Randall T. Irvin

The binding of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pili to glycosphingolipids is a tip-associated event involving the C-terminal region of the structural pilin subunit

Pili are one of the adhesins of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that mediate adherence to epithelial cell‐surface receptors. The pili of P. aeruginosa strains PAK and PAO were examined and found to bind gangliotetraosyl ceramide (asialo‐GM1) and, to a lesser extend, ll3N‐acetylneuraminosylgangliotetraosyl ceramide (GM1) in solid‐phase binding assays. Asialo‐GM1, but not GM1, inhibited both PAK and PAK pili binding to immobilized asialo‐GM1 on the microtitre plate. PAO pili competitively inhibited PAK pili binding to asialo‐GM1, suggesting the presence of a structurally similar receptor‐binding domain in both pilus types. The interaction between asialo‐GM1 and pili occurs at the pilus tip as asialo‐GM1 coated colloidal gold only decorates the tip of purified pili. Three sets of evidence suggest that the C‐terminal disulphide‐bonded region of the Pseudomonas pilin is exposed at the tip of the pilus: (i) immunocytochemical studies indicate that P. aeruginosa pili have a basal‐tip structural differentiation where the monoclonal antibody (mAb) PK3B recognizes an antigenic epitope displayed only on the basal ends of pili (produced by shearing) while the mAb PK99H, whose antigenic epitope resides in residues 134–140 (Wong et al., 1992), binds only to the tip of PAK pili; (ii) synthetic peptides, PAK(128–144)ox‐OH and PAO(128–144)ox‐OH, which correspond to the C‐terminal disulphide‐bonded region of Pseudomonas pilin are able to bind to asialo‐GM1 and inhibit the binding of pili to the glycolipid; (iii) PK99H was shown to block PAK pilus binding to asialo‐GM1 Monoclonal antibody PK3B had no effect on PAK pili binding to asialo‐GM1 Thus, the adherence of the Pseudomonas pilus to glycosphingolipid receptors is a tip‐associated phenomenon Involving a tip‐exposed C‐terminal region of the pilin structural subunit.

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa type IV pilin receptor binding domain functions as an adhesin for both biotic and abiotic surfaces

Pseudomonas aeruginosa readily binds to stainless steel and other abiotic surfaces, causing major problems in both the medical and food industries. In this study, we show that P. aeruginosa binds to abiotic surfaces in a concentration‐dependent, saturable manner during the initial stages of biofilm formation. P. aeruginosa type IV pili mediate binding to stainless steel as a pilus‐deficient strain does not bind to steel, purified type IV pili bound in a concentration‐dependent, saturable manner, and purified pili competitively inhibited whole cell binding. PAK pili can also bind polystyrene and polyvinylchloride in a concentration‐dependant and saturable manner. As an antibody specific for the C‐terminal pilin receptor binding domain inhibited adherence to abiotic surfaces, the role of the C‐terminal receptor binding domain in mediating binding to steel surfaces was examined. A synthetic peptide of the PAK pilin epithelial cell receptor binding domain [PAK(128–144)ox] bound directly to steel with high affinity. The interaction of pili with steel was specifically inhibited by this peptide with an apparent Ki of ∼0.2 nM and effectively inhibited the binding of viable homologous and heterologous P. aeruginosa strains to steel with an apparent Ki of ∼4 nM. A single point mutation (K130I) in the PAO receptor binding domain was observed to abolish binding to stainless steel while binding to human buccal epithelial cells was enhanced. Therefore, the C‐terminal receptor binding domain appears to have evolved for binding a variety of surfaces.

The pili of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains PAK and PAO bind specifically to the carbohydrate sequence βGalNAc(1–4)βGal found in glycosphingolipids asialo‐GM1 and asialo‐GM2

Pseudomonas aeruginosa employs pili to mediate adherence to epithelial cell surfaces. The pilus adhesin of P. aeruginosa strains PAK and PAO has been shown to bind to the glycolipid asialo‐GM1 (Lee et al., 1994 —accompanying article). PAK and PAO pili were examined for their abilities to bind to the synthetic βGalNAc(1–4)βGal (a minimal structural carbohydrate receptor sequence of asialo‐GM1 and asialo‐GM2 proposed by Krivan et al., 1988a) using solid‐phase binding assays. Both pill specifically bound to βGalNAc(1–4)βGal. The binding of βGal‐NAc(1–4)βGal‐Biotin to the Immobilized PAK and PAO pili was inhibited by corresponding free pili. The receptor binding domain of the PAK pilus resides in the C‐terminal disulphide‐looped region (residues 128–144) of the pilin structural subunit (Irvin et al., 1989). Biotinylated synthetic peptides corresponding the C‐terminal residues 128–144 of P. aeruginosa PAK and PAO pilin molecules were shown to bind to the βGalNAc(1–4)βGal‐(bovine serum albumin (BSA)). The binding of biotinylated peptides to βGalNAc‐(1–4)βGal‐BSA was inhibited by PAK pili, Ac‐KCTSDQDEOFIPKGCSK‐OH (AcPAK(128–144)ox‐OH) and Ac‐ACKSTQDPMFTPKGCDN‐OH (AcPAO(128–144)ox‐OH) peptides. (In these peptides Ac denotes Nα ‐acetylation of the N‐terminus, ‐OH means a peptide with a free a‐carboxyl group at the C‐terminus and the‘ox’denotes the oxidation of the sulphhydryl groups of Cys–129 and Cys–142.) Both acetylated peptides were also able to inhibit the binding of βGalNAc(1–4)βGal‐biotin to the corresponding BSA‐Peptide(128–144)ox‐OH conjugates. The βGlcNAc(1–3)βGal(1–4)βGlc‐biotin conjugate was unable to specifically bind to either Immobilized PAK and PAO pili or the respective C‐termlnal peptides. The data above demonstrated that the P. aeruginosa pili recognize asialo‐GM1 receptor analogue and that βGalNAc(1–4)βGal disaccharlde is sufficient for binding. Furthermore, the binding to βGalNAc(1–4)βGal was mediated by residues 128–144 of the pilin subunit.

