The Effect of Skin Fatty Acids on Staphylococcus Aureus
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Arch Microbiol (2015) 197:245–267 DOI 10.1007/s00203-014-1048-1 ORGINAL PAPER The effect of skin fatty acids on Staphylococcus aureus Yvonne Neumann · Knut Ohlsen · Stefanie Donat · Susanne Engelmann · Harald Kusch · Dirk Albrecht · Michael Cartron · Alexander Hurd · Simon J. Foster Received: 23 July 2014 / Revised: 19 September 2014 / Accepted: 6 October 2014 / Published online: 18 October 2014 © The Author(s) 2014. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal of the hlgBC) was reduced, whereas that of host defence evasion human nose and skin. Human skin fatty acids, in particular components (cap, sspAB, katA) was increased. In particular, cis-6-hexadecenoic acid (C-6-H), have high antistaphylococ- members of the SaeRS regulon had highly reduced expres- cal activity and can inhibit virulence determinant production. sion, and the use of specific mutants revealed that the effect Here, we show that sub-MIC levels of C-6-H result in induc- on toxin production is likely mediated via SaeRS. tion of increased resistance. The mechanism(s) of C-6-H activity was investigated by combined transcriptome and Keywords S. aureus · Skin fatty acid · C-6-H · proteome analyses. Proteome analysis demonstrated a pleio- Resistance tropic effect of C-6-H on virulence determinant production. In response to C-6-H, transcriptomics revealed altered expres- sion of over 500 genes, involved in many aspects of virulence Introduction and cellular physiology. The expression of toxins (hla, hlb, The Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus is able to survive as a commensal organism in the anterior nares and Communicated by Djamel DRIDER. on human skin. A third of the human population are nasal Electronic supplementary material The online version of this carriers and two-thirds are intermittent carriers, forming a article (doi:10.1007/s00203-014-1048-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Y. Neumann · M. Cartron · A. Hurd · S. J. Foster (*) S. Engelmann · H. Kusch · D. Albrecht Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The Krebs Institute for Microbiology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University, Institute, University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Western Bank, Greifswald, Germany Sheffield S10 2TN, UK e-mail: [email protected] S. Engelmann Institute for Microbiology, Technical University Braunschweig, Y. Neumann Braunschweig, Germany Institute of Molecular and Clinical Immunology, Otto- von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, S. Engelmann 39120 Magdeburg, Germany Research Group for Microbial Proteomics, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany Y. Neumann Research Group of Systems-Oriented Immunology H. Kusch and Inflammation Research, Department of Immune Control, Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, University of Göttingen, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Göttingen, Germany Germany K. Ohlsen · S. Donat Institute for Molecular Infection Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany 1 3 246 Arch Microbiol (2015) 197:245–267 Table 1 Strains used in this Strain Genotype/markers Reference study SH1000 Functional rsbU+ derivative of 8325-4 Horsburgh et al. (2001) Newman High level of clumping factor Duthie and Lorent (1952) R JLA371 SH1000 hla∷lacZ hla+ (Ery ) Horsburgh et al. (2001) R SJF1293 saeS∷Tn551 (SH1000) (Ery ) Needham et al. (2004) R SJF1295 saeR∷Tn551 (SH1000) (Ery ) Needham et al. (2004) Reynolds CP5 Serotype 5 prototype strain (CP5) Karakawa and Vann (1982) R Reynolds (CP−) Capsule-negative mutant of Reynolds (CP5) (Ery ) Watts et al. (2005) R KC046 mrgA∷lacZ (pAZ106) (Ery ) Cosgrove (unpublished) large reservoir for potential infection (Peacock et al. 2001). determinant expression is mediated, a global study of As a pathogen, S. aureus is highly adaptable, with an alarm- gene expression and protein profile analysis in response to ing spread of antibiotic resistance. This limits the range of C-6-H was carried out. effective therapies able to combat this organism. S. aureus is able to cause a wide range of diseases, from minor skin infec- tions to severe systemic disease (such as bacteraemia, septic Materials and methods arthritis and endocarditis). Also, in the hospital environment, S. aureus is responsible for many infections associated with Bacterial strains and culture conditions surgical wounds and catheters. The ability to inhabit so many niches with such a range of infectious sequelae is due to a Bacterial strains used in this study are listed in Table 1 Fe large repertoire of virulence determinants. and were grown in iron-limited tryptic soy broth (TSB− ) The human body has many innate defence mechanisms (Oxoid), Chelex-100 (Sigma Aldrich), with the addition of to prevent infection by invading microbes. Physical barriers 20 µM 2,2′-dipyridyl (Baldassarri et al. 2001). Antibiotics (human skin and mucosa) prevent pathogens from ingress. used were erythromycin (5 µg/ml), lincomycin (25 µg/ml) The human skin is composed of tightly bound epithelial cells or tetracycline (5 µg/ml) where appropriate. Cultures were and covered by a highly cross-linked layer of keratin and is grown at 37 °C and inoculated with an overnight culture to Fe therefore normally impenetrable to bacteria (Proksch et al. an optical density at 600 nm (OD600) of 0.05 into TSB− , 2008). Additionally, the skin produces antimicrobial peptides followed by incubation with agitation at 37 °C. Bacterial as well as skin fatty acids which are crucial for host defence growth was monitored by measuring the OD600. (Ong et al. 2002; Niyousaba and Ogawa 2005). Several fatty acids have been isolated from human skin, which have strong Bacterial killing assays antimicrobial activity (Miller et al. 1988; Wille and Kydonieus 2003). The antibacterial activity of unsaturated fatty acids has Bacteria were grown to an OD600 of approximately 0.6 in Fe been well known for many years (Kabara et al. 1972; Knapp TSB− . Cells from 10 ml of culture were harvested by and Melly 1986; Shin et al. 2007), the most effective antistaph- centrifugation for 10 min at 5,000 g and 4 °C. The cell × ylococcal skin fatty acid being cis-6-hexadecanoic acid (C-6- pellet was washed twice in sterile dH2O by resuspension H, sapienic acid, C16:1Δ6) (Takigawa et al. 2005; Wille and and centrifugation as above. OD600 was measured, and Kydonieus 2003). As well as being antibacterial, C-6-H also cell suspension was adjusted to OD600 of 1.0. Cells were has the ability to inhibit virulence determinant production and incubated at 37 °C with cis-6-hexadecanoic acid (C-6-H; the induction of antibiotic resistance mechanisms (Clarke et Matreya) and cfu determined at intervals by plating onto Fe al. 2007; Projan et al. 1994; Schlievert et al. 1992; Takigawa TSB− agar. For C-6-H pre-exposure experiments, bacte- Fe et al. 2005; Kenny et al. 2009). In fact, in murine models of ria were grown to an OD600 of 0.5 in TSB− and 8 µg/ml S. aureus infection, C-6-H has shown to be an effective treat- C-6-H was added, prior to continued incubation, with shak- ment. Thus, it is important to understand how C-6-H mediates ing, for 2 h by 37 °C. Cells were then harvested, washed its effects and the response of S. aureus to such assault. A sur- and exposed to C-6-H in the killing assay, as above. face protein, IsdA, has been shown to be involved in resistance of S. aureus to C-6-H by rendering the cells more hydrophilic Transcriptional analysis (Clarke et al. 2007). Also, wall teichoic acids are required to prevent susceptibility to C-6-H (Kohler et al. 2009). Total RNA was isolated from cultures (OD600 of 0.5), In order to define bacterial components important prior to, 10 and 60 min after the addition of 10 µg/ml C-6- in resistance to C-6-H and how its effect on virulence H. “RNAprotect Bacteria Reagent” (QIAGEN, Hilden, 1 3 Arch Microbiol (2015) 197:245–267 247 Table 2 Oligonucleotides used for RT-PCR analysis Germany) was added to 8 ml culture and incubated for 5 min, and cells were harvested by centrifugation (5,000 g Oligonucleotides Sequence (5′–3′) × for 10 min at 4 °C) and resuspended in 1 ml RLT buffer gyrB_QF ATCACAGCATTTGGTACAGG (Qiagen) including 10 µg/ml β-mercaptoethanol. Cells were gyrB_QR CGATAGAAGAATGTTAATAACAATGTT lysed using a Fast Prep shaker (BIO 101 Savant, Haarlem, ysxC_QF GCAGTAAAAGAAGAACAATATCC The Netherlands) for 3 40 s at a speed of 6.5 units. RNA × ysxC_QR GGGTTGCTGTGATGTACG was isolated using an “RNeasy Mini Kit 250” from QIA- asp23_QF AAACAACAAGAACAAAATCAAGAG GEN. RNA quantity was measured using a NanoDrop 1000 asp23_QR ACCACCTTCAACAGATACACC spectrophotometer and the quality checked by analysis hprT_QF TGTAAGGAATTGGGAGCAC with an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies, hprT_QR ACTTCACCAGTTGACTCAG Palo Alto, CA, USA). Reverse transcription and fluorescent sceD_QF TCGCATCATCATTAGCAGTAG labelling reactions were performed using 10 µg total RNA, sceD_QR GTGATAAGTAAACCCTTCATAGTC random hexamer primers mix (Invitrogen), SuperScript saeS_QF GTATTGGCATTATACCAGAACTAC III™ Reverse Transcriptase (Invitrogen) and incubation for saeS_QR GCGAGTTCATTAGCTATATATAAGC 1 h at 50 °C. The cDNA was labelled with Cy3- and Cy5- saeR_QF CCAAGGGAACTCGTTTTACG dyed d’CTPs (Amersham) according to the manufacturer’s saeR_QR CATAGGGACTTCGTGACCAT instructions (Scienion, Berlin, Germany). lytS_QF AAAGTTGAAAGAAGTGCATACTAAAGAAG RNA obtained from three independent biological experi- lytS_QR TGTACCGACGATAGAACCATG ments was utilised, and a dye switch experiment was per- lytR_QF