Afonina Irina, Tien Brenda, Nair Zeus, Matysik Artur, Lam Ling Ning, Veleba Mark, Jie Augustine Koh Jing, Rashid Rafi, Cazenave-Gassiot Amaury, Wenk Marcus, Wai Sun Nyunt, Kline Kimberly A
Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Science Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, 637551, Singapore.
School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, 637551, Singapore.
Microlife. 2021 Apr 12;2:uqab002. doi: 10.1093/femsml/uqab002. eCollection 2021.
Membrane vesicles (MVs) contribute to various biological processes in bacteria, including virulence factor delivery, antimicrobial resistance, host immune evasion and cross-species communication. MVs are frequently released from the surface of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria during growth. In some Gram-positive bacteria, genes affecting MV biogenesis have been identified, but the mechanism of MV formation is unknown. In , a causative agent of life-threatening bacteraemia and endocarditis, neither mechanisms of MV formation nor their role in virulence has been examined. Since MVs of many bacterial species are implicated in host-pathogen interactions, biofilm formation, horizontal gene transfer, and virulence factor secretion in other species, we sought to identify, describe and functionally characterize MVs from . Here, we show that releases MVs that possess unique lipid and protein profiles, distinct from the intact cell membrane and are enriched in lipoproteins. MVs of are specifically enriched in unsaturated lipids that might provide membrane flexibility to enable MV formation, providing the first insights into the mechanism of MV formation in this Gram-positive organism.
膜泡(MVs)在细菌的各种生物学过程中发挥作用,包括毒力因子传递、抗菌耐药性、宿主免疫逃避和跨物种通讯。在生长过程中,MVs经常从革兰氏阴性菌和革兰氏阳性菌的表面释放出来。在一些革兰氏阳性菌中,已经鉴定出影响MV生物合成的基因,但MV形成的机制尚不清楚。在引起危及生命的菌血症和心内膜炎的病原体中,MV形成的机制及其在毒力中的作用均未得到研究。由于许多细菌种类的MVs与宿主-病原体相互作用、生物膜形成、水平基因转移以及其他物种中的毒力因子分泌有关,我们试图鉴定、描述并对来自该病原体的MVs进行功能表征。在此,我们表明该病原体释放的MVs具有独特的脂质和蛋白质谱,与完整细胞膜不同,且富含脂蛋白。该病原体的MVs特别富含不饱和脂质,这可能为膜提供灵活性以促成MV形成,首次揭示了这种革兰氏阳性菌中MV形成的机制。