Characterization of a Helicobacter hepaticus putA Mutant Strain in Host Colonization and Oxidative Stress (original) (raw)

A Helicobacter hepaticus catalase mutant is hypersensitive to oxidative stress and suffers increased DNA damage

Journal of medical microbiology, 2007

Catalase (KatA) is known to play an important role in oxidative stress resistance in many bacterial species and a homologue exists in Helicobacter hepaticus, a member of the enterohepatic Helicobacter species. Here, a katA mutant was constructed by insertional mutagenesis and its oxidative stress phenotype was investigated. Catalase activity was readily detected [196 units (mg protein crude cell extract)(-1)] in the wild-type, whereas the mutant strain was deficient in, but not devoid of, activity. In contrast, Helicobacter pylori katA strains lack detectable catalase activity and wild-type H. pylori generally contains higher specific activity than H. hepaticus. Wild-type H. hepaticus cells tolerated 6 % O2 for growth, whilst the katA mutant could not survive at this oxygen level. Even at the optimal O2 level, the growth of the H. hepaticus katA strain was severely inhibited, which is also in contrast to H. pylori katA strains. Wild-type H. hepaticus cells withstood exposure to 100 ...

L-Serine, D- and L-proline and alanine as respiratory substrates of Helicobacter pylori: correlation between in vitro and in vivo amino acid levels

Microbiology, 2003

Helicobacter pylori whole cells showed high rates of oxygen uptake with L-serine and L-proline as respiratory substrates, and somewhat lower rates with D-alanine and D-proline. These respiratory activities were inhibited by rotenone and antimycin A at low concentrations. Since pyruvate was produced from L-serine and D-and L-alanine in whole cells, the respiratory activities with these amino acids as substrates occurred via pyruvate. Whole cells showed 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCIP)-reducing activities with D-and L-proline and D-alanine as substrates, suggesting that hydrogen removed from these amino acids also participated in oxygen uptake by the whole cells. High amounts of L-proline, D-and L-alanine, and L-serine were present in H. pylori cells, and these amino acids also predominated in samples of human gastric juice. H. pylori seems to utilize D-and L-proline, D-alanine and L-serine as important energy sources in its habitat of the mucous layer of the stomach.

MicroReview The diverse antioxidant systems of Helicobacter pylori

The gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori induces a strong inflammatory host response, yet the bacterium maintains long-term persistence in the host. H. pylori combats oxidative stress via a battery of diverse activities, some of which are unique or newly described. In addition to using the well-studied bacterial oxidative stress resistance enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase, H. pylori depends on a family of peroxiredoxins (alkylhydroperoxide reductase, bacterioferritin co-migratory protein and a thiolperoxidase) that function to detoxify organic peroxides. Newly described antioxidant proteins include a soluble NADPH quinone reductase (MdaB) and an iron sequestering protein (NapA) that has dual roles -host inflammation stimulation and minimizing reactive oxygen species production within H. pylori. An H. pylori arginase attenuates host inflammation, a thioredoxin required as a reductant for many oxidative stress enzymes is also a chaperon, and some novel properties of KatA and AhpC were discovered. To repair oxidative DNA damage, H. pylori uses an endonuclease (Nth), DNA recombination pathways and a newly described type of bacterial MutS2 that specifically recognizes 8-oxoguanine. A methionine sulphoxide reductase (Msr) plays a role in reducing the overall oxidized protein content of the cell, although it specifically targets oxidized Met residues. H. pylori possess few stress regulator proteins, but the key roles of a ferric uptake regulator (Fur) and a post-transcriptional regulator CsrA in antioxidant protein expression are described. The roles of all of these antioxidant systems have been addressed by a targeted mutant analysis approach and almost all are shown to be important in host colonization. The described antioxidant systems in H. pylori are expected to be relevant to many bacterial-associated diseases, as genes for most of the enzymes carrying out the newly described roles are present in a number of pathogenic bacteria.

Oxygen tension regulates reactive oxygen generation and mutation of Helicobacter pylori

Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 2004

Although both bacillary and coccoid forms of Helicobacter pylori reside in human stomach, the pathophysiological significance of the two forms remains obscure. The present work describes the effect of oxygen tension on the transformation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism of this pathogen. Most H. pylori cultured under an optimum O 2 concentration (7%) were the bacillary form, whereas about 80% of cells cultured under aerobic or anaerobic conditions were the coccoid form. The colony-forming unit of H. pylori decreased significantly under both aerobic and anaerobic culture conditions. The bacillary form of H. pylori generated predominantly superoxide radical, whereas the coccoid form generated preferentially hydroxyl radical. Specific activities of cellular respiration, urease, and superoxide dismatase decreased markedly after transformation of the bacillary form to the coccoid form, with concomitant generation of protein carbonyls and 8-hydroxyguanine. The frequency of mutation of cells increased significantly during culture under nonoptimum O 2 conditions. These results indicate that ROS generated by H. pylori catalyze the oxidative modification of cellular DNA, thereby enhancing the transformation from the bacillary to the coccoid form. The enhanced generation of mutagenic hydroxyl radicals in the coccoid form might accelerate mutation and increase the genetic diversity of H. pylori. D

The sodium/proline transporter PutP of Helicobacter pylori

PloS one, 2013

Helicobacter pylori is cause of chronic gastritis, duodenal ulcer and gastric carcinoma in humans. L-proline is a preferred energy source of the microaerophilic bacterium. Previous analyses revealed that HpputP and HpputA, the genes that are predicted to play a central role in proline metabolism as they encode for the proline transporter and proline dehydrogenase, respectively, are essential for stomach colonization. Here, the molecular basis of proline transport in H. pylori by HpPutP was investigated experimentally for the first time. Measuring radiolabeled substrate transport in H. pylori and E. coli heterologously expressing HpputP as well as in proteoliposomes reconstituted with HpPutP, we demonstrate that the observed proline transport in H. pylori is mediated by HpPutP. HpPutP is specific and exhibits a high affinity for L-proline. Notably, L-proline transport is exclusively dependent on Na(+) as coupling ion, i.e., Na(+)/L-proline symport, reminiscent to the properties of Pu...

