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Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is an opportunistic human pathogen that causes life-threatening diseases including pneumonia, sepsis, meningitis but also non-invasive local infections such as otitis media. Pneumococci have evolved versatile strategies to colonize the upper respiratory tract (URT) of humans. Binding to epithelial surfaces is thereby mediated through direct interactions with host cell receptors or indirectly via binding to components of the extracellular matrix (ECM). However, successful colonization and subsequent infection require S. pneumoniae to cross tissue barriers protected by the immune system of the host. Pneumococci have therefore evolved a wide range of mechanisms to circumvent the antibacterial activity of the immune system such as the acquisition or expression of serine protease activity. Serine protease enzymes have emerged during evolution as one of the most abundant and functionally diverse groups of proteins in eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms. However, the epithelial barriers, integrins, and other cell surface receptors are often initially inaccessible for pneumococci colonizing the nasopharyngeal cavity. Therefore, pneumococci recruit host-derived extracellular serine proteases such as plasmin(ogen) for extracellular matrix and mucus degradation, which results in enhanced binding to epithelial and endothelial cells. S. pneumoniae expresses four surface-anchored or surface-associated serine proteases depending on the serotype: HtrA, SFP, PrtA, and CbpG. These enzymes belong to the category of trypsin-like or subtilisin-like family proteins, which are characterized by the presence of three-conserved amino acid residues, Ser-His-Asp. The catalytic triads are critical for the cleavage of peptide bonds. Studies focusing on the deletion of single pneumococcal serine proteases are difficult to interpret due to the compensatory effects of the other serine proteases.
Initially, a comprehensive in silico analysis of the distribution and genes organization of pneumococcal serine proteases was carried out in this study. Interestingly, the genes encoding PrtA, HtrA, and CbpG were highly conserved among the 11 analyzed strains. Surprisingly, the gene encoding the subtilisin-like protein SFP was not present in some of the strains and seems to be strain-dependent. Therefore, pneumococci have at least three serine proteases as shown e.g., for serotype 19F_EF3030 strain. Computer-assisted analyses of the structure of pneumococcal serine proteases showed high similarities in the catalytic domains between HtrA and CbpG or between PrtA and SFP in 3D structural models.
The focus of this study lies on the impact of single extracellular pneumococcal serine proteases on pneumococcal pathogenesis during adherence, colonization, virulence and biofilm formation. Therefore, double and triple deletion mutants were generated in the colonizing S. pneumoniae serotype 19F strain EF3030 and the more invasive serotype 4 strain TIGR4, respectively. In adherence studies with human Detroit-562 epithelial cells, we demonstrated that both TIGR4Δcps and 19F_EF3030 mutants without serine proteases or expressing only CbpG, HtrA, or PrtA have a reduced ability to adhere to Detroit-562 cells. In a mouse colonization model, the inactivation of serine proteases in strain 19F_EF3030 strongly reduced nasopharyngeal colonization in CD-1 mice. The bacterial load in the nasopharynx was thereby monitored for a period of 14 days. Mutant strains showed significantly lower bacterial numbers in the nasopharynx on days 2, 3, 7, and 14 post-inoculations.
Following up on pneumococcal pathogenesis, an in vivo acute pneumonia mouse infection model and in vitro phagocytosis was used to analyze the impact of single serine proteases during infection and phagocytosis. Mice were intranasally infected with the bioluminescent TIGR4lux wild-type or isogenic triple mutants expressing only CbpG, HtrA, PrtA, or SFP. The acute lung infection was monitored in real-time by using an IVIS®-Spectrum in vivo imaging system. The TIGR4lux mutant expressing only PrtA showed a significant attenuation and was less virulent in the acute pneumonia model. Phagocytosis assays were conducted using murine J77A.1 macrophages. The number of triple serine protease mutants internalized by macrophages were significantly reduced in comparison to the isogenic wild-type.
Finally, two different experimental biofilm models were used to study the influence of serine proteases on biofilm formation grown on an abiotic surface (glass) and a biological surface. Biofilm development on living epithelial cells was stronger after 48 and 72h than on the glass surface. On epithelial substratum, the serine protease mutant with only CbpG+ showed higher and denser biofilm development after 48h and 72h of incubation compared to the parental strains and other serine protease mutants. Moreover, the bacterial dispersal from biofilms was significantly more in the mutant strains lacking serine proteases than in the wild type.
In conclusion, nasopharyngeal colonization is a prerequisite for invasive diseases and transmission. Pneumococcal serine proteases are indispensable for nasopharyngeal colonization and facilitate access to eukaryotic cell-surface receptors by the cleavage of ECM proteins. Thus, serine proteases could be promising candidates for developing antimicrobials to reduce pneumococcal colonization and transmission.
Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococci) are Gram-positive cocci and commensals of the human upper respiratory tract. Pneumococcal pathogenesis requires adherence to host cells and dissemination through cellular barriers and to evade host defense mechanisms. The Pneumococcal surface protein C (PspC) is an important virulence factor which has a crucial role in pneumococcal adhesion to host cells and immune evasion by manipulating the host complement system. To elucidate the pneumococcal adherence and uptake mechanism via factor H glycosaminoglycans (dermatan sulfate and heparin) were employed as competitive inhibitors in infection experiments with epithelial cells or human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). Glycosaminoglycans significantly inhibited the FH mediated pneumococcal adherence and subsequent invasion to host epithelial cells. Furthermore, the short consensus repeats of FH which promotes the adhesion of pneumococci to host cells were identified by blocking experiments with domain mapped antibodies for specific regions of FH. Moreover, this study indicates that FH acts as adhesion molecule via cellular receptors recognized as integrin CR3 on human PMNs. Binding of Factor H loaded pneumococci to integrins CR3 was assessed by flow cytometry. Pneumococci coated with Factor H showed a significantly increased association with PMNs. This interaction was blocked by anti-CR3 antibodies and Pra1. This project further aims to study mechanisms of pneumococcal endocytosis by host cells, their intracellular fate, and the pathogen induced host cell signal transduction cascades including the calcium signaling upon pneumococcal infection of host cells via the PspC-hpIgR interaction. To assess now the role of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) during pneumococcal infection via PspC, cell culture infections were performed in presence of pharmacological inhibitors of PTKs and MAPKs or by employing genetic interference techniques. Blocking the function of Src or ER1/2 and JNK and genetic-knock down of Src and FAK reduced significantly internalization of pneumococci. These data indicated the importance of a coordinated signaling between Src PTKs, ERK1/2, and JNK during PspC-pIgR-mediated uptake of pneumococci by host epithelial cells. The impact of host cells intracellular calcium concentrations on pneumococcal PspC-hpIgR mediated internalization was studied. Intracellular calcium measurement of epithelial cells performed in the presence of pneumococci suggested a calcium influx in host epithelial cells and importantly this calcium influx was PspC- hpIgR specific as pspC-deficient pneumococci were unable to mediate calcium mobilization in host cells. The increase in intracellular calcium [Ca2+]i was dependent on phospholipase C as pretreatment of cells with a phospholipase C-specific inhibitor abolished the increase in [Ca2+]i. Furthermore, role of host intracellular calcium concentrations during pneumococcal internalization was demonstrated by employing specific pharmacological inhibitors and calcium chelators in epithelial cell culture infection assays. The results revealed that elevated host cells calcium concentrations diminished pneumococcal internalization while lower calcium concentration in host epithelial cells promoted pneumococcal uptake. This study further demonstrates that dynamin, clathrin and caveolin play a key role during pneumococcal endocytosis into host cells via PspC-hpIgR. The use of specific pharmacological inhibitors or genetic interference approaches against dynamin, clathrin and caveolin in epithelial cell culture infection assays significantly blocked pneumococcal uptake. Furthermore, confocal microscopy revealed that pneumococci co-localize with clathrin. At later stages of the infection the pathogen is sorted to early, late and recycling endosomes as indicated by co-localization of pneumococci with endosomal markers such as Rab5, Rab4, Rab 7, and Lamp1. In order to get further insights into PspC-hpIgR mediated uptake mechanisms, a chimeric PspC was constructed and expressed heterologously on the surface of Lactococcus lactis. Immunofluorescence staining, immunoblot and flow cytometric analysis of L. lactis confirmed the expression of PspC on the bacterial surface. Moreover the ability of recombinant lactococci expressing PspC to adhere to and to invade pIgR-expressing epithelial cells confirmed the functional activity of PspC when exposed on the lactococcal surface. PspC expressing lactococci confirmed the specificity of PspC-hpIgR mediated endocytosis in host epithelial cells as PspC deficient lactococci were not taken up by these host cells. Confocal microscopic analysis demonstrated that only PspC expressing lactococci were sorted to early, late and recycling endosomes, similar to the intracellular fate of S. pneumoniae.
Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococci) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are human-specific commensals of the upper respiratory tract. Every individual is asymptomatically colonized with both bacteria at least once in their life-time. The opportunistic pathogens can affect further organs and invade into deeper tissue. The occupation of normally sterile niches of the human body with the bacteria can lead to local infections such as sinusitis, otitis media and abscesses, or to life-threatening diseases like pneumonia, meningitis or sepsis. A strong interaction between the bacterium and the respiratory epithelial cells is a prerequisite for a successful colonization. This interaction is ensured by bacterial surface proteins, so called adhesins. The binding of the adhesins to the epithelial lineage occurs predominantly indirectly via components of the extracellular matrix (ECM), but also directly to cellular receptors. Pneumococci and S. aureus bind to various ECM glycoproteins, amongst others: fibronectin, fibrinogen, vitronectin, and collagen. Also binding of both pathogens to human thrombospondin-1 has been described. Thrombospondin-1 is mainly stored in the α-granula of thrombocytes (platelets) and released into the circulation upon activation. However, thrombospondin-1 is also produced and secreted by other cell types like endothelial cells, macrophages, and fibroblasts, which gets subsequently incorporated as component into the ECM. So far, no thrombosponin-1-binding adhesins of pneumococci were identified. PspC, Hic, and PavB are important surface-localized virulence factors, which were shown to interact with human ECM and plasma proteins. PspC and Hic bind to vitronectin and factor H, which inhibits the complement cascade of the human immune system. PavB interacts with fibronectin and plasminogen, and a pavB-deficient mutant of S. pneumoniae showed diminished capacity in colonization in a mouse model. Among the surface proteins of S. aureus, only Eap was identified as thrombospondin-1-binding adhesin. Beyond colonization, pneumococci and S. aureus can enter the blood circulation, interact with platelets, and cause their activation. The aggregation of platelets, especially initiated by S. aureus, plays an important role in the clinic, because most of the septic patients develop thrombocytopenia. Surface localized factors of
S. pneumoniae triggering platelet activation are unknown to date. In contrast, few proteins of S. aureus with potential to activate platelets, including Eap, were identified previously.
This study identified the surface proteins PavB, PspC, and Hic of S. pneumoniae as specific ligands of the human thrombospondin-1. Flow cytometric, surface plasmon resonance spectroscopic and immunological analyses revealed interactions between the pneumococcal proteins and soluble as well as immobilized thrombospondin-1. The use of specific pneumococcal deletion mutants verified the importance of the three virulence factors as binding partners of soluble thrombospondin-1. The results suggest that pneumococci are capable of acquiring soluble thrombospondin-1 from blood as well as utilizing immobilized glycoprotein of the ECM as substrate for adhesion. Furthermore, the thrombospondin-1-binding domain within the pneumococcal proteins was analyzed by use of recombinant fragments of PavB, PspC, and Hic. The binding capacity of thrombospondin-1 increased proportionally with the amount of repetitive sequences in PavB and PspC, and the length of the α-helical region within the Hic molecule. The binding behavior of thrombospondin-1 towards PavB and PspC is comparable with that of the ECM proteins vitronectin and fibronectin, but is unique towards Hic.
