Functional Characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii Lacking the RNA Chaperone Hfq
The RNA chaperone Hfq is involved in the riboregulation of diverse genes via small RNAs. Recent studies have demonstrated that Hfq contributes to the stress response and the virulence of several pathogens, and the roles of Hfq vary among bacterial species. Here, we attempted to elucidate the role of...
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doaj-5ca45e227e6646bfb986deb93add90752020-11-24T23:05:05ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2017-10-01810.3389/fmicb.2017.02068299747Functional Characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii Lacking the RNA Chaperone HfqHan-Yueh Kuo0Han-Yueh Kuo1Hsuan-Hao Chao2Po-Cheng Liao3Long Hsu4Kai-Chih Chang5Chi-Hua Tung6Chang-Hua Chen7Chang-Hua Chen8Ming-Li Liou9Department of Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu, TaiwanDepartment of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanDepartment of Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, TaiwanDepartment of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Yuanpei University, Hsinchu, TaiwanDepartment of Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, TaiwanDepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Biotechnology, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, TaiwanDepartment of Bioinformatics, Chung Hua University, Hsinchu, TaiwanDivision of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, TaiwanCenter of Infection Prevention and Control, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, TaiwanDepartment of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Yuanpei University, Hsinchu, TaiwanThe RNA chaperone Hfq is involved in the riboregulation of diverse genes via small RNAs. Recent studies have demonstrated that Hfq contributes to the stress response and the virulence of several pathogens, and the roles of Hfq vary among bacterial species. Here, we attempted to elucidate the role of Hfq in Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 17978. In the absence of hfq, A. baumannii exhibited retarded cell growth and was highly sensitive to environmental stress, including osmotic and oxidative pressure, pH, and temperature. Compared to the wild-type, the Hfq mutant had reduced outer membrane vesicles secretion and fimbriae production as visualized by atomic force microscopy. The absence of hfq reduced biofilm formation, airway epithelial cell adhesion and invasion, and survival in macrophage. Further, the hfq mutant induced significantly higher IL-8 levels in airway epithelial cells, which would promote bacterial clearance by the host. In addition to results similar to those reported for other bacteria, our findings demonstrate that Hfq is required in the regulation of the iron-acquisition system via downregulating the bauA and basD genes, the stress-related outer membrane proteins carO, A1S_0820, ompA, and nlpE, and the stress-related cytosolic proteins uspA and groEL. Our data indicate that Hfq plays a critical role in environmental adaptation and virulence in A. baumannii by modulating stress responses, surface architectures, and virulence factors. This study is the first to illustrate the functional role of Hfq in A. baumannii.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02068/fullAcinetobacter baumanniiHfqadhesioninvasionouter membrane vesicles |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Han-Yueh Kuo Han-Yueh Kuo Hsuan-Hao Chao Po-Cheng Liao Long Hsu Kai-Chih Chang Chi-Hua Tung Chang-Hua Chen Chang-Hua Chen Ming-Li Liou |
spellingShingle |
Han-Yueh Kuo Han-Yueh Kuo Hsuan-Hao Chao Po-Cheng Liao Long Hsu Kai-Chih Chang Chi-Hua Tung Chang-Hua Chen Chang-Hua Chen Ming-Li Liou Functional Characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii Lacking the RNA Chaperone Hfq Frontiers in Microbiology Acinetobacter baumannii Hfq adhesion invasion outer membrane vesicles |
author_facet |
Han-Yueh Kuo Han-Yueh Kuo Hsuan-Hao Chao Po-Cheng Liao Long Hsu Kai-Chih Chang Chi-Hua Tung Chang-Hua Chen Chang-Hua Chen Ming-Li Liou |
author_sort |
Han-Yueh Kuo |
title |
Functional Characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii Lacking the RNA Chaperone Hfq |
title_short |
Functional Characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii Lacking the RNA Chaperone Hfq |
title_full |
Functional Characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii Lacking the RNA Chaperone Hfq |
title_fullStr |
Functional Characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii Lacking the RNA Chaperone Hfq |
title_full_unstemmed |
Functional Characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii Lacking the RNA Chaperone Hfq |
title_sort |
functional characterization of acinetobacter baumannii lacking the rna chaperone hfq |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
issn |
1664-302X |
publishDate |
2017-10-01 |
description |
The RNA chaperone Hfq is involved in the riboregulation of diverse genes via small RNAs. Recent studies have demonstrated that Hfq contributes to the stress response and the virulence of several pathogens, and the roles of Hfq vary among bacterial species. Here, we attempted to elucidate the role of Hfq in Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 17978. In the absence of hfq, A. baumannii exhibited retarded cell growth and was highly sensitive to environmental stress, including osmotic and oxidative pressure, pH, and temperature. Compared to the wild-type, the Hfq mutant had reduced outer membrane vesicles secretion and fimbriae production as visualized by atomic force microscopy. The absence of hfq reduced biofilm formation, airway epithelial cell adhesion and invasion, and survival in macrophage. Further, the hfq mutant induced significantly higher IL-8 levels in airway epithelial cells, which would promote bacterial clearance by the host. In addition to results similar to those reported for other bacteria, our findings demonstrate that Hfq is required in the regulation of the iron-acquisition system via downregulating the bauA and basD genes, the stress-related outer membrane proteins carO, A1S_0820, ompA, and nlpE, and the stress-related cytosolic proteins uspA and groEL. Our data indicate that Hfq plays a critical role in environmental adaptation and virulence in A. baumannii by modulating stress responses, surface architectures, and virulence factors. This study is the first to illustrate the functional role of Hfq in A. baumannii. |
topic |
Acinetobacter baumannii Hfq adhesion invasion outer membrane vesicles |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02068/full |
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