Benjamin J. Koestler

STING-Dependent Recognition of Cyclic di-AMP Mediates Type I Interferon Responses during Chlamydia trachomatis Infection

ABSTRACT STING (stimulator of interferon [IFN] genes) initiates type I IFN responses in mammalian cells through the detection of microbial nucleic acids. The membrane-bound obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis induces a STING-dependent type I IFN response in infected cells, yet the IFN-inducing ligand remains unknown. In this report, we provide evidence that Chlamydia synthesizes cyclic di-AMP (c-di-AMP), a nucleic acid metabolite not previously identified in Gram-negative bacteria, and that this metabolite is a prominent ligand for STING-mediated activation of IFN responses during infection. We used primary mouse lung fibroblasts and HEK293T cells to compare IFN-β responses to Chlamydia infection, c-di-AMP, and other type I IFN-inducing stimuli. Chlamydia infection and c-di-AMP treatment induced type I IFN responses in cells expressing STING but not in cells expressing STING variants that cannot sense cyclic dinucleotides but still respond to cytoplasmic DNA. The failure to induce a type I IFN response to Chlamydia and c-di-AMP correlated with the inability of STING to relocalize from the endoplasmic reticulum to cytoplasmic punctate signaling complexes required for IFN activation. We conclude that Chlamydia induces STING-mediated IFN responses through the detection of c-di-AMP in the host cell cytosol and propose that c-di-AMP is the ligand predominantly responsible for inducing such a response in Chlamydia-infected cells. IMPORTANCE This study shows that the Gram-negative obligate pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis, a major cause of pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility, synthesizes cyclic di-AMP (c-di-AMP), a nucleic acid metabolite that thus far has been described only in Gram-positive bacteria. We further provide evidence that the host cell employs an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized cytoplasmic sensor, STING (stimulator of interferon [IFN] genes), to detect c-di-AMP synthesized by Chlamydia and induce a protective IFN response. This detection occurs even though Chlamydia is confined to a membrane-bound vacuole. This raises the possibility that the ER, an organelle that innervates the entire cytoplasm, is equipped with pattern recognition receptors that can directly survey membrane-bound pathogen-containing vacuoles for leaking microbe-specific metabolites to mount type I IFN responses required to control microbial infections. This study shows that the Gram-negative obligate pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis, a major cause of pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility, synthesizes cyclic di-AMP (c-di-AMP), a nucleic acid metabolite that thus far has been described only in Gram-positive bacteria. We further provide evidence that the host cell employs an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized cytoplasmic sensor, STING (stimulator of interferon [IFN] genes), to detect c-di-AMP synthesized by Chlamydia and induce a protective IFN response. This detection occurs even though Chlamydia is confined to a membrane-bound vacuole. This raises the possibility that the ER, an organelle that innervates the entire cytoplasm, is equipped with pattern recognition receptors that can directly survey membrane-bound pathogen-containing vacuoles for leaking microbe-specific metabolites to mount type I IFN responses required to control microbial infections.

Quantification of high-specificity cyclic diguanylate signaling

Cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) is a second messenger molecule that regulates the transition between sessile and motile lifestyles in bacteria. Bacteria often encode multiple diguanylate cyclase (DGC) and phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzymes that produce and degrade c-di-GMP, respectively. Because of multiple inputs into the c-di-GMP–signaling network, it is unclear whether this system functions via high or low specificity. High-specificity signaling is characterized by individual DGCs or PDEs that are specifically associated with downstream c-di-GMP–mediated responses. In contrast, low-specificity signaling is characterized by DGCs or PDEs that modulate a general signal pool, which, in turn, controls a global c-di-GMP–mediated response. To determine whether c-di-GMP functions via high or low specificity in Vibrio cholerae, we correlated the in vivo c-di-GMP concentration generated by seven DGCs, each expressed at eight different levels, to the c-di-GMP–mediated induction of biofilm formation and transcription. There was no correlation between total intracellular c-di-GMP levels and biofilm formation or gene expression when considering all states. However, individual DGCs showed a significant correlation between c-di-GMP production and c-di-GMP–mediated responses. Moreover, the rate of phenotypic change versus c-di-GMP concentration was significantly different between DGCs, suggesting that bacteria can optimize phenotypic output to c-di-GMP levels via expression or activation of specific DGCs. Our results conclusively demonstrate that c-di-GMP does not function via a simple, low-specificity signaling pathway in V. cholerae.