The localization of the binding domain of the adhesins within the thrompospondin-1 molecule occurred via use of glycosaminoglycans as competitive inhibitors for the interaction. The results suggest that the pneumococcal proteins Hic and PspC target the identical binding region within thrombospondin-1, which differs from the binding domain for PavB. However, all three virulence factors seem to bind in the N-terminal part of thrombospondin-1.
Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, thrombospondin-1 overlay assay and subsequent mass spectrometric analysis identified AtlA of S. aureus as a surface localized interaction partner of human thrombospondin-1. Moreover, a vitronectin binding activity for AtlA was determined. Immunological and surface plasmon resonance binding studies with recombinant AtlA fragments revealed that interactions with both matrix proteins is mediated via the C-terminal located repeats R1R2 of the AtlA amidase domain. Binding of thrombospondin-1 and vitronectin occurred not simultaneously, due to a competitive inhibition.
The second part of the study focused on the activation of human platelets by recombinant pneumococcal and staphylococcal proteins. In total, 28 proteins of S. pneumoniae and 52 proteins of S. aureus were incubated with human platelets. The activation of the cells was detected by flow cytometry using the activation markers P-selectin and the dimerization of the integrin αIIbβIII. The proteins CbpL, PsaA, PavA, and SP_0899 of S. pneumoniae induced platelet activation, however, the detailed mechanism has to be deciphered in further studies. Furthermore, the secreted proteins CHIPS, FLIPr, and AtlA of S. aureus were discovered as inductors for the activation of platelets. In addition, the domains of AtlA and Eap, crucial for platelet activation, were narrowed down. Interestingly, CHIPS, FLIPr, and Eap were described as inhibitors of neutrophil recruitment. Platelets are recently recognized as immune cells, due to the expression of immune receptors. The data obtained in this study highlight a comprehensive spectrum of effects of the S. aureus proteins towards different type of immune cells. Besides the activation of platelets in suspension buffer and plasma, the aggregation of platelets in whole blood was triggered by the proteins CHIPS, AtlA, and Eap. These results suggest a contribution of the proteins during the S. aureus-induced infectious endocarditis. Secretion of the platelet activating virulence factors, which were identified within this study, might represent a pathogenic strategy during S. aureus infection in which a direct contact between S. aureus and platelets is not required or even avoided.
In conclusion, PavB, PspC, and Hic of S. pneumoniae and AtlA of S. aureus were identified as interaction partners of human thrombospondin-1. Furthermore, CHIPS, FLIPr, AtlA, and Eap were characterized as platelet activators. This study provides candidates for the development of protein-based vaccines, to prevent bacterial colonization and to neutralize secreted pathogenic factors.
Streptococcus pneumoniae, more commonly known as the pneumococcus, is a Gram-positive bacterium colonizing the human upper respiratory tract as a commensal. However, these apparently harmless bacteria have also a high virulence potential and are known as the etiologic agent of respiratory and life-threatening invasive diseases. Dissemination of pneumococci from the nasopharynx into the lungs or bloodstream leads to community-acquired pneumonia, septicaemia and meningitis. Pneumococcal diseases are treated with antibiotics and prevented with polysaccharide-based vaccines. However, due to the increase of antibiotic resistance and limitations of the current vaccines, the burden of diseases remains high. Interactions of pneumococci with soluble host proteins or cellular receptors are crucial for adherence, colonization, transmigration of host barriers and immune evasion. The pneumococcal surface-exposed proteins are the main players involved in this host-pathogen interaction. Therefore, combating pneumococcal transmission and infections has emphasized the need for a new generation of immunogenic and highly protective pneumococcal vaccines, based on surface-exposed adhesins virtually expressed by all pneumococcal strains and serotypes. The genomic analysis of S. pneumoniae strains helped to identify pneumococcal virulence factors such as pili, PsrP and PavB, which have been demonstrated to interact with human proteins playing an important role during the pathogenic process of pneumococci, and are currently considered as new potential vaccine candidates against S. pneumoniae. A subclass of pneumococcal strains produces pili that are encoded by the pathogenicity islet pilus islet-1 (rlrA islet) and/or the pilus islet-2. Both types of pili are implicated in bacterial adherence to host cells. A further pathogenicity islet encoded protein is PsrP. The presence of the psrP-secY2A2 islet correlated positively with the ability of pneumococci to cause invasive pneumococcal diseases. Recent studies indicated that PsrP is a protective adhesin interacting with keratin 10 on lung epithelial cells. In this study, the genomic loci of the pneumococcal virulence factors pili, PsrP and PavB were molecularly analyzed and used as molecular markers for molecular epidemiology studies of S. pneumoniae. The genotyping results obtained here showed the impact of the PCV7 immunization of children, started in July 2006, on the distribution of these pneumococcal virulence factors among clinical isolates in Germany. These findings gave more insights into the role of pili, PsrP and PavB in pneumococcal pathogenesis and may strongly support the idea of including these pneumococcal constituents in a broad coverage protein-based vaccine against pneumococcal infections produced by invasive serotypes in the future. The mature PavB protein contains a variable number of repetitive sequences referred to as the Streptococcal Surface Repeats (SSURE). PavB has been demonstrated to interact with fibronectin and plasminogen in a dose-dependent manner and it was identified as a surface-exposed adhesin with immunogenic properties, which contributes to pneumococcal colonization and respiratory airways infections. The complete molecular analysis performed here for PavB, allowed to know more accurately its structure and to estimate the real number of SSURE units in different pneumococcal strains. With these findings, a new primary sequence-based structural model was constructed for the PavB protein and its SSURE domain, and, at least for TIGR4, the complete pavB gene and PavB protein sequences with five SSURE units was reported in the GenBank database of the NCBI website. Due to its immediate neighborhood on the pneumococcal genome with the tcs08 genes, PavB is likely linked with this pneumococcal TCS. Here, a significant reduction of the PavB protein expression was observed in delta-tcs08-mutant strains, which may strongly suggest that the TCS08 does play a role in pneumococcal virulence and metabolisme, as further observed in growth behaviour experiments carried out with the TCS08-deficient mutants, cultured in chemically defined medium. Despite several studies suggest that the molecular mechanism underlying the bacterial signal transduction is very sophisticated, the majority of reports in prokaryotic TCS, including those for S. pneumoniae, are still focused in single cognate pairs. The pneumococcal genome encodes 14 TCSs and an orphan response regulator. It is obvious that TCS pathways are often arranged into complex circuits with extensive cross-regulation at a variety of levels, thereby endowing cells with the ability to perform sophisticated information processing tasks. This study established also the experimental and molecular bases for the construction of a comprehensive genome-wide interaction map of the complex TCS pathways for its application in the gene regulation of pneumococcal virulence factors.
