Revilla-Guarinos Ainhoa, Dürr Franziska, Popp Philipp F, Döring Maximilian, Mascher Thorsten
Department of General Microbiology, Institut für Mikrobiologie, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Front Microbiol. 2020 Aug 21;11:2022. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.02022. eCollection 2020.
The rise of drug-resistant fungal pathogens urges for the development of new tools for the discovery of novel antifungal compounds. Polyene antibiotics are potent agents against fungal infections in humans and animals. They inhibit the growth of fungal cells by binding to sterols in the cytoplasmic membrane that subsequently causes pore formation and eventually results in cell death. Many polyenes are produced by Streptomycetes and released into the soil environment, where they can then target fungal hyphae. While not antibacterial, these compounds could nevertheless be also perceived by bacteria sharing the same habitat and serve as signaling molecules. We therefore addressed the question of how polyenes such as amphotericin B are perceived by the soil bacterium, . Global transcriptional profiling identified a very narrow and specific response, primarily resulting in strong upregulation of the operon, encoding an ABC transporter previously associated with linearmycin resistance. Its strong and specific induction prompted a detailed analysis of the promoter element and its regulation. We demonstrate that the amphotericin response strictly depends on the two-component system LnrJK and that the target of LnrK-dependent gene regulation, the , negatively affects LnrJK-dependent signal transduction. Based on this knowledge, we developed a novel whole-cell biosensor, based on a P - fusion reporter construct in a deletion mutant background. This highly sensitive and dynamic biosensor is ready to be applied for the discovery or characterization of novel amphotericin-like polyenes, hopefully helping to increase the repertoire of antimycotic and antiparasitic polyenes available to treat human and animal infections.
耐药真菌病原体的出现促使人们开发新工具来发现新型抗真菌化合物。多烯抗生素是治疗人和动物真菌感染的有效药物。它们通过与细胞质膜中的甾醇结合来抑制真菌细胞的生长,随后导致孔形成并最终导致细胞死亡。许多多烯由链霉菌产生并释放到土壤环境中,在那里它们可以靶向真菌菌丝。虽然这些化合物没有抗菌作用,但与它们共享同一栖息地的细菌也可以感知到它们,并将其用作信号分子。因此,我们研究了诸如两性霉素B之类的多烯是如何被土壤细菌感知的问题。全局转录谱分析确定了一种非常狭窄且特异的反应,主要导致编码先前与线性霉素抗性相关的ABC转运蛋白的操纵子强烈上调。其强烈而特异的诱导促使对该操纵子的启动子元件及其调控进行详细分析。我们证明,两性霉素反应严格依赖于双组分系统LnrJK,并且LnrK依赖性基因调控的靶标——该操纵子,对LnrJK依赖性信号转导产生负面影响。基于这一认识,我们开发了一种新型全细胞生物传感器,它基于在一个缺失突变体背景下的P - 融合报告构建体。这种高度灵敏且动态的生物传感器已准备好用于发现或表征新型两性霉素样多烯,有望有助于增加可用于治疗人和动物感染的抗真菌和抗寄生虫多烯的种类。