Two DHH Subfamily 1 Proteins in Streptococcus pneumoniae Possess Cyclic Di-AMP Phosphodiesterase Activity and Affect Bacterial Growth and Virulence

Cyclic di-AMP (c-di-AMP) and cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) are signaling molecules that play important roles in bacterial biology and pathogenesis. However, these nucleotides have not been explored in Streptococcus pneumoniae, an important bacterial pathogen. In this study, we characterized the c-di-AMP-associated genes of S. pneumoniae. The results showed that SPD_1392 (DacA) is a diadenylate cyclase that converts ATP to c-di-AMP. Both SPD_2032 (Pde1) and SPD_1153 (Pde2), which belong to the DHH subfamily 1 proteins, displayed c-di-AMP phosphodiesterase activity. Pde1 cleaved c-di-AMP into phosphoadenylyl adenosine (pApA), whereas Pde2 directly hydrolyzed c-di-AMP into AMP. Additionally, Pde2, but not Pde1, degraded pApA into AMP. Our results also demonstrated that both Pde1 and Pde2 played roles in bacterial growth, resistance to UV treatment, and virulence in a mouse pneumonia model. These results indicate that c-di-AMP homeostasis is essential for pneumococcal biology and disease.

Genetic analysis of agrobacterium tumefaciens unipolar polysaccharide production reveals complex integrated control of the motile-to-sessile switch

Many bacteria colonize surfaces and transition to a sessile mode of growth. The plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens produces a unipolar polysaccharide (UPP) adhesin at single cell poles that contact surfaces. Here we report that elevated levels of the intracellular signal cyclic diguanosine monophosphate (c‐di‐GMP) lead to surface‐contact‐independent UPP production and a red colony phenotype due to production of UPP and the exopolysaccharide cellulose, when A. tumefaciens is incubated with the polysaccharide stain Congo Red. Transposon mutations with elevated Congo Red staining identified presumptive UPP‐negative regulators, mutants for which were hyperadherent, producing UPP irrespective of surface contact. Multiple independent mutations were obtained in visN and visR, activators of flagellar motility in A. tumefaciens, now found to inhibit UPP and cellulose production. Expression analysis in a visR mutant and isolation of suppressor mutations, identified three diguanylate cyclases inhibited by VisR. Null mutations for two of these genes decrease attachment and UPP production, but do not alter cellular c‐di‐GMP levels. However, analysis of catalytic site mutants revealed their GGDEF motifs are required to increase UPP production and surface attachment. Mutations in a specific presumptive c‐di‐GMP phosphodiesterase also elevate UPP production and attachment, consistent with c‐di‐GMP activation of surface‐dependent adhesin deployment.

Identification of small molecules inhibiting diguanylate cyclases to control bacterial biofilm development.

Biofilm formation by pathogenic bacteria is an important virulence factor in the development of numerous chronic infections, thereby causing a severe health burden. Many of these infections cannot be resolved, as bacteria in biofilms are resistant to the host’s immune defenses and antibiotic therapy. An urgent need for new strategies to treat biofilm-based infections is critically needed. Cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) is a widely conserved second-messenger signal essential for biofilm formation. The absence of this signalling system in higher eukaryotes makes it an attractive target for the development of new anti-biofilm agents. In this study, the results of an in silico pharmacophore-based screen to identify small-molecule inhibitors of diguanylate cyclase (DGC) enzymes that synthesize c-di-GMP are described. Four small molecules, LP 3134, LP 3145, LP 4010 and LP 1062 that antagonize these enzymes and inhibit biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii in a continuous-flow system are reported. All four molecules dispersed P. aeruginosa biofilms and inhibited biofilm development on urinary catheters. One molecule dispersed A. baumannii biofilms. Two molecules displayed no toxic effects on eukaryotic cells. These molecules represent the first compounds identified from an in silico screen that are able to inhibit DGC activity to prevent biofilm formation.

