11. |
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12. |
- Zhang, Si Min, et al.
(author)
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Development of a chemical probe against NUDT15
- 2020
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In: Nature Chemical Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1552-4450 .- 1552-4469. ; 16:10, s. 1120-1128
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The NUDIX hydrolase NUDT15 was originally implicated in sanitizing oxidized nucleotides, but was later shown to hydrolyze the active thiopurine metabolites, 6-thio-(d)GTP, thereby dictating the clinical response of this standard-of-care treatment for leukemia and inflammatory diseases. Nonetheless, its physiological roles remain elusive. Here, we sought to develop small-molecule NUDT15 inhibitors to elucidate its biological functions and potentially to improve NUDT15-dependent chemotherapeutics. Lead compound TH1760 demonstrated low-nanomolar biochemical potency through direct and specific binding into the NUDT15 catalytic pocket and engaged cellular NUDT15 in the low-micromolar range. We also employed thiopurine potentiation as a proxy functional readout and demonstrated that TH1760 sensitized cells to 6-thioguanine through enhanced accumulation of 6-thio-(d)GTP in nucleic acids. A biochemically validated, inactive structural analog, TH7285, confirmed that increased thiopurine toxicity takes place via direct NUDT15 inhibition. In conclusion, TH1760 represents the first chemical probe for interrogating NUDT15 biology and potential therapeutic avenues.
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13. |
- Zhang, Si Min, et al.
(author)
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NUDT15-mediated hydrolysis limits the efficacy of anti-HCMV drug ganciclovir
- 2021
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In: Cell Chemical Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 2451-9456 .- 2451-9448. ; 28:12, s. 1693-1702
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ganciclovir (GCV) is the first-line therapy against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a widespread infection that is particularly dangerous for immunodeficient individuals. Closely resembling deoxyguanosine triphosphate, the tri-phosphorylated metabolite of GCV (GCV-TP) is preferentially incorporated by the viral DNA polymerase, thereby terminating chain extension and, eventually, viral replication. However, the treatment outcome of GCV varies greatly among individuals, therefore warranting better understanding of its metabolism. Here we show that NUDT15, a Nudix hydrolase known to metabolize thiopurine triphosphates, can similarly hydrolyze GCV-TP through biochemical studies and co-crystallization of the NUDT15/GCV-TP complex. More critically, GCV efficacy was potentiated in HCMV-infected cells following NUDT15 depletion by RNAi or inhibition by an in-house-developed, nanomolar NUDT15 inhibitor, TH8321, suggesting that pharmacological targeting of NUDT15 is a possible avenue to improve existing anti-HCMV regimens. Collectively, the data further implicate NUDT15 as a broad-spectrum metabolic regulator of nucleoside analog therapeutics, such as thiopurines and GCV.
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15. |
- Berglund, Fanny, et al.
(author)
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An updated phylogeny of the metallo-β-lactamases.
- 2021
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In: The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1460-2091 .- 0305-7453. ; 76:1, s. 117-123
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) are enzymes that use zinc-dependent hydrolysis to confer resistance to almost all available β-lactam antibiotics. They are hypothesized to originate from commensal and environmental bacteria, from where some have mobilized and transferred horizontally to pathogens. The current phylogeny of MBLs, however, is biased as it is founded largely on genes encountered in pathogenic bacteria. This incompleteness is emphasized by recent findings of environmental MBLs with new forms of zinc binding sites and atypical functional profiles.To expand the phylogeny of MBLs to provide a more accurate view of their evolutionary history.We searched more than 16 terabases of genomic and metagenomic data for MBLs of the three subclasses B1, B2 and B3 using the validated fARGene method. Predicted genes, together with the previously known ones, were used to infer phylogenetic trees.We identified 2290 unique MBL genes forming 817 gene families, of which 741 were previously uncharacterized. MBLs from subclasses B1 and B3 separated into distinct monophyletic groups, in agreement with their taxonomic and functional properties. We present evidence that clinically associated MBLs were mobilized from Proteobacteria. Additionally, we identified three new variants of the zinc binding sites, indicating that the functional repertoire is broader than previously reported.Based on our results, we recommend that the nomenclature of MBLs is refined into the phylogenetic groups B1.1-B1.5 and B3.1-B3.4 that more accurately describe their molecular and functional characteristics. Our results will also facilitate the annotation of novel MBLs, reflecting their taxonomic organization and evolutionary origin.
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16. |
- Berglund, Fanny, et al.
