| 1. |
- Cirl, Christine, et al.
(författare)
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Subversion of Toll-like receptor signaling by a unique family of bacterial Toll/interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing proteins
- 2008
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Ingår i: Nature Medicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1546-170X .- 1078-8956. ; 14:4, s. 399-406
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pathogenic microbes have evolved sophisticated molecular strategies to subvert host defenses. Here we show that virulent bacteria interfere directly with Toll-like receptor (TLR) function by secreting inhibitory homologs of the Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain. Genes encoding TIR domain containing–proteins (Tcps) were identified in Escherichia coli CFT073 (TcpC) and Brucella melitensis (TcpB). We found that TcpC is common in the most virulent uropathogenic E. coli strains and promotes bacterial survival and kidney pathology in vivo. In silico analysis predicted significant tertiary structure homology to the TIR domain of human TLR1, and we show that the Tcps impede TLR signaling through the myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) adaptor protein, owing to direct binding of Tcps to MyD88. Tcps represent a new class of virulence factors that act by inhibiting TLR- and MyD88-specific signaling, thus suppressing innate immunity and increasing virulence.
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| 2. |
- Haslett, Sophie L., et al.
(författare)
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The radiative impact of out-of-cloud aerosol hygroscopic growth during the summer monsoon in southern West Africa
- 2019
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Ingår i: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 19:3, s. 1505-1520
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Water in the atmosphere can exist in the solid, liquid or gas phase. At high humidities, if the aerosol population remains constant, more water vapour will condense onto the particles and cause them to swell, sometimes up to several times their original size. This significant change in size and chemical composition is termed hygroscopic growth and alters a particle's optical properties. Even in unsaturated conditions, this can change the aerosol direct effect, for example by increasing the extinction of incoming sunlight. This can have an impact on a region's energy balance and affect visibility. Here, aerosol and relative humidity measurements collected from aircraft and radiosondes during the Dynamics-Aerosol-Chemistry-Cloud Interactions in West Africa (DACCIWA) campaign were used to estimate the effect of highly humid layers of air on aerosol optical properties during the monsoon season in southern West Africa. The effects of hygroscopic growth in this region are of particular interest due to the regular occurrence of high humidity and the high levels of pollution in the region. The Zdanovskii, Stokes and Robinson (ZSR) mixing rule is used to estimate the hygroscopic growth of particles under different conditions based on chemical composition. These results are used to estimate the aerosol optical depth (AOD) at lambda = 525 nm for 63 relative humidity profiles. The median AOD in the region from these calculations was 0.36, the same as that measured by sun photometers at the ground site. The spread in the calculated AODs was less than the spread from the sun photometer measurements. In both cases, values above 0.5 were seen predominantly in the mornings and corresponded with high humidities. Observations of modest variations in aerosol load and composition are unable to explain the high and variable AODs observed using sun photometers, which can only be recreated by accounting for the very elevated and variable relative humidities (RHs) in the boundary layer. Most importantly, the highest AODs present in the mornings are not possible without the presence of high RH in excess of 95 %. Humid layers are found to have the most significant impact on AOD when they reach RH greater than 98 %, which can result in a wet AOD more than 1.8 times the dry AOD. Unsaturated humid layers were found to reach these high levels of RH in 37% of observed cases. It can therefore be concluded that the high AODs present across the region are driven by the high humidities and are then moderated by changes in aerosol abundance. Aerosol concentrations in southern West Africa are projected to increase substantially in the coming years; results presented here show that the presence of highly humid layers in the region is likely to enhance the consequent effect on AOD significantly.
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| 3. |
- Waldhuber, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Uropathogenic Escherichia coli strain CFT073 disrupts NLRP3 inflammasome activation
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Investigation. - 0021-9738. ; 126:7, s. 36-2425
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Successful bacterial pathogens produce an array of virulence factors that allow subversion of the immune system and persistence within the host. For example, uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains, such as CFT073, express Toll/IL-1 receptor-containing (TIR-containing) protein C (TcpC), which impairs TLR signaling, thereby suppressing innate immunity in the urinary tract and enhancing persistence in the kidneys. Here, we have reported that TcpC also reduces secretion of IL-1β by directly interacting with the NACHT leucin-rich repeat PYD protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, which is crucial for recognition of pathogens within the cytosol. At a low MOI, IL-1β secretion was minimal in CFT073-infected macrophages; however, IL-1β release was markedly increased in macrophages infected with CFT073 lacking tcpC. Induction of IL-1β secretion by CFT073 and tcpC-deficient CFT073 required the NLRP3 inflammasome. TcpC attenuated activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by binding both NLRP3 and caspase-1 and thereby preventing processing and activation of caspase-1. Moreover, in a murine urinary tract infection model, CFT073 infection rapidly induced expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the bladder mucosa; however, the presence of TcpC in WT CFT073 reduced IL-1β levels in the urine of infected mice. Together, these findings illustrate how uropathogenic E. coli use the multifunctional virulence factor TcpC to attenuate innate immune responses in the urinary tract.
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| 4. |
- Wieser, Andreas, et al.
(författare)
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Efficient quantification and characterization of bacterial outer membrane derived nano-particles with flow cytometric analysis
- 2014
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Ingår i: International Journal of Medical Microbiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1438-4221 .- 1618-0607. ; 304:8, s. 1032-1037
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There currently exists no efficient and easy method for size profiling and counting of membranous nano-scale particles, such as bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). We present here a cost-effective and fast method capable of profiling and counting small sample volumes of nano-scale membranous vesicles with standard laboratory equipment without the need for any washing steps. OMV populations of different bacterial species are compared and even subpopulations of OMVs can be identified after a simple labelling procedure. Counting is possible over three orders of magnitude without any changes to the protocol. Protein contaminations do not alter the described measurements.
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