Hfq‐dependent, co‐ordinate control of cyclic diguanylate synthesis and catabolism in the plague pathogen Yersinia pestis

Yersinia pestis, the cause of the disease plague, forms biofilms to enhance flea‐to‐mammal transmission. Biofilm formation is dependent on exopolysaccharide synthesis and is controlled by the intracellular levels of the second messenger molecule cyclic diguanylate (c‐di‐GMP), but the mechanisms by which Y. pestis regulates c‐di‐GMP synthesis and turnover are not fully understood. Here we show that the small RNA chaperone Hfq contributes to the regulation of c‐di‐GMP levels and biofilm formation by modulating the abundance of both the c‐di‐GMP phosphodiesterase HmsP and the diguanylate cyclase HmsT. To do so, Hfq co‐ordinately promotes hmsP mRNA accumulation while simultaneously decreasing the stability of the hmsT transcript. Hfq‐dependent regulation of HmsP occurs at the transcriptional level while the regulation of HmsT is post‐transcriptional and is localized to the 5′ untranslated region/proximal coding sequence of the hmsT transcript. Decoupling HmsP from Hfq‐based regulation is sufficient to overcome the effects of Δhfq on c‐di‐GMP and biofilm formation. We propose that Y. pestis utilizes Hfq to link c‐di‐GMP levels to environmental conditions and that the disregulation of c‐di‐GMP turnover in the absence of Hfq may contribute to the severe attenuation of Y. pestis lacking this RNA chaperone in animal models of plague.

Bile Acids and Bicarbonate Inversely Regulate Intracellular Cyclic di-GMP in Vibrio cholerae

ABSTRACT Vibrio cholerae is a Gram-negative bacterium that persists in aquatic reservoirs and causes the diarrheal disease cholera upon entry into a human host. V. cholerae employs the second messenger molecule 3′,5′-cyclic diguanylic acid (c-di-GMP) to transition between these two distinct lifestyles. c-di-GMP is synthesized by diguanylate cyclase (DGC) enzymes and hydrolyzed by phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzymes. Bacteria typically encode many different DGCs and PDEs within their genomes. Presumably, each enzyme senses and responds to cognate environmental cues by alteration of enzymatic activity. c-di-GMP represses the expression of virulence factors in V. cholerae, and it is predicted that the intracellular concentration of c-di-GMP is low during infection. Contrary to this model, we found that bile acids, a prevalent constituent of the human proximal small intestine, increase intracellular c-di-GMP in V. cholerae. We identified four c-di-GMP turnover enzymes that contribute to increased intracellular c-di-GMP in the presence of bile acids, and deletion of these enzymes eliminates the bile induction of c-di-GMP and biofilm formation. Furthermore, this bile-mediated increase in c-di-GMP is quenched by bicarbonate, the intestinal pH buffer secreted by intestinal epithelial cells. Our results lead us to propose that V. cholerae senses distinct microenvironments within the small intestine using bile and bicarbonate as chemical cues and responds by modulating the intracellular concentration of c-di-GMP.

Post‐transcriptional activation of a diguanylate cyclase by quorum sensing small RNAs promotes biofilm formation in Vibrio cholerae

Biofilms promote attachment of Vibrio cholerae in aquatic ecosystems and aid in transmission. Intracellular c‐di‐GMP levels that control biofilm development positively correlate with expression of Qrr sRNAs, which are transcribed when quorum sensing (QS) autoinducer levels are low. The Qrr sRNAs base‐pair with and repress translation of hapR encoding the QS ‘master regulator’, hence increased c‐di‐GMP and biofilm development at low density were believed to be solely a consequence of Qrr/hapR pairing. We show that Qrr sRNAs also base‐pair with and activate translation of the mRNA of a diguanylate cyclase (DGC), Vca0939; relieving an inhibitory structure in vca0939 that occludes the ribosome binding site. A nucleotide substitution in vca0939 disrupted sRNA/mRNA base‐pairing and prevented vca0939 translation, while a compensating Qrr sRNA substitution restored pairing and Vca0939 levels. Qrr‐dependent DGC activation led to c‐di‐GMP accumulation and biofilm development in V. cholerae. This represents the first description of (1) a DGC post‐transcriptionally activated by direct pairing with an Hfq‐dependent sRNA, and (2) control of a V. cholerae QS phenotype, independent of HapR. Thus, direct interactions of the same sRNAs with two mRNAs promote c‐di‐GMP‐dependent biofilm formation by complementary mechanisms in V. cholerae; by negatively regulating HapR, and positively regulating the DGC Vca0939.