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a commensal of the human upper respiratory tract and
the etiological agent of several life-threatening diseases. This pathogen is the model bacterium
for natural competence. Furthermore, the pneumococci played an important role in the
identification of DNA as the main molecule involved in bacterial transformation. As a result,
studies on the pneumococcal genome provided an initial overview of the genetic potential of
this pathogen. The pneumococcus is a highly versatile bacterium possessing a high rate of
uptake and recombination of exogenous DNA from neighboring bacteria. As such, a significant
diversity in the genome content among the different pneumococcal strains has been reported.
The capsular polysaccharide, an important pneumococcal virulence factor, is the best example
on the pneumococcal diversity. There are over 98 serotypes characterized to date presenting
differences in their capsule (cps) locus. Additional to the cps locus, the pneumococcus also
presents 13 genomic islets annotated as regions of diversity (RD) encoded in the auxiliary
genome. Remarkably, 8 of the pneumococcal RD studied so far have been associated with
virulence. Furthermore, the ongoing sequencing of over 4000 pneumococcal genomes have
shed light on the conservation level of well-known pneumococcal virulence factors.
Interestingly, important pneumococcal virulence determinants show variations in the gene and
protein sequence among the different strains. Prototypes are for example the pneumococcal
surface protein C (PspC) and pneumococcal adherence and virulence factor B (PavB).
Conversely, gene regulation in S. pneumoniae is carried out by highly conserved and genome-
wide distributed transcriptional factors. Overall, the pneumococci interplays with its
environment with 4 major regulatory systems: quorum sensing (QS), stand-alone
transcriptional regulators, small RNAs (sRNAs) and two-component regulatory systems (TCS).
Some of these systems are multifaceted and share more than one feature. Furthermore, there
is crosstalk among the different systems, requiring the activation of a signaling cascade to
function properly.
A comprehensive analysis of the distribution and conservation of pneumococcal
virulence factors and TCS was obtained in this study. The results are summarized as a
simplified variome in which 25 pneumococcal strains with a complete sequenced genome were
analyzed. Interestingly, the genes encoding the glycolytic protein enolase and the toxin
pneumolysin were the most conserved virulence determinants. Additionally, the high level of
conservation was confirmed for the pneumococcal TCS regulators, especially for WalKR,
CiaRH and TCS08.
The main focus of this study was on the regulatory functions of pneumococcal TCS.
With this in mind, an extensive and detailed systematic review of the 13 pneumococcal TCS
and its orphan RR was undertaken. For this purpose, every pneumococcal TCS was analyzed
for its reported functional and structural information along with its contribution to the main
pathophysiology of the pneumococci. In brief, S. pneumoniae can utilize its TCS for the
regulation of important cellular processes and the sensing of detectable signals in the
environment. Additionally, the role of TCS in pneumococcal processes and signal sensing can
be divided further. In the first place, pneumococcal TCS regulate competence and fratricide,
the production of bacteriocins and host-pathogen interaction processes, while the detectable
signals include cell-wall perturbations, environmental stress, and nutrients. As a conclusion
from this section, it is possible to analyze the pneumococcal TCS in a comprehensive manner.
There is a complex network among the different pneumococcal regulators and the TCS play
an important role. Moreover, these systems are highly conserved and essential for the proper
functioning of the pneumococcus as a pathogen.
Following up on pneumococcal TCS, this study focused especially on the TCS08.
Interestingly, the pneumococcal TCS08 has been previously associated with the regulation of the cellobiose metabolism. Furthermore, this system has also been reported to regulate the
expression of genes encoded in the RD4 (Pilus-1). Remarkably, the pneumococcal TCS08
was shown to be highly homologous to the SaeRS system of Staphylococcus aureus. Initially,
mutant strains lacking a single (Δrr08 or Δhk08) or both components (Δtcs08) of the TCS08
were generated in pneumococcal D39 and TIGR4 strains. Transcriptomics and functional
assays showed a downregulation of the PI-1 in the absence of the complete tcs08, while PavB
presented an upregulation in the Δhk08 knockout. Moreover, an important number of genes
coding for intermediary metabolism proteins were also found to be differentially expressed by
microarray analysis. As such, the TIGR4Δhk08 strain presented a downregulation for the
cellobiose operon (cel). In contrast, an upregulation was reported for the fatty acid biosynthesis
(fab) and arginine catabolism (arc) operons. Conversely, a decrease in gene expression was
seen in the TIGR4Δrr08 strain for the arc operon. Finally, in vivo murine pneumonia and sepsis
models highlighted an involvement of TCS08 in pneumococcal virulence. Remarkably, the
different TCS08 mutants presented a strain dependent effect on their virulence severity. The
TIGR4Δrr08, and all TCS08 mutants in D39 showed a decrease in virulence in the pneumonia
model, with no changes in sepsis. Conversely, the absence of HK08 in TIGR4 presented a
highly virulent phenotype in both pneumonia and sepsis models. To sum up, the pneumococcal
TCS08 influenced the expression of genes involved in fitness and colonization. Specifically,
those coding for the adhesins PavB and PI-1 and fitness proteins from the cel, arc and fab
operons. Remarkably, the highest changes in expression were observed in the strains lacking
the HK08. Additionally, TCS08 has a strain dependent impact on pneumococcal virulence as
showed by murine pneumonia and sepsis models when comparing the effects in D39 and
TIGR4.
