| 1. |
- Engström, Patrik, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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A comparative study of RNA and DNA as internal gene expression controls early in the developmental cycle of Chlamydia pneumoniae
- 2010
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Ingår i: FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology. - 0928-8244 .- 1574-695X. ; 58:2, s. 244-253
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many microbial pathogens invade and proliferate within host cells and the molecular mechanism underlying this behavior is currently being revealed for several bacterial species. Testing clinically relevant antibacterial compounds and elucidating their effects on gene expression requires adequate controls, especially when studying genetically intractable organisms such as Chlamydia spp., for which various gene fusions cannot be constructed. Until now, relative mRNA levels in Chlamydia have been measured using different internal gene expression controls, including 16S rRNA, mRNAs, and DNA. Here, we compared the advantages and disadvantages of various internal expression controls during the early phase of Chlamydia pneumoniae development. The relative abundance of target mRNAs varied using the different internal control RNAs. This was partly due to variation in the transcript stability of the RNA species. Also, seven out of nine of the analyzed RNAs increased fivefold or more between 2 and 14 h postinfection, while the amount of DNA and number of cells remained essentially unaltered. Our results suggest that RNA should not be used as a gene expression control during the early phase of Chlamydia development, and that intrinsic bacterial DNA is preferable for that purpose because it is stable, abundant, and its relative amount is generally correlated with bacterial numbers.
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| 2. |
- Engström, Patrik, 1982-
(författare)
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Chemical genetics discloses the importance of heme and glucose metabolism in Chlamydia trachomatis pathogenesis
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Chlamydiae are important human bacterial pathogens with an intracellular life cycle that consists of two distinct bacterial forms, an infectious form (EB) that infects the eukaryotic host cell, and a non-infectious form (RB) that allows intracellular proliferation. To be successful, chlamydiae need to alternate between EB and RB to generate infectious EB’s which are competent to infect new host cells.Chemical genetics is an attractive approach to study bacterial pathogenesis; in principal this approach relies on an inhibitory compound that specifically inhibits a protein of interest. An obstacle in using this approach is target identification, however whole genome sequencing (WGS) of spontaneous mutants resistant to novel inhibitory compounds has significantly extended the utility of chemical genetic approaches by allowing the identification of their target proteins and/or biological pathways.In this thesis, a chemical genetics approach is used, I have found that heme and glucose metabolism of C. trachomatis is specifically important for the transition from the RB form to the infectious EB form. Heme and glucose metabolism are both coupled to energy metabolism, which suggests a common link between the RB-to-EB transitions. In connection with the above findings I have developed strategies that enable the isolation of isogenic C. trachomatis mutant strains. These strategies are based on WGS of spontaneous mutant populations and subsequent genotyping of clonal strains isolated from these mutant populations. Experiments with the mutant strains suggest that the uptake of glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P) regulates the RB-to-EB transition, representing one of the first examples where genetics has been used to study C. trachomatis pathogenesis. Additional experiments with the mutant strains indicate that G-6-P promotes bacterial growth during metabolic stress.In concert with other findings presented in this thesis, I have fine-tuned methods that could be employed to reveal how novel inhibitory chemical compounds affect chlamydiae. In a broader context, I suggest that C. trachomatis could be used as a model organism to understand how new inhibitory drugs affect other bacterial pathogens.In addition, I observed that C. pneumoniae infections resulted in generalized bone loss in mice and that these mice display a cytokine profile similar to infected bone cells in vitro. Thus, this study indicates that C. pneumoniae potentially can infect bone cells in vivo, resulting in bone loss, alternatively, the inflammatory responses seen in vivo could be the causative factor of the bone loss observed.
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| 3. |
- Engström, Patrik, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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Mutations in hemG Mediate Resistance to Salicylidene Acylhydrazides, Demonstrating a Novel Link between Protoporphyrinogen Oxidase (HemG) and Chlamydia trachomatis Infectivity
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Bacteriology. - Washington DC, USA : American Society for Microbiology. - 0021-9193 .- 1098-5530. ; 195:18, s. 4221-4230
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Salicylidene acylhydrazides (SAHs) inhibit the type III secretion system (T3S) of Yersinia and other Gram-negative bacteria. In addition, SAHs restrict the growth and development of Chlamydia species. However, since the inhibition of Chlamydia growth by SAH is suppressed by the addition of excess iron and since SAHs have an iron-chelating capacity, their role as specific T3S inhibitors is unclear. We investigated here whether SAHs exhibit a function on C. trachomatis that goes beyond iron chelation. We found that the iron-saturated SAH INP0341 (IS-INP0341) specifically affects C. trachomatis infectivity with reduced generation of infectious elementary body (EB) progeny. Selection and isolation of spontaneous SAH-resistant mutant strains revealed that mutations in hemG suppressed the reduced infectivity caused by IS-INP0341 treatment. Structural modeling of C. trachomatis HemG predicts that the acquired mutations are located in the active site of the enzyme, suggesting that IS-INP0341 inhibits this domain of HemG and that protoporphyrinogen oxidase (HemG) and heme metabolism are important for C. trachomatis infectivity.
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| 4. |
- Normark, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Maladjusted Host Immune Responses Induce Experimental Cerebral Malaria-Like Pathology in a Murine Borrelia and Plasmodium Co-Infection Model
- 2014
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : PLOS ONE. - 1932-6203. ; 9:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the Plasmodium infected host, a balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory responses is required to clear the parasites without inducing major host pathology. Clinical reports suggest that bacterial infection in conjunction with malaria aggravates disease and raises both mortality and morbidity in these patients. In this study, we investigated the immune responses in BALB/c mice, co-infected with Plasmodium berghei NK65 parasites and the relapsing fever bacterium Borrelia duttonii. In contrast to single infections, we identified in the co-infected mice a reduction of L-Arginine levels in the serum. It indicated diminished bioavailability of NO, which argued for a dysfunctional endothelium. Consistent with this, we observed increased sequestration of CD8+ cells in the brain as well over expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM by brain endothelial cells. Co-infected mice further showed an increased inflammatory response through IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha, as well as inability to down regulate the same through IL-10. In addition we found loss of synchronicity of pro- and anti-inflammatory signals seen in dendritic cells and macrophages, as well as increased numbers of regulatory T-cells. Our study shows that a situation mimicking experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) is induced in co-infected mice due to loss of timing and control over regulatory mechanisms in antigen presenting cells.
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| 5. |
- Sellstedt, Magnus, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Synthesis and Characterization of a Multi Ring-Fused 2-Pyridone-Based Fluorescent Scaffold
- 2010
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Ingår i: European Journal of Organic Chemistry. - : Wiley. - 1434-193X .- 1099-0690. ; :32, s. 6171-6178
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A series of compounds based on a novel fluorescent scaffold have been synthesized. Most of the compounds displayed high quantum yields of fluorescence and unusually long fluorescence lifetimes. HeLa cells were treated with one of the compounds and its use as a fluorescent dye was demonstrated with fluorescence confocal microscopy.
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