Team:Washington/Gram Negative

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=New and Effective Killer of Gram-Negative Bacteria=
=New and Effective Killer of Gram-Negative Bacteria=
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[[Image: Washington Get away.jpg]]
 
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As time passes, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the old generation of small molecule antibiotics are becoming out dated.  Pathogens are continually evolving resistance to currently used antibiotics, and the discovery or modification of antibiotic treatments are slow to catch up. This continual evolution is causing the antibiotics to be less effective if not completely futile. Another problem with these antibiotics is that they do not differentiate between pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria; they kill both. There are many common diseases caused by gram-negative bacteria which inhabit the human gut, such as, but not limited to:''Vibrio cholerae''(cholera), ''Shigella'' (dysentary), and ''Salmonella'' (food poisoning).  When these diseases are contracted antibiotics are most often given in hopes that they will kill the pathogenic bacteria.  Quite often these antibiotics can cause a diverse range of side effects because they also end up killing other bacteria found naturally in the gut.  Most of the bacteria in the gut are actually helpful. They aid the body in digestion, production of vitamins such as vitamin K, and competitively exclude pathogenic invaders. Both the problems of resistance and non-specificity could be lessened by an antibacterial agent that selectively kills pathogenic bacteria.  This would limit the chance of the development of resistance by limiting exposure, and  would drastically decrease damage to the helpful gut flora.  The goal of this project is to turn the Tse2/Type VI secretion system, toxin/injection system,  into a probiotic that specifically targets a pathogenic gram-negative bacteria and is activated only when that specific bacteria is present.
 
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=The Type VI Secretion System=
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[[Image:UWT6SSOverview.png|center|600px|thumb|'''Probiotic Delivers a Toxin Specifically to Pathogens''']]
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[[Image:Washington_Type6_secretion_overview.jpg|100px|right]]The T6SS (Type VI Secretion System) is an injection mechanism found in many (such as ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa''), but not all gram-negative bacteria. ''E.Coli'' is one bacterial species that does not contain the T6SS.  Since ''E.Coli'' is a common gram-negative bacteria found naturally in the gut it seemed only logical to move the T6SS into it.  The T6SS acts much like a spear by physically puncturing the cell membrane. It also provides a channel through which proteins can be inserted into the punctured cellThe T6SS is physically incapable of puncturing the cell membrane of gram-positive bacteria, or the cell membrane of eukaryotic cells. This makes the T6SS a perfect candidate for a probiotic because it is unable to harm either  human cells or helpful gram-positive bacteria.
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It is becoming increasingly apparent that the utilization of small molecule antibiotics is becoming out-dated and less effective as time passes.  Pathogens are continually evolving resistance to currently used antibiotics, and the discovery or modification of antibiotic treatments are slow to match this resistance, resulting in antibiotics that are less effective if not completely futile.  Another problem with today's antibiotics is that they do not differentiate between pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria - they kill both.  There are many common diseases caused by Gram-negative bacteria which inhabit the human gut, such as, but not limited to: cholera (''Vibrio cholerae''), dysentery (''Shigella''), and food poisoning (''Salmonella Typhimurium'').  When these diseases are often treated with antibiotics, but in addition to killing pathogens (unless resistance has been obtained), these antibiotics also kill other bacteria naturally found in the gut, causing a diverse range of side effects.  Many of the bacteria in the gut are advantageous: they aid the body in digestion, production of vitamins such as vitamin K, and competitively exclude pathogenic invaders. Both problems of resistance and non-specificity could be lessened by an antibacterial agent that selectively kills pathogenic bacteriaThis would limit the chance of the development of resistance by limiting exposure, and would drastically decrease damage to the helpful gut flora. The goal of this project is to turn the natural bacterial weapon to kill other bacteria, the Type VI secretion system / toxin injection system, into a probiotic that specifically targets a pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria and is activated only when that specific bacterium is present.
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=Tse2/ Tsi2 toxin/antitoxin system=
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=The Type VI Secretion System=
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In ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'', one of the major proteins secreted by the T6SS is the toxic protein Tse2. Normally, Tse2(red in figure 2) forms a complex with Tsi2(green in figure 2), a protein coexpressed with Tse2 that serves as an antitoxin. Before Tse2 is secreted into the target cell, Tsi2 and Tse2 become unbound, and Tse2 is secreted into the target cell by the T6SS. The presence of Tse2 unbound to Tsi2 causes the target cell to die. By controlling the activation of Tse2 and Tsi2 production and having it turn on only when a pathogen is present, we are able to help combat both problems of specificity and resistance. 
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[[Image:UWT6SSSchematic.png|300px|right|thumb|'''T6SS Creates a Channel that Secretes Proteins from Host Cell into Target Cell''']]
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The Type VI Secretion System (T6SS) is an injection mechanism found in many Gram-negative bacteria (such as ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'')[[#References | [2]]].  The T6SS acts much like a spear by physically puncturing the cell membrane.  After puncturing, the "spear" provides a channel through which proteins, such as toxins, can be inserted into the punctured cell.  We wanted to put this system into a model bacterium and use it to target Gram-negative pathogens.  The T6SS is physically incapable of puncturing the cell membrane of Gram-positive bacteria, or the cell membrane of eukaryotic cells.  This makes the T6SS a perfect candidate for a probiotic because it is unable to harm either human cells or helpful Gram-positive bacteria.  This system has been characterized in the lab of [http://depts.washington.edu/micro/faculty/mougous.htm Dr. Joseph Mougous].  ''E. coli'' is one bacterial species that does not contain the T6SS.  Since ''E. coli'' is amenable to genetic changes, is easy to work with in the lab, and is a common Gram-negative bacteria found naturally in the gut, it seemed only logical to move the T6SS into ''E. coli''.
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[[Image:Washington_Type_VI_secretion_image.png|center|frame|Figure 2: Diagram of the Tse2/Tsi2 toxin/antitoxin system]]
 