Posttranslationale Proteinmodifikationen beeinflussen Proteinaktivitäten und Signalwege innerhalb einer Zelle und haben somit vielfältige Auswirkungen auf den Stoffwechsel von Bakterien. Um die genauen Mechanismen besser verstehen zu können, wurde in dieser Arbeit das Phosphoproteom von Streptococcus pneumoniae D39 untersucht. Der Schwerpunkt lag dabei in der Entwicklung besserer Auswertestrategien und der damit einhergehenden verbesserten Identifizierung von Phosphoproteinen. Um dies zu bewerkstelligen, wurden die Proteinextrakte durch gelfreie und gelbasierte Methoden aufgetrennt. Die Auswertung der Experimente erfolgte zunächst durch klassische Proteinidentifizierung mit Hilfe von Proteindatenbanken. Zusätzlich wurden Spektrenbibliotheken von S. pneumoniae D39 aufgebaut und diese für eine bessere Proteinidentifizierung sowie Phosphoproteinidentifizierung genutzt. Anschließend wurden zur Quantifizierung des Phosphoproteoms dieses Pathogens verschiedene Quantifizierungsmethoden getestet und modifiziert. Hierbei wurde zum einen das Phosphoproteom einer Kinasedeletionsmutante von S. pneumoniae D39 über die Spotintensitäten von 2D Gelen mit dem Wildtyp verglichen. Zusätzlich wurden die Auswirkungen dieser Kinase auf das globale S. pneumoniae D39 Proteom mittels SILAC sowie der neu erstellten Spektrenbibliothek aufgezeigt. Eine weitere etablierte Quantifizierungsmethode für Phosphoproteine in der Arbeit war die Kombination von metabolischer Markierung und 2D Gelen. Die Veränderung des Phosphoproteoms wurde an dem industriell bedeutsamen Bakterium Bacillus pumilus anhand von oxidativem Stress aufgezeigt.
Streptococcus pneumoniae colonizes asymptomatically the upper respiratory tract as a commensal, but has also a high virulence potential and can leave this ecological niche, thereby spreading to the lungs and blood. During this process, pneumococci must adapt to changing external environmental conditions and parameters such as nutrient availability, temperature, or oxygen levels. The transmission of these signals into the bacterial cell interior occurs via the process of signal transduction, which ultimately results in controlled differential gene expression. The most commonly strategy for signal transduction is the use of two-component regulatory systems (TCS), consisting of a membrane-bound histidine kinase as a sensor and a cytoplasmic response regulator that binds to the promoter region of its target genes and interferes with gene expression.
In this study the regulatory impact and influence of the TCS08 and TCS09 on the phenotype and pathophysiology of S. pneumoniae were investigated using two different serotypes
(serotype 2: D39 and serotype 4: TIGR4). For all functional assays, single (Δrr08/Δrr09 or Δhk08/Δhk09) and double (Δtcs08 or Δtcs09) mutants that were constructed by insertion-deletion mutagenesis, were applied.
In the first study a comparative transcriptome analysis using RNA-sequencing was conducted with our tcs09-mutants and the parental wild-type D39. The data indicated upregulation of the aga operon, which is related to galactose metabolism, and downregulation of the regulator AgaR, particularly in the absence of HK09. Interestingly, encapsulated and nonencapsulated hk09-mutants in D39 showed significant growth defects when galactose was used as sole carbohydrate source. Electron microscopy revealed morphological changes such as an increased number of membrane vesicles and cell wall degradation for the nonencapsulated hk09- and tcs09-mutants of strain D39. An increased capsule production was indicated for the encapsulated hk09- and tcs09-mutants in D39. The latter two mutants as well as the encapsulated rr09-mutant also showed altered colony morphology. While D39Δhk09 formed only opaque colonies, the mutants D39Δrr09 and D39Δtcs09 showed increased numbers of transparent colonies. In a Triton X-100 induced autolysis assay and in the presence of oxidative stress, a negative effect of the morphological changes of D39ΔcpsΔhk09 and D39ΔcpsΔtcs09 on their survivability was demonstrated. In conclusion, we observed that TCS09 in S. pneumoniae D39 is important for its fitness through regulation of carbohydrate metabolism. This indirectly influences cell wall integrity and capsular polysaccharide amount via other regulatory mechanisms, which ultimately affects stress tolerance.
In a second study, we investigated the virulence potential of TCS09 in pneumococcal strain TIGR4. In vitro growth analyses in complex medium showed no effect after loss of function of TCS09 on pneumococcal fitness. In contrast, using the disaccharides lactose and sucrose in chemically defined medium, an extended lag phase of tcs09-mutants was monitored. To assess changes of virulence factor expression, immunoblots were applied to demonstrate the abundance of various essential virulence factors of S. pneumoniae. The results revealed a decreased amount for RrgB, which is the backbone pilus component of type 1 pili, in the hk09-mutant. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images were applied to study alterations of the bacterial cell shape. The illustrations by FESEM and TEM showed no effect of TCS09-deletion on pneumococcal cell morphology. Cell culture-based infection analyses revealed a similar adhesion capacity of the parental strain and isogenic mutants to lung epithelial cells. However, phagocytosis assays indicated a significantly increased killing rate of intracellular TIGR4ΔcpsΔtcs09, when compared to the isogenic parental strain. In experimental mouse infection models of acute pneumonia and systemic infection the tcs09-mutants were not attenuated. However, to decipher in more detail differences between the wild-type and tcs09-mutants, in vivo co-infection were performed, which highlighted a significantly lower bacterial load of TIGR4luxΔhk09 and TIGR4luxΔtcs09 especially in the lungs, blood, and brain after 48 h. In conclusion, the TCS09 in TIGR4 is necessary for maintaining metabolic fitness, which in turn contributes to dissemination in the host.