DNA Binding: a Novel Function of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Type IV Pili

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces multifunctional, polar, filamentous appendages termed type IV pili. Type IV pili are involved in colonization during infection, twitching motility, biofilm formation, bacteriophage infection, and natural transformation. Electrostatic surface analysis of modeled pilus fibers generated from P. aeruginosa strain PAK, K122-4, and KB-7 pilin monomers suggested that a solvent-exposed band of positive charge may be a common feature of all type IV pili. Several functions of type IV pili, including natural transformation and biofilm formation, involve DNA. We investigated the ability of P. aeruginosa type IV pili to bind DNA. Purified PAK, K122-4, and KB-7 pili were observed to bind both bacterial plasmid and salmon sperm DNA in a concentration-dependent and saturable manner. PAK pili had the highest affinity for DNA, followed by K122-4 and KB-7 pili. DNA binding involved backbone interactions and preferential binding to pyrimidine residues even though there was no evidence of sequence-specific binding. Pilus-mediated DNA binding was a function of the intact pilus and thus required elements present in the quaternary structure. However, binding also involved the pilus tip as tip-specific, but not base-specific, antibodies inhibited DNA binding. The conservation of a Thr residue in all type IV pilin monomers examined to date, along with the electrostatic data, implies that DNA binding is a conserved function of type IV pili. Pilus-mediated DNA binding could be important for biofilm formation both in vivo during an infection and ex vivo on abiotic surfaces.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm infections in cystic fibrosis: insights into pathogenic processes and treatment strategies

Importance of the field: CF airway mucus can be infected by opportunistic microorganisms, notably Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Once organisms are established as biofilms, even the most potent antibiotics have little effect on their viability, especially during late-stage chronic infections. Better understanding of the mechanisms used by P. aeruginosa to circumvent host defenses and therapeutic intervention strategies is critical for advancing novel treatment strategies. Areas covered in this review: Inflammatory injury in CF lung, role of neutrophils in pathogenesis, P. aeruginosa biofilms, mucoidy and its relationship with poor airway oxygenation, mechanisms by which P. aeruginosa biofilms in the CF airway can be killed. What the reader will gain: An understanding of the processes that P. aeruginosa undergoes during CF airway disease and clues to better treat such infections in future. Take home message: The course of CF airway disease is a process involving host and microbial factors that often dictate frequency of pulmonary exacerbations, thus affecting the overall course. In the past decade significant discoveries have been made regarding the pathogenic processes used by P. aeruginosa to bypass the immune system. Many new and exciting features of P. aeruginosa now illuminate weaknesses in the organism that may render it susceptible to inexpensive compounds that force its own destruction.

Use of synthetic peptides to confirm that the Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAK pilus adhesin and the Candida albicans fimbrial adhesin possess a homologous receptor‐binding domain

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAK pili and Candida albicans fimbriae are adhesins present on the microbial cell surfaces which mediate binding to epithelial cell‐surface receptors. The receptor‐binding domain (adhesintope) of the PAK pilus adhesin has been shown previously to reside in the carboxy‐terminal disulphide‐bonded region of P. aeruginosa pilin (PAK128‐144). The delineation of the C. albicans fimbrial adhesintope was investigated in these studies using synthetic peptides which correspond to the whole (PAK128‐144) or part of (PAK134‐140) adhesintope of the PAK pilus and their respective anti‐peptide antisera and biotinylated PAK pili (Bt‐PAK pili), fimbriae (Bt‐fimbriae), P. aeruginosa whole cells (Bt‐P. aeruginosa) and C. albicans whole cells (Bt‐C. albicans). The results from these studies confirmed that a structurally conserved motif akin to the PAK(128‐144) peptide sequence is present in C. albicans fimbrial adhesin and that the seven‐amino‐acid residue PAK(134‐140) sequence plays an important role in forming the adhesintope for both P. aeruginosa PAK pilus and C. albicans fimbrial adhesins.

