A1 (Δ49ApoA1), a truncated version of mouse ApoA1 in which the N-terminal 49 amino acids were removed. This co-translation process produced mMOMP supported within a telodendrimer nanolipoprotein particle (mMOMP-tNLP). The cell-free expressed mMOMP-tNLPs contain mMOMP multimers similar to the native MOMP protein. This cell-free process produced on average 1.5 mg of purified, water-soluble mMOMP-tNLP complex in a 1-ml cell-free reaction. The mMOMP-tNLP particle also accommodated the co-localization of CpG oligodeoxynucleotide 1826, a single-stranded synthetic DNA adjuvant, eliciting an enhanced humoral immune response in vaccinated mice. Using our mMOMP-tNLP formulation, we demonstrate a unique approach to solubilizing and administering membrane-bound proteins for future vaccine development. This method can be applied to other previously difficult-to-obtain antigens while maintaining full functionality and immunogenicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei He
- From the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550
| | | | - Angela C Evans
- From the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550
| | - Jia Geng
- From the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550.,School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, California 95343
| | - David Homan
- From the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550
| | - Feliza Bourguet
- From the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550
| | - Nicholas O Fischer
- From the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550
| | - Yuanpei Li
- the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and
| | - Kit S Lam
- the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and
| | - Aleksandr Noy
- From the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550.,School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, California 95343
| | - Li Xing
- the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, California 95618
| | - R Holland Cheng
- the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, California 95618
| | - Amy Rasley
- From the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550
| | - Craig D Blanchette
- From the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550
| | - Kurt Kamrud
- Synthetic Genomics Vaccine Inc., La Jolla, California 92037
| | - Nathaniel Wang
- Synthetic Genomics Vaccine Inc., La Jolla, California 92037
| | - Heather Gouvis
- Synthetic Genomics Vaccine Inc., La Jolla, California 92037
| | | | - Bolyn Hubby
- Synthetic Genomics Vaccine Inc., La Jolla, California 92037
| | - Matthew A Coleman
- From the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, .,Radiation Oncology, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, California 95817, and
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Abstract
Chlamydia trachomatis (C.t) is a Gram-negative obligate intracellular bacteria and is a major causative of infectious blindness and sexually transmitted diseases. Among the varied serovars of this organism, A, B and C are reported as prominent ocular pathogens. Genomic studies of these strains shall aid in deciphering potential drug targets and genomic influence on pathogenesis. Hence, in this study we performed deep statistical profiling of codon usage in these serovars. The overall base composition analysis reveals that these serovars are over biased to AU than GC. Similarly, relative synonymous codon usage also showed preference towards A/U ending codons. Parity Rule 2 analysis inferred unequal distribution of AT and GC, indicative of other unknown factors acting along with mutational pressure to influence codon usage bias (CUB). Moreover, absolute quantification of CUB also revealed lower bias across these serovars. The effect of natural selection on CUB was also confirmed by neutrality plot, reinforcing natural selection under mutational pressure turned to be a pivotal role in shaping the CUB in the strains studied. Correspondence analysis (COA) clarified that, C.t C/TW-3 to show a unique trend in codon usage variation. Host influence analysis on shaping the codon usage pattern also inferred some speculative relativity. In a nutshell, our finding suggests that mutational pressure is the dominating factor in shaping CUB in the strains studied, followed by natural selection. We also propose potential drug targets based on cumulative analysis of strand bias, CUB and human non-homologue screening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anupriya Sadhasivam
- a Centre for Bioinformatics , Kamalnayan Bajaj Institute for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Vision Research Foundation, Sankara Nethralaya , Chennai 600 006 , Tamil Nadu , India
| | - Umashankar Vetrivel
- a Centre for Bioinformatics , Kamalnayan Bajaj Institute for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Vision Research Foundation, Sankara Nethralaya , Chennai 600 006 , Tamil Nadu , India
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Jiang P, Cai Y, Chen J, Ye X, Mao S, Zhu S, Xue X, Chen S, Zhang L. Evaluation of tandem Chlamydia trachomatis MOMP multi-epitopes vaccine in BALB/c mice model. Vaccine 2017; 35:3096-3103. [PMID: 28456528 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.04.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Revised: 03/31/2017] [Accepted: 04/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct), an obligate intracellular parasite, is the leading cause of bacterial sexually transmitted diseases worldwide. The best solution to control the spread of Ct is to develop safe and effective vaccines. However, an effective vaccine has not been developed due to some challenges such as selection of appropriate candidate antigens and an effective delivery system. In our previous study, we have developed a Ct vaccine that comprises a multi-epitope peptide of Ct major outer membrane protein (MOMP370-387) and Hepatitis B virus core antigen (HBcAg). The vaccine was evaluated in a murine model with chlamydial genital infection. The results indicated that Ct MOMP multi-epitope delivered by HBcAg could be an effective vaccine for the prevention of Ct. In this study, another two epitopes were selected from the MOMP protein and tandemly linked with MOMP370-387 to enhance the immunogenicity and the protective effect of the candidate vaccine. Our results revealed that both the immunogenicity and the protective effect of the tandem Ct MOMP multi-epitopes were much better than that of the single epitope. Therefore, vaccines based on the tandem Ct MOMP multi-epitopes could be more effective immune prophylactics to prevent Ct infection than the single epitope in murine model system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengfei Jiang
- Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, PR China
| | - Yiqi Cai
- Department of General Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, PR China
| | - Jun Chen
- Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, PR China
| | - Xiaoxian Ye
- Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, PR China
| | - Shanshan Mao
- Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, PR China
| | - Shanli Zhu
- Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, PR China
| | - Xiangyang Xue
- Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, PR China
| | - Shao Chen
- Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, PR China
| | - Lifang Zhang
- Institute of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang, PR China.
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