In the third study, the influence of TCS08 on gene expression and metabolic and pathophysiological processes of S. pneumoniae was analyzed. In particular, differential gene expression in the hk08-mutant of TIGR4 was detected using microarray and qPCR. The transcriptome analysis revealed a downregulation of cellobiose specific phosphotransferase systems as well as an upregulation of the fab operon, arc operon, and psa operon. These operons encode proteins involved in fatty acid biosynthesis, arginine catabolism, and manganese uptake, respectively. Furthermore, we measured a downregulation of pilus 1 genes in TIGR4ΔcpsΔtcs08 and an increased expression of pavB in TIGR4ΔcpsΔhk08. These data were confirmed by immunoblotting and surface localization studies. Using in silico analysis, a SaeR-like binding motif was identified in the promoter region of pavB. Furthermore, the impact of TCS08 on pneumococcal virulence was investigated in vivo using the acute pneumonia and sepsis models. These models showed a strain-dependent effect of the single TCS08 component deletions between D39 and TIGR4 pneumococci. Whereas loss of HK08 or TCS08 in D39 attenuated the mutants in the pneumonia model, loss of RR08 in TIGR4 was responsible for a similar effect. In contrast, loss of HK08 in TIGR4 promoted increased virulence in the pneumonia and sepsis model. Overall, these data indicate that TCS08 is involved as key player in bacterial fitness during host colonization.
Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the leading human pathogen causing morbidity and mortality worldwide. The pneumococcus can cause a variety of different diseases ranging from mild illnesses like otitis media and sinusitis to life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis. Mostly affected are infants, elderly and immune-suppressed patients. Although, there are vaccines against pneumococci available, still hundreds of thousands of people got infected each year. These vaccines are targeting the pneumococcal polysaccharide capsule. Because of the high number of different serotypes, it is not possible to generate a vaccine against all present serotypes. In the last years a shift to non-vaccine serotypes was noticed. This strengthens the need for the development of vaccines which do not target polysaccharides. Thus, proteins came into focus as potential new vaccine candidates or targets for drug treatment, because several proteins are highly conserved among different strains or even genera. Proteome analyses can give insights into the protein composition in a certain state of a bacterium. So, targets can be identified, which are especially expressed under infection-relevant conditions. Iron limitation is one of these conditions and the knowledge on iron acquisition in pneumococci is still limited. Iron is an essential trace element and as redox-active catalyst or as cofactor involved in various key metabolic pathway in nearly all living organisms and thus also in bacteria. For instance, iron is necessary during biosynthesis of amino acids and in electron transport as well as in DNA replication. Within the human host iron is extremely limited due to its high insolubility under physiological conditions, which is part of the nutritional immunity of its human host. Hence, bacteria had to evolve mechanism to overcome iron starvation. In this thesis the adaptation process triggered by iron limitation in the S. pneumoniae serotype 2 strain D39 was investigated in a global mass spectrometry-based proteome analysis.
In preceding growth experiments the pneumococcal growth was adapted to the needs of proteomic workflows. In order to investigate the pneumococcal response to iron limitation, the organic iron-chelating agent 2,2’-bipyridine (BIP) was applied. For the quantification of changes in protein abundances comparing stress to control conditions the very reliable and robust metabolic labeling technique Stable Isotope Labeling with Amino Acids in Cell Culture (SILAC) was used. This method requires the bacterial cultivation in a chemically defined medium, for which reason modified RPMI 1640 medium was chosen. A pooled protein extract with heavy labeled amino acids was applied as an internal standard, which included proteins expressed under control and stress condition, to control, BIP and BIP-iron-complex (BIP control experiment) samples. Samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled directly to a tandem mass spectrometer. It is described that under iron-restricted conditions proteins associated to pathogenesis are higher abundant in pathogenic bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus. Hence, similar observations were expected also for the proteomic adaptation of S. pneumoniae, but the first results showed a reduction in protein abundance of virulence factors. In order to explain these results inductively-coupled-plasma mass spectrometry was executed to determine the iron concentration of chemically defined medium (CDM) used in this experiment. The analysis revealed a relatively low iron concentration of approximately 190 µg l-1. Therefore, the iron concentration of the complex medium THY, in which pneumococci are usually grown, was investigated. THY contains four-fold (740 µg l-1) more iron than the CDM. Subsequently, an additional iron limitation approach was carried out in THY. As SILAC is not applicable in complex media like THY, MaxLFQ was applied as quantification method in this case. Because two different media were used, an additional comparative proteome analysis with regard to the two investigated media was executed.
Comparing the protein composition in both cultivation media it became clear that pneumococci exhibit a totally different proteome depending on the medium. Major differences were found in metabolisms of amino acids, vitamins and cofactors as well as in pathogenesis-associated proteins. These differences have to be taken into account during the analyses of both iron limitation approaches. Overall, more proteins were identified and quantified in CDM samples. The pneumococcal adaptation to iron limitation in both media was different; especially, the alterations in protein abundances of virulence factors. In contrast to the iron limitation in CDM, proteins involved in pathogenesis were higher abundant under iron limitation in THY, which was the expected result. Because of proteomic changes of cell division and lipid metabolism involved proteins in iron-limited pneumococci in CDM, electron microscopic pictures were taken in order to proof cell morphology. The pictures showed an impaired cell division in iron-limited CDM, but not in THY medium. However, both datasets have similarities as well. Thus, the iron uptake protein PiuA is strongly increased in iron-restricted conditions and the abundance of the iron storage protein Dpr is significantly decreased in both datasets. Notably, PiuA and Dpr seem to have important roles during the pneumococcal adaptation to iron-restricted environments.
One the basis of these results, it could be shown that the proteomic response of pneumococci to iron limitation is strongly dependent to the initial iron concentration of the environment. Hence, pneumococci will adapt differently to varying niches and thus potential vaccine candidates should be expressed independently of the localization within the human host.