Pathogen DNA as target for host-generated oxidative stress: Role for repair of bacterial DNA damage in Helicobacter pylori colonization

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2003

Helicobacter pylori elicits an oxidative stress during host colonization. This oxidative stress is known to cause lesions in the host DNA. Here we addressed the question as to whether the pathogen DNA is subject to lethal or mutational damage by the host-generated oxidative response. H. pylori Hpnth mutants unable to repair oxidized pyrimidines from the bacterial DNA were generated. H. pylori strains lacking a functional endonuclease III (HpNth) showed elevated spontaneous and induced mutation rates and were more sensitive than the parental strain to killing by exposure to oxidative agents or activated macrophages. Although under laboratory conditions the Hpnth mutant strain grows as well as the wild-type strain, in a mouse infection the stomach bacterial load gradually decreases while the population in the wild-type strain remains stable, showing that endonuclease III deficiency reduces the colonization capacity of the pathogen. In coinfection experiments with a wild-type strain, Hpnth cells are eradicated 15 days postinfection (p.i.) even when inoculated in a 1:9 wild-type:mutant strain ratio, revealing mutagenic lesions that are counterselected under competition conditions. These results show that the host effectively induces lethal and premutagenic oxidative DNA adducts on the H. pylori genome. The possible consequences of these DNA lesions on the adaptability of H. pylori strains to new hosts are discussed.

Bactericidal peptidoglycan recognition protein induces oxidative stress in Escherichia coli through a block in respiratory chain and increase in central carbon catabolism

Molecular Microbiology

Mammalian Peptidoglycan Recognition Proteins (PGRPs) kill both Gram-positive and Gramnegative bacteria through simultaneous induction of oxidative, thiol, and metal stress responses in bacteria. However, metabolic pathways through which PGRPs induce these bactericidal stress responses are unknown. We screened Keio collection of Escherichia coli deletion mutants and revealed that deleting genes for respiratory chain flavoproteins or for tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle resulted in increased resistance of E. coli to PGRP killing. PGRP-induced killing depended on the production of hydrogen peroxide, which required increased supply of NADH for respiratory chain oxidoreductases from central carbon catabolism (glycolysis and TCA cycle), and was controlled by cAMP-Crp. Bactericidal PGRP induced a rapid decrease in respiration, which suggested that the main source of increased production of hydrogen peroxide was a block in respiratory chain and diversion of electrons from NADH oxidoreductases to oxygen. CpxRA twocomponent system was a negative regulator of PGRP-induced oxidative stress. By contrast, PGRPinduced thiol stress (depletion of thiols) and metal stress (increase in intracellular free Zn 2+ through influx of extracellular Zn 2+) were mostly independent of oxidative stress. Thus, manipulating pathways that induce oxidative, thiol, and metal stress in bacteria could be a useful strategy to design new approaches to antibacterial therapy.

Characterization of the respiratory chain of Helicobacter pylori

FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology, 1999

The respiratory chain of Helicobacter pylori has been investigated. The total insensitivity of activities of NADH dehydrogenase to rotenone and of NADH-cytochrome c reductase to antimycin is indicative of the absence of the classical complex I of the electron transfer chain in this bacterium. NADPH-dependent respiration was significantly stronger than NADH-dependent respiration, indicating that this is a major respiratory electron donor in H. pylori. Fumarate and malonate exhibited a concentration-dependent inhibitory effect on the activity of succinate dehydrogenase. The activity of succinatecytochrome c reductase was inhibited by antimycin, implying the presence of a classical pathway from complex II to complex III in this bacterium. The presence of NADH-fumarate reductase (FRD) was demonstrated in H. pylori and fumarate could reduce H 2 O 2 production from NADH, indicating fumarate to be an endogenous substrate for accepting electrons from NADH. The activity of NADH-FRD was inhibited by 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone. A tentative scheme for the electron transfer pathway in H. pylori is proposed, which may be helpful in clarifying the pathogenesis of H. pylori and in opening new lines for chemotherapy against this bacterium. ß

Acid stress response in Helicobacter pylori

Fems Microbiology Letters, 2002

To determine the existence of an acid stress response in Helicobacter pylori the global changes in the proteins synthesized by the bacterium when subjected to an acid stress were studied. H. pylori ATCC43504 previously adapted to pH 7 did not show an acid stress response as detected by the two-dimensional electrophoretic pattern of 35 S-labeled proteins when incubated at pH 3. This was probably due to the neutralization of the external medium by the action of urease. However, H. pylori DW504UreI-negative, a mutant strain unable to transport urea into the cell, showed a large number of proteins changed, as is typical in an acid stress response. Some of these proteins were identified by N-terminal sequencing. ß : S 0 3 7 8 -1 0 9 7 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 7 8 9 -9