School of Life Sciences, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 102488, China.
School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 102488, China.
Arch Microbiol. 2022 Jan 8;204(2):126. doi: 10.1007/s00203-021-02617-8.
The mechanism of berberine hydrochloride (BBH) inhibiting the biofilm formation of Hafnia alvei was investigated in this study. The antibiofilm potential of BBH was evaluated by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as crystal violet staining. The quorum-sensing (QS) inhibition was revealed by determination of QS-related genes expression and related signal molecules production using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The binding of BBH to receptor proteins was simulated by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. It was found that BBH at sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) significantly reduced the biofilm formation of H. alvei in a dose dependent manner. BBH inhibited the bacterial swimming motility, decreased the transcription of halI and halR genes, and reduced the production of signal molecule C14-HSL. It bound to HalR protein mainly through Van der Waals force and electrostatic interaction force. Based on these results, it was concluded that BBH inhibits the biofilm formation of H. alvei and the mechanism is related to its interference with QS through down-regulating the expression of halI and halR genes.
本研究旨在探讨盐酸小檗碱（BBH）抑制蜂房哈夫尼亚菌生物膜形成的机制。通过共聚焦激光扫描显微镜（CLSM）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）以及结晶紫染色评估 BBH 的抗生物膜潜力。通过实时定量 PCR（RT-qPCR）和高效液相色谱（HPLC）测定 QS 相关基因表达和相关信号分子的产生来揭示群体感应（QS）抑制作用。通过分子对接和分子动力学模拟模拟 BBH 与受体蛋白的结合。结果表明，BBH 在亚最小抑菌浓度（sub-MIC）下显著降低了蜂房哈夫尼亚菌生物膜的形成，呈剂量依赖性。BBH 抑制了细菌的泳动性，降低了 halI 和 halR 基因的转录，并减少了信号分子 C14-HSL 的产生。它主要通过范德华力和静电力与 HalR 蛋白结合。基于这些结果，可以得出结论，BBH 通过下调 halI 和 halR 基因的表达来抑制蜂房哈夫尼亚菌生物膜的形成，其机制与 QS 有关。