Als Mitglieder der Ordnung Lactobacillales ist das Hauptkatabolit der Pneumokokken sowohl unter aerober wie auch microaerophiler Atmosphäre Lactat. Des Weiteren synthetisiert S. pneumoniae eine große Bandbreite an ABC-Transportersystemen, die an der Assimilation und an dem Stoffwechsel von Kohlenhydraten, löslichen Verbindungen und Aminosäuren beteiligt sind. In dieser Arbeit wurde der Kohlenstoffmetabolismus mittels 13C-Isotopologen Verteilung nach Wachstum der Pneumokokkenkultur in chemisch definiertem Medium (CDM) mit [U-13C6]Glucose, [1,2-13C2]Glucose oder [U-13C2]Glycin analysiert. GC/MS-Analysen zeigten ein Muster an schwer-markierten und unmarkierten Kohlenstoffatomen in den Aminosäuren. Die Ergebnisse ließen den Schluss zu, dass Pneumokokken sowohl einzelne Aminosäuren aufnehmen, wie auch über klassische oder nicht-klassische Biosynthesewege de novo synthetisieren können. His, Glu, Ile, Leu, Val, Pro und Gly blieben im Isotopolog Profiling unmarkiert, was ein Hinweis auf das Fehlen von Biosynthesewegen oder ihrer Regulation unter bestimmten Umweltbedingungen sein könnte. Obwohl die genetische Information für die Biosynthese der essentiellen verzweigtkettigen Aminosäuren (BAA; Ile, Leu und Val) in S. pneumoniae vorhanden ist, ergaben die 13C-Markierungsversuche keine de novo Synthese. Jedoch konnte durch Langzeit-1H-NMR (LT-NMR) Analysen eine aktive Aufnahme dieser Aminosäuren nachgewiesen werden. Darüber hinaus wird Aspartat nicht über den allgemeinen Stoffwechselweg mit Pyruvat und Acetyl-CoA synthetisiert. Die Aspartat-Synthese erfolgt im ersten Schritt durch die Umwandlung von Phosphoenolpyruvat (PEP) und CO2 zu Oxalacetat. Im zweiten Schritt wird Oxalacetat dann in Aspartat mit der Nebenreaktion Glutamat zu alpha-Ketoglutarat durch die Aspartat-Transaminase metabolisiert. GC/MS Analysen ergaben weiterhin, dass komplett markierte aromatische Aminosäuren aus Erythrose-4-Phosphat und zwei Molekülen PEP über das Intermediat Chorismat synthetisiert wurden. Es zeigte sich außerdem, dass [M+1] markiertes Serin durch die Hydroxymethylierung von unmarkiertem Glycin über 5,10-Methylentetrahydrofolat als Teil des C1-Pools hergestellt wurde. Weiterhin wurden In LT-NMR-Untersuchungen Konzentrationsänderungen der extrazellulären Metabolite quantifizert. Die homofermentative Milchsäuregärung konnte in Pneumokokken durch einen extrazellulären Anstieg der Lactatkonzentration nachgewiesen werden. Als essentielle Kandidaten wurden Glutamin und Uracil identifiziert, die das Pneumokokkenwachstum bei Mangel einschränken. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen die Vielzahl von Aminosäuren-Synthesewegen in Pneumkokken und die notwendige Rolle der Transportersysteme in Pneumokokken für die bakterielle Fitness und für die Adaption an verschiedene Wirtsnischen. Sechs mögliche Glutamin-Aufnahmesysteme konnten durch Genomanalysen von Streptococcus pneumoniae Stämmen identifiziert werden. Die Reverse Transkriptions-PCR haben gezeigt, dass die sechs gln-Operons unter in vitro Bedingungen exprimiert werden. Vier der gln-Gencluster bestehen aus den Genen glnQPH, während in zwei Regionen das Gen glnH, welches für eine lösliche Glutamin-Bindungsdomäne kodiert, fehlt. In dieser Arbeit wurde der Einfluss zwei dieser Glutamin-ABC-Transporter, mit den Operons glnQPH0411/0412 und glnQPH1098/1099, in S. pneumoniae D39 auf Virulenz und Phagozytose untersucht. Die zwei charakterisierten Transportersysteme bestehen jeweils aus der ATPase GlnQ und einem translatorischem Fusionsprotein aus der Permease GlnP und dem Bindungsprotein GlnH. Für die Untersuchungen wurden diese beiden Transporter mittels Insertations-Deletions-Mutagenese inaktiviert. CD-1 Mäuse, die intranasal mit biolumineszierenden D39delgln0411/0412 infiziert wurden, zeigten in Echtzeit eine signifikant erhöhte Überlebenszeit und eine Attenuierung bei der Ausprägung einer Pneumonie im Vergleich zu biolumineszierenden Wildtyp D39 Pneumokokken. Im murinen Sepsismodell mit der D39delgln0411/0412-Mutante zeigte sich eine gemäßigte, aber signifikante Abschwächung der Pathogenese. Im Gegensatz dazu war die D39delgln1098/1099 Mutante sowohl im murinen Pneumonie- wie auch Sepsismodell massiv attenuiert. Es war eine 100- bis 10000- fach höhere Infektionsdosis erforderlich, um mit der D39delgln1098/1099-Mutante eine vergleichbare Pathogenese der Pneumonie oder Sepsis wie beim Wildtypstamm D39 hervorzurufen. Im experimentellen Meningitismodell zeigten sich bei der D39delgln1098/1099-Mutante eine erniedrigte Anzahl an Leukozyten im Liquor und ein reduzierter Bakterientiter im Blut im Vergleich zu D39 und D39delgln0411/0412. Auch die Phagozytose-Experimente bestätigten eine signifikante verminderte Überlebensrate der beiden gln-Mutanten im Vergleich zum Wildtyp S. pneumoniae D39, was auf den Einfluss der bakteriellen Fitness auf den Schutz gegen oxidativen Stress hinweist. Diese Ergebnisse demonstrierten, dass beide Glutamin-Aufnahmesysteme für die vollständige Virulenz der Pneumokokken essentiell sind, aber verschiedene Auswirkungen auf die Pathogenese der Bakterien unter in vivo Bedingungen haben. Das Zelloberflächenprotein PavA der Pneumokokken ist ein Virulenzfaktor, der für invasive Erkrankungen wichtig ist. In dieser Arbeit wurde gezeigt, dass PavA essentiell für die in vivo Besiedlung von Streptococcus pneumoniae D39 in den oberen Atemwegen von Mäusen ist. In dem murinen Pneumoniemodell wurden pavA-Mutanten nicht aus den infizierten Mauslungen eliminiert, sondern persistierten und lösten somit eine chronische Infektion aus, während Wildtyp-Pneumokokken systemische Erkrankungen verursachten. PavA-defiziente Pneumokokken konnten unter experimentellen Bedingungen nicht aus der Lunge in die Blutbahn streuen. Diese Ergebnisse ließen den Schluss zu, dass PavA an der erfolgreichen Kolonisation der Schleimhautoberflächen und an der Translokation der Pneumokokken durch Wirtsbarrieren beteiligt ist.