(author)
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Comprehensive screening of genomic and metagenomic data reveals a large diversity of tetracycline resistance genes
- 2020
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In: Microbial genomics. - : Microbiology Society. - 2057-5858. ; 6:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Tetracyclines are broad-spectrum antibiotics used to prevent or treat a variety of bacterial infections. Resistance is often mediated through mobile resistance genes, which encode one of the three main mechanisms: active efflux, ribosomal target protection or enzymatic degradation. In the last few decades, a large number of new tetracycline-resistance genes have been discovered in clinical settings. These genes are hypothesized to originate from environmental and commensal bacteria, but the diversity of tetracycline-resistance determinants that have not yet been mobilized into pathogens is unknown. In this study, we aimed to characterize the potential tetracycline resistome by screening genomic and metagenomic data for novel resistance genes. By using probabilistic models, we predicted 1254 unique putative tetracycline resistance genes, representing 195 gene families (<70% amino acid sequence identity), whereof 164 families had not been described previously. Out of 17 predicted genes selected for experimental verification, 7 induced a resistance phenotype in an Escherichia coli host. Several of the predicted genes were located on mobile genetic elements or in regions that indicated mobility, suggesting that they easily can be shared between bacteria. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis indicated several events of horizontal gene transfer between bacterial phyla. Our results also suggested that acquired efflux pumps originate from proteobacterial species, while ribosomal protection genes have been mobilized from Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. This study significantly expands the knowledge of known and putatively novel tetracycline resistance genes, their mobility and evolutionary history. The study also provides insights into the unknown resistome and genes that may be encountered in clinical settings in the future.
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17. |
- Berglund, Fanny, et al.
(author)
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Evidence for wastewaters as environments where mobile antibiotic resistance genes emerge
- 2023
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In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The emergence and spread of mobile antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in pathogens have become a serious threat to global health. Still little is known about where ARGs gain mobility in the first place. Here, we aimed to collect evidence indicating where suchinitial mobilizationevents of clinically relevant ARGs may have occurred. We found that the majority of previously identified origin species did not carry the mobilizing elements that likely enabled intracellular mobility of the ARGs, suggesting a necessary interplay between different bacteria. Analyses of a broad range of metagenomes revealed that wastewaters and wastewater-impacted environments had by far the highest abundance of both origin species and corresponding mobilizing elements. Most origin species were only occasionally detected in other environments. Co-occurrence of origin species and corresponding mobilizing elements were rare in human microbiota. Our results identify wastewaters and wastewater-impacted environments as plausible arenas for the initial mobilization of resistance genes.
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18. |
- Berglund, Fanny, et al.
(author)
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The resistome and microbiome of wastewater treatment plant workers - The AWARE study.
- 2023
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In: Environment international. - 0160-4120 .- 1873-6750. ; 180
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Urban wastewater treatment plants harbor a large collection of antibiotic resistant enteric bacteria. It is therefore reasonable to hypothesize that workers at such plants would possess a more diverse set of resistant enteric bacteria, compared to the general population. To address this hypothesis, we have compared the fecal microbiome and resistome of 87 workers at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) from Romania and the Netherlands to those of 87 control individuals, using shotgun metagenomics. Controlling for potential confounders, neither the total antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) abundance, nor the overall bacterial composition were significantly different between the two groups. If anything, the ARG richness was slightly lower in WWTP workers, and in a stratified analysis the total ARG abundance was significantly lower in Dutch workers compared to Dutch control participants. We identified country of residence, together with recent antibiotic intake in the Dutch population, as the largest contributing factors to the total abundance of ARGs. A striking side-finding was that sex was associated with carriage of disinfectant resistance genes, with women in both Romania and the Netherlands having significantly higher abundance compared to men. A follow up investigation including an additional 313 publicly available samples from healthy individuals from three additional countries showed that the difference was significant for three genes conferring resistance to chemicals commonly used in cosmetics and cleaning products. We therefore hypothesize that the use of cosmetics and, possibly, cleaning products leads to higher abundance of disinfectant resistance genes in the microbiome of the users. Altogether, this study shows that working at a WWTP does not lead to a higher abundance or diversity of ARGs and no large shifts in the overall gut microbial composition in comparison to participants not working at a WWTP. Instead, other factors such as country of residence, recent antibiotic intake and sex seem to play a larger role.
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19. |
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20. |
- Christakoudi, Sofia, et al.
(author)
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Development and validation of the first consensus gene-expression signature of operational tolerance in kidney transplantation, incorporating adjustment for immunosuppressive drug therapy
- 2020
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In: EBioMedicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-3964. ; 58
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) with "operational tolerance" (OT) maintain a functioning graft without immunosuppressive (IS) drugs, thus avoiding treatment complications. Nevertheless, IS drugs can influence gene-expression signatures aiming to identify OT among treated KTRs. Methods: We compared five published signatures of OT in peripheral blood samples from 18 tolerant, 183 stable, and 34 chronic rejector KTRs, using gene-expression levels with and without adjustment for IS drugs and regularised logistic regression. Findings: IS drugs explained up to 50% of the variability in gene-expression and 20-30% of the variability in the probability of OT predicted by signatures without drug adjustment. We present a parsimonious consensus gene-set to identify OT, derived from joint analysis of IS-drug-adjusted expression of five published signature gene-sets. This signature, including CD40, CTLA4, HSD11B1, IGKV4-1, MZB1, NR3C2, and RAB40C genes, showed an area under the curve 0.92 (95% confidence interval 0.88-0.94) in cross-validation and 0.97 (0.93-1.00) in six months follow-up samples. Interpretation: We advocate including adjustment for IS drug therapy in the development stage of gene-expression signatures of OT to reduce the risk of capturing features of treatment, which could be lost following IS drug minimisation or withdrawal. Our signature, however, would require further validation in an independent dataset and a biomarker-led trial. (c) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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