Cuong Vuong | Varna Free University (original) (raw)
Address: Hanoi, Ha Noi, Vietnam
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Papers by Cuong Vuong
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2000
Infection and Immunity, 2000
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2000
Biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus is a serious problem in nosocomial infections. There a... more Biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus is a serious problem in nosocomial infections. There are great differences in the capacity of S. aureus to express biofilms, but the reasons are unknown. In all, 105 S. aureus strains were tested for a correlation between the agr quorum-sensing system phenotype and the ability of S. aureus to adhere to polystyrene. Some 78% of agr-negative, but only 6% of agr-positive, strains formed a biofilm, demonstrating a profound impact of agr on biofilm formation. This result was confirmed with defined agr mutants and by inhibition of agr with quorum-sensing blockers. The observed effect was not due to differential expression of the autolysin Atl or of the exopolysaccharide polysaccharide intercellular adhesin but seemed to be caused, at least in part, by the surfactant properties of delta-toxin. The detected biofilm-enhancing effect of S. aureus quorum-sensing blockers call into question the proposed therapeutic use of such substances.
Journal of Bacteriology, 2005
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2010
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2009
Infection and Immunity, 2001
Infection and Immunity, 2006
Febs Letters, 1999
The agr quorum-sensing system in Staphylococci controls the production of surface proteins and ex... more The agr quorum-sensing system in Staphylococci controls the production of surface proteins and exoproteins. In the pathogenic species Staphylococcus aureus, these proteins include many virulence factors. The extracellular signal of the quorum-sensing system is a thiolactone-containing peptide pheromone, whose sequence varies among the different staphylococcal strains. We demonstrate that a synthetic Staphylococcus epidermidis pheromone is a competent inhibitor of the Staphylococcus aureus agr system. Derivatives of the pheromone, in which the N-terminus or the cyclic bond structure was changed, were synthesized and their biological activity was determined. The presence of a correct N-terminus and a thiolactone were absolute prerequisites for an agr-activating effect in S. epidermidis, whereas inhibition of the S. aureus agr system was less dependent on the original structure. Our results show that effective quorum-sensing blockers that suppress the expression of virulence factors in S. aureus can be designed based on the S. epidermidis pheromone.
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2003
Microbes and Infection, 2002
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2008
Cellular Microbiology, 2004
Phenol-soluble modulin (PSM) is a peptide complex produced by the nosocomial pathogen Staphylococ... more Phenol-soluble modulin (PSM) is a peptide complex produced by the nosocomial pathogen Staphylococcus epidermidis that has a strong capacity to activate the human innate immune response. We developed a novel method based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to quantify the production of the individual PSM components. Each PSM peptide was abundant in most of the 76 S epidermidis strains tested. Importantly, none of the PSM components were secreted by an agr mutant strain, indicating that PSM synthesis is regulated strictly by the agr quorum-sensing system. Furthermore, the agr mutant strain failed to elicit production of TNFα by human myeloid cells and induced significantly less neutrophil chemotaxis compared with the wild-type strain. Thus, quorum-sensing in S. epidermidis dramatically influenced activation of human host defence. We propose that an agr quorum-sensing mechanism facilitates growth and survival in infected hosts by adapting production of the pro-inflammatory PSMs to the stage of infection.
Archives of Microbiology, 2000
AgrB has been suggested to be responsible for the posttranslational modification in staphylococci... more AgrB has been suggested to be responsible for the posttranslational modification in staphylococci that leads to the production of the thiolactone-containing agr peptide pheromone. We demonstrate that AgrB is located in the cytoplasmic membrane. Vectors were constructed for the xylose-inducible overexpression of agrB, and of agrB and agrD together. A Staphylococcus epidermidis strain deleted for agr and containing these vectors was assayed for AgrB protein and pheromone production. The lack of adequate pheromone production suggests the involvement of additional factors in the production of the agr pheromone.
Infection and Immunity, 2005
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2006
Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2005
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2008
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2000
Infection and Immunity, 2000
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2000
Biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus is a serious problem in nosocomial infections. There a... more Biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus is a serious problem in nosocomial infections. There are great differences in the capacity of S. aureus to express biofilms, but the reasons are unknown. In all, 105 S. aureus strains were tested for a correlation between the agr quorum-sensing system phenotype and the ability of S. aureus to adhere to polystyrene. Some 78% of agr-negative, but only 6% of agr-positive, strains formed a biofilm, demonstrating a profound impact of agr on biofilm formation. This result was confirmed with defined agr mutants and by inhibition of agr with quorum-sensing blockers. The observed effect was not due to differential expression of the autolysin Atl or of the exopolysaccharide polysaccharide intercellular adhesin but seemed to be caused, at least in part, by the surfactant properties of delta-toxin. The detected biofilm-enhancing effect of S. aureus quorum-sensing blockers call into question the proposed therapeutic use of such substances.
Journal of Bacteriology, 2005
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2010
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2009
Infection and Immunity, 2001
Infection and Immunity, 2006
Febs Letters, 1999
The agr quorum-sensing system in Staphylococci controls the production of surface proteins and ex... more The agr quorum-sensing system in Staphylococci controls the production of surface proteins and exoproteins. In the pathogenic species Staphylococcus aureus, these proteins include many virulence factors. The extracellular signal of the quorum-sensing system is a thiolactone-containing peptide pheromone, whose sequence varies among the different staphylococcal strains. We demonstrate that a synthetic Staphylococcus epidermidis pheromone is a competent inhibitor of the Staphylococcus aureus agr system. Derivatives of the pheromone, in which the N-terminus or the cyclic bond structure was changed, were synthesized and their biological activity was determined. The presence of a correct N-terminus and a thiolactone were absolute prerequisites for an agr-activating effect in S. epidermidis, whereas inhibition of the S. aureus agr system was less dependent on the original structure. Our results show that effective quorum-sensing blockers that suppress the expression of virulence factors in S. aureus can be designed based on the S. epidermidis pheromone.
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2003
Microbes and Infection, 2002
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2008
Cellular Microbiology, 2004
Phenol-soluble modulin (PSM) is a peptide complex produced by the nosocomial pathogen Staphylococ... more Phenol-soluble modulin (PSM) is a peptide complex produced by the nosocomial pathogen Staphylococcus epidermidis that has a strong capacity to activate the human innate immune response. We developed a novel method based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to quantify the production of the individual PSM components. Each PSM peptide was abundant in most of the 76 S epidermidis strains tested. Importantly, none of the PSM components were secreted by an agr mutant strain, indicating that PSM synthesis is regulated strictly by the agr quorum-sensing system. Furthermore, the agr mutant strain failed to elicit production of TNFα by human myeloid cells and induced significantly less neutrophil chemotaxis compared with the wild-type strain. Thus, quorum-sensing in S. epidermidis dramatically influenced activation of human host defence. We propose that an agr quorum-sensing mechanism facilitates growth and survival in infected hosts by adapting production of the pro-inflammatory PSMs to the stage of infection.
Archives of Microbiology, 2000
AgrB has been suggested to be responsible for the posttranslational modification in staphylococci... more AgrB has been suggested to be responsible for the posttranslational modification in staphylococci that leads to the production of the thiolactone-containing agr peptide pheromone. We demonstrate that AgrB is located in the cytoplasmic membrane. Vectors were constructed for the xylose-inducible overexpression of agrB, and of agrB and agrD together. A Staphylococcus epidermidis strain deleted for agr and containing these vectors was assayed for AgrB protein and pheromone production. The lack of adequate pheromone production suggests the involvement of additional factors in the production of the agr pheromone.
Infection and Immunity, 2005
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2006
Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2005
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2008