Pneumokokken haben verschiedene Virulenzfaktoren, die nicht nur den Kolonisierungsprozess unterstützen, sondern auch das Vordringen des Pathogens in tiefere Gewebsschichten ermöglichen oder einen Schutz vor den Komponenten des Immunsystems vermitteln. Diese Virulenzfaktoren stehen im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchungen für die aktuelle Impfstoffentwicklung. Die genomische Analyse verschiedener Streptococcus pneumoniae Stämme identifizierte den Pneumococcal adherence and virulence factor B (PavB) als LPXTG-verankertes Oberflächenprotein. PavB enthält repetitive SSURE-Sequenzen (Streptococcal Surface Repeats), die mit humanem Fibronektin interagieren. Das Molekulargewicht des hochkonservierten Proteins wird von der Anzahl der SSURE-Domänen bestimmt und variiert zwischen den unterschiedlichen Pneumokokkenstämmen. In dieser Arbeit konnte gezeigt werden, dass PavB ein Adhäsin auf der Oberfläche von Pneumokokken darstellt und am Kolonisierungsprozess der Pneumokokken unter in vivo Bedingungen beteiligt ist. Mäuse, die intranasal mit pavB-Deletions-Mutanten infiziert wurden, überlebten signifikant länger als die mit den Wildtypbakterien infizierten Tiere. Der PavB-defiziente Stamm zeigte im Vergleich zum parentalen Wildtyp eine verringerte Kolonisierung des Nasopharynx sowie eine verzögerte Ausbreitung in die Lunge. Dies konnte in Echtzeit unter Verwendung von biolumineszierenden Pneumokokken gezeigt werden. In Koinfektionsexperimenten mit gleichen Infektionsdosen von Wildtyp-Pneumokokken und isogenen pavB-Mutanten war die Mutante in ihrer Fähigkeit, sich in den Organen der oberen und unteren Atemwege auszubreiten, eingeschränkt. Im Gegensatz dazu war die Pathogenese einer Meningitis nach intrazerebraler Injektion der Pneumokokken, sowie die Erkennung und Phagozytose durch phagozytierende Zellen des angeborenen Immunsystems, unabhängig von der Produktion des PavB Proteins. Die Immunogenität des Oberflächenproteins unter relevanten Bedingungen wurde durch den Nachweis von PavB-spezifischen Antikörpern in Patientenseren gezeigt. Auf eine Rolle des Oberflächenproteins PavB während der bakteriellen Adhäsion an eukaryotische Zellen deuteten die Infektionsexperimente mit humanen Epithelzelllinien. Es wurden verschiede His6-getaggte PavB-Derivate (SSURE2, SSURE2+3, SSURE1-5) für die weitere funktionelle Charakterisierung von PavB gereinigt und in Bindungsstudien eingesetzt. Die Funktion von PavB als Adhäsin konnte in Kompetitionsexperimenten unter Verwendung eines PavB-Derivats als Inhibitor bestätigt werden. Ebenso konnte die direkte Bindung des Proteins an eukaryotische Zellen nachgewiesen werden, wobei der eukaryotische Rezeptor noch nicht identifiziert wurde. In Protein-Protein-Interaktionsstudien wurden zusätzlich zu Fibronektin weitere humane Proteine des Plasmas und der extrazellulären Matrix (EZM), die im Laufe einer Infektion mit Pneumokokken einen Vorteil für das bakterielle Überleben im Wirt vermitteln könnten, als Bindungspartner für die drei gereinigten SSURE-Proteine identifiziert. Als neues Fibronektin-Bindungsprotein (FnBP) von S. pneumoniae diente PavB desweiteren für die Bestimmung der Bindungsregion von FnBPs von Pneumokokken im Fibronektinmolekül. Die Verwendung rekombinanter Fibronektinfragmente (His6-FnIII-Fragmente) ermöglichte den Nachweis der Beteiligung der Typ III-Domänen des C-terminalen Bereichs von Plasmafibronektin an der Interaktion zwischen PavB-Derivaten und Fibronektin. Die Bedeutung von Plasmafibronektin (pFn) für die Pathogenese einer Pneumonie wurde in einem induzierbaren knockout-Mausmodell für Plasmafibronektin untersucht. Nach intranasaler Infektion der Mäuse mit S. pneumoniae hatte der Verlust des Plasmaproteins unter den verwendeten Bedingungen keine signifikante Auswirkung auf die Entstehung einer Lungenentzündung oder die Überlebensaussicht der pFn-knockout-Mäuse. Unter in vitro Bedingungen bewirkte die Bindung von pFn an phagozytierende Zellen eine erhöhte Bindung der Pneumokokken an die Phagozyten. Dagegen beeinflusste die Rekrutierung von pFn an die Pneumokokkenoberfläche nicht die Phagozytose. Bisher konnte nicht eindeutig geklärt werden, welche Funktion Fibronektin während der Infektion mit Pneumokokken ausübt. Neben seinen multifunktionellen Bindungseigenschaften stellt das hochkonservierte Protein PavB einen interessanten Bestandteil für ein neues, Protein-basiertes Pneumokokkenvakzin dar.