A Pterin-Dependent Signaling Pathway Regulates a Dual-Function Diguanylate Cyclase-Phosphodiesterase Controlling Surface Attachment in Agrobacterium tumefaciens

ABSTRACT The motile-to-sessile transition is an important lifestyle switch in diverse bacteria and is often regulated by the intracellular second messenger cyclic diguanylate monophosphate (c-di-GMP). In general, high c-di-GMP concentrations promote attachment to surfaces, whereas cells with low levels of signal remain motile. In the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens, c-di-GMP controls attachment and biofilm formation via regulation of a unipolar polysaccharide (UPP) adhesin. The levels of c-di-GMP in A. tumefaciens are controlled in part by the dual-function diguanylate cyclase-phosphodiesterase (DGC-PDE) protein DcpA. In this study, we report that DcpA possesses both c-di-GMP synthesizing and degrading activities in heterologous and native genetic backgrounds, a binary capability that is unusual among GGDEF-EAL domain-containing proteins. DcpA activity is modulated by a pteridine reductase called PruA, with DcpA acting as a PDE in the presence of PruA and a DGC in its absence. PruA enzymatic activity is required for the control of DcpA and through this control, attachment and biofilm formation. Intracellular pterin analysis demonstrates that PruA is responsible for the production of a novel pterin species. In addition, the control of DcpA activity also requires PruR, a protein encoded directly upstream of DcpA with a predicted molybdopterin-binding domain. PruR is hypothesized to be a potential signaling intermediate between PruA and DcpA through an as-yet-unidentified mechanism. This study provides the first prokaryotic example of a pterin-mediated signaling pathway and a new model for the regulation of dual-function DGC-PDE proteins. IMPORTANCE Pathogenic bacteria often attach to surfaces and form multicellular communities called biofilms. Biofilms are inherently resilient and can be difficult to treat, resisting common antimicrobials. Understanding how bacterial cells transition to the biofilm lifestyle is essential in developing new therapeutic strategies. We have characterized a novel signaling pathway that plays a dominant role in the regulation of biofilm formation in the model pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens. This control pathway involves small metabolites called pterins, well studied in eukaryotes, but this is the first example of pterin-dependent signaling in bacteria. The described pathway controls levels of an important intracellular second messenger (cyclic diguanylate monophosphate) that regulates key bacterial processes such as biofilm formation, motility, and virulence. Pterins control the balance of activity for an enzyme that both synthesizes and degrades the second messenger. These findings reveal a complex, multistep pathway that modulates this enzyme, possibly identifying new targets for antibacterial intervention. Pathogenic bacteria often attach to surfaces and form multicellular communities called biofilms. Biofilms are inherently resilient and can be difficult to treat, resisting common antimicrobials. Understanding how bacterial cells transition to the biofilm lifestyle is essential in developing new therapeutic strategies. We have characterized a novel signaling pathway that plays a dominant role in the regulation of biofilm formation in the model pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens. This control pathway involves small metabolites called pterins, well studied in eukaryotes, but this is the first example of pterin-dependent signaling in bacteria. The described pathway controls levels of an important intracellular second messenger (cyclic diguanylate monophosphate) that regulates key bacterial processes such as biofilm formation, motility, and virulence. Pterins control the balance of activity for an enzyme that both synthesizes and degrades the second messenger. These findings reveal a complex, multistep pathway that modulates this enzyme, possibly identifying new targets for antibacterial intervention.

The Vibrio cholerae diguanylate cyclase VCA0965 has an AGDEF active site and synthesizes cyclic di-GMP

BackgroundDiguanylate cyclases (DGCs) regulate biofilm formation and motility in bacteria by synthesizing the second messenger cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) in response to environmental stimuli. DGC enzymatic activity is believed to be dependent on the presence of a GG(D/E)EF active site motif, however approximately 25% of known DGCs contain a degenerate active site. The Vibrio cholerae protein VCA0965 contains an AGDEF active site and is presumed to be an inactive DGC.ResultsEctopic expression of VCA0965 in V. cholerae causes a 3-fold reduction in flagellar-based motility. Additionally, an RXXD allosteric inhibition mutant of VCA0965 strongly inhibited motility and stimulated biofilm formation. This activity was lost when the active site of VCA0965 was mutated to AGDAF, suggesting that VCA0965 synthesizes c-di-GMP. In support of this, ectopic expression of VCA0965 and VCA0965 containing a mutation in its RXXD motif significantly increased the intracellular c-di-GMP levels in V. cholerae and Escherichia coli. Furthermore, we found that purified VCA0965 was able to synthesize c-di-GMP in vitro. Systematic mutation of the first amino acid in the AGDEF motif of VCA0965 revealed that glycine, methionine, and histidine also produced an active DGC capable of inhibiting motility and increasing the intracellular concentration of c-di-GMP in V. cholerae.ConclusionsBased on these results, we conclude that VCA0965 is capable of c-di-GMP synthesis and that the first amino acid of the GG(D/E)EF motif is more tolerant of substitutions than currently appreciated.