A peptide – stainless steel reaction that yields a new bioorganic – metal state of matter

A synthetic peptide derived from the native protein sequence of a metal binding bacterial pilus was observed to spontaneously react with stainless steel via a previously unreported type of chemical interaction to generate an altered form of stainless steel which we term bioorganic stainless steel. Bioorganic stainless steel has a significantly increased electron work function (4.9 ± 0.05 eV compared to 4.79 ± 0.07 eV), decreased material adhesive force (19.4 ± 8.8 nN compared to 56.7 ± 10.5 nN), and is significantly harder than regular 304 stainless steel (~40% harder). A formal or semi-formal organo-metallic covalent bond is generated between a pilin receptor binding domain and stainless steel based on XPS analysis which indicates that the electronic state of the surface is altered. Further, we establish that the peptide-steel reaction demonstrates a degree of stereospecificity as the reaction of native L-peptide, D-peptide and a retro-inverso-D-peptide yields bioorganic steel products that can be differentiated via the resulting EWF (4.867 ± 0.008 eV, 4.651 ± 0.008 eV, and 4.919 ± 0.007 eV, respectively). We conclude that electron sharing between the peptide and steel surface results in the stabilization of surface electrons to generate bioorganic steel that displays altered properties relative to the initial starting material. The bioorganic steel generated from the retro-inverso-D-peptide yields a protease stable product that is harder (41% harder at a 400 μN load), and has a 50% lower corrosion rate compared with regular stainless steel (0.11 ± 0.03 mpy and 0.22 ± 0.04 mpy, respectively). Bioorganic steel is readily fabricated.

Pros and cons of cryocrystallography: should we also collect a room-temperature data set?

High-resolution protein structures are becoming more common owing to the availability of increasingly brilliant synchrotron X-ray sources. However, to withstand the increased X-ray dose the crystals must be held at cryogenic temperatures. To compare the benefit of increased resolution with the drawback of potential temperature-induced changes, three room-temperature and three cryogenic data sets for PAK pilin have been collected at resolutions between 1.8 and 0.78 A. The results show that although the high-resolution cryogenic structures are more precise and more detailed, they also show systematic deviations from the room-temperature structures. Small but significant differences are even observed in the structural core, whilst more extensive changes occur at the protein surface. These differences can affect biological interpretations, especially because many important biological processes take place at the protein surface. Accordingly, although high-quality cryogenic synchrotron data is extremely valuable to protein crystallography, room-temperature structures are still desirable, especially if the research question involves protein features that are sensitive to temperature-induced changes.

Surface nanocrystallization of stainless steel for reduced biofilm adherence

Stainless steel is one of the most common metallic biomedical materials. For medical applications, its resistance to the adherence of biofilms is of importance to the elimination or minimization of bacterial infections. In this study, we demonstrate the effectiveness of a process combining surface nanocrystallization and thermal oxidation (or a recovery heat treatment in air) for reducing the biofilms adherence to stainless steel. During this treatment, a target surface was sandblasted and the resultant dislocation cells in the surface layer were turned into nanosized grains by a subsequent recovery treatment in air. This process generated a more protective oxide film that blocked the electron exchange or reduced the surface activity more effectively. As a result, the biofilms adherence to the treated surface was markedly minimized. A synthetic peptide was utilized as a substitute of biofilms to evaluate the adhesion between a treated steel surface and biofilms using an atomic force microscope (AFM) through measuring the adhesive force between the target surface and a peptide-coated AFM tip. It was shown that the adhesive force decreased with a decrease in the grain size of the steel. The corresponding surface electron work function (EWF) of the steel was also measured, which showed a trend of variation in EWF with the grain size, consistent with corresponding changes in the adhesive force.

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa flagellum confers resistance to pulmonary surfactant protein-A by impacting the production of exoproteases through quorum-sensing.

Surfactant protein‐A (SP‐A) is an important antimicrobial protein that opsonizes and permeabilizes membranes of microbial pathogens in mammalian lungs. Previously, we have shown that Pseudomonas aeruginosa flagellum‐deficient mutants are preferentially cleared in the lungs of wild‐type mice by SP‐A‐mediated membrane permeabilization, and not by opsonization. In this study, we report a flagellum‐mediated mechanism of P. aeruginosa resistance to SP‐A. We discovered that flagellum‐deficient (ΔfliC) bacteria are unable to produce adequate amounts of exoproteases to degrade SP‐A in vitro and in vivo, leading to its preferential clearance in the lungs of SP‐A+/+ mice. In addition, ΔfliC bacteria failed to degrade another important lung antimicrobial protein lysozyme. Detailed analyses showed that ΔfliC bacteria are unable to upregulate the transcription of lasI and rhlI genes, impairing the production of homoserine lactones necessary for quorum‐sensing, an important virulence process that regulates the production of multiple exoproteases. Thus, reduced ability of ΔfliC bacteria to quorum‐sense attenuates production of exoproteases and limits degradation of SP‐A, thereby conferring susceptibility to this major pulmonary host defence protein.