Phenol-Soluble Modulins Modulate Persister Cell Formation in Staphylococcus aureus

Frontiers in Microbiology

Martin S. Bojer¹  Mara Baldry¹  Martin Vestergaard¹  Hanne Ingmer¹  Rikke Louise Meyer²  Daniel Erik Otzen²  Zahra Najarzadeh² 

[1] Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark;Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark;

关键词: phenol-soluble modulins;    persister cells;    biofilm;    fibrils;    accessory gene regulator;    Staphylococcus aureus;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmicb.2020.573253

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Staphylococcus aureus is a human pathogen that can cause chronic and recurrent infections and is recalcitrant to antibiotic chemotherapy. This trait is partly attributed to its ability to form persister cells, which are subpopulations of cells that are tolerant to lethal concentrations of antibiotics. Recently, we showed that the phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) expressed by S. aureus reduce persister cell formation. PSMs are a versatile group of toxins that, in addition to toxicity, form amyloid-like fibrils thought to support biofilm structures. Here, we examined individual or combined synthetic PSMα peptides and their equivalent amyloid-like fibrils on ciprofloxacin-selected S. aureus persister cells. We found that PSMα2 and the mixture of all four alpha peptides consistently were able to reduce persister frequency in all growth phases, and this activity was specifically linked to the presence of the soluble peptide as no effect was seen with fibrillated peptides. Persister reduction was particularly striking in a mutant that, due to mutations in the Krebs cycle, has enhanced ability to form persisters with PSMα4 and the combination of peptides being most effective. In biofilms, only the combination of peptides displayed persister reducing activity. Collectively, we report the individual contributions of PSMα peptides to persister cell reduction and that the combination of peptides generally was most effective. Strikingly, the fibrillated peptides lost activity and thus, if formed in bacterial cultures, they will be inactive against persister cells. Further studies will be needed to address the biological role of phenol-soluble modulins in reducing persister cells.

【 授权许可】

Unknown