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=Toxin  Antitoxin System=
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In ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'', one of the major proteins secreted by the T6SS into target Gram-negative bacteria is the toxic protein Tse2 [[#References | [1]]]. Tse2 has been shown to cause cell death when expressed internally in a wide variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Normally, Tse2 (yellow in the figure below) forms a complex with Tsi2 (green in the figure below), which is a protein coexpressed with Tse2 that serves as an antitoxin.  Cells that express Tse2 and Tsi2 are immune to the toxic effects of Tse2.  Before Tse2 is secreted into the target cell, Tsi2 and Tse2 become unbound and Tse2 is secreted into the target cell by the T6SS.  The presence of Tse2 in the absence of Tsi2 causes the target cell to die.  By controlling the expression of Tse2 and Tsi2 production and having it turn on only when a pathogen is present, we have an antibiotic that is fairly selective only for the pathogen.  This helps combat both problems of specificity and resistance.
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[[Image:washington_hoodpic.jpg|500px|thumb|center| Schematic of our probiotic system ( adapted from[[#References | [1]]] )]]
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==References==
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1.  Hood RD, Singh P, Hsu F, Güvener T, Carl MA, Trinidad RR, Silverman JM, Ohlson BB, Hicks KG, Plemel RL, Li M, Schwarz S, Wang WY, Merz AJ, Goodlett DR, Mougous JD. [http://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/abstract/S1931-3128%2809%2900417-X#Summary A type VI secretion system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa targets a toxin to bacteria]. Cell Host Microbe. 2010 Jan 21;7(1):25-37. PMID: 20114026
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2. Filloux, Alain, Hachani, Abderrahman, Bleves, Sophie
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[http://mic.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/154/6/1570#SEC7 The bacterial type VI secretion machine: yet another player for protein transport across membranes]
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Microbiology 2008 154: 1570-1583
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'''&larr; [[Team:Washington/Gram Positive/Test|Testing the Gram(+) Therapeutic]]'''
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'''&larr; [[Team:Washington|Home]]'''
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Latest revision as of 16:29, 26 October 2010

New and Effective Killer of Gram-Negative Bacteria

Probiotic Delivers a Toxin Specifically to Pathogens

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the utilization of small molecule antibiotics is becoming out-dated and less effective as time passes. Pathogens are continually evolving resistance to currently used antibiotics, and the discovery or modification of antibiotic treatments are slow to match this resistance, resulting in antibiotics that are less effective if not completely futile. Another problem with today's antibiotics is that they do not differentiate between pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria - they kill both. There are many common diseases caused by Gram-negative bacteria which inhabit the human gut, such as, but not limited to: cholera (Vibrio cholerae), dysentery (Shigella), and food poisoning (Salmonella Typhimurium). When these diseases are often treated with antibiotics, but in addition to killing pathogens (unless resistance has been obtained), these antibiotics also kill other bacteria naturally found in the gut, causing a diverse range of side effects. Many of the bacteria in the gut are advantageous: they aid the body in digestion, production of vitamins such as vitamin K, and competitively exclude pathogenic invaders. Both problems of resistance and non-specificity could be lessened by an antibacterial agent that selectively kills pathogenic bacteria. This would limit the chance of the development of resistance by limiting exposure, and would drastically decrease damage to the helpful gut flora. The goal of this project is to turn the natural bacterial weapon to kill other bacteria, the Type VI secretion system / toxin injection system, into a probiotic that specifically targets a pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria and is activated only when that specific bacterium is present.

The Type VI Secretion System

T6SS Creates a Channel that Secretes Proteins from Host Cell into Target Cell

The Type VI Secretion System (T6SS) is an injection mechanism found in many Gram-negative bacteria (such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa) [2]. The T6SS acts much like a spear by physically puncturing the cell membrane. After puncturing, the "spear" provides a channel through which proteins, such as toxins, can be inserted into the punctured cell. We wanted to put this system into a model bacterium and use it to target Gram-negative pathogens. The T6SS is physically incapable of puncturing the cell membrane of Gram-positive bacteria, or the cell membrane of eukaryotic cells. This makes the T6SS a perfect candidate for a probiotic because it is unable to harm either human cells or helpful Gram-positive bacteria. This system has been characterized in the lab of [http://depts.washington.edu/micro/faculty/mougous.htm Dr. Joseph Mougous]. E. coli is one bacterial species that does not contain the T6SS. Since E. coli is amenable to genetic changes, is easy to work with in the lab, and is a common Gram-negative bacteria found naturally in the gut, it seemed only logical to move the T6SS into E. coli.



Toxin Antitoxin System

In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, one of the major proteins secreted by the T6SS into target Gram-negative bacteria is the toxic protein Tse2 [1]. Tse2 has been shown to cause cell death when expressed internally in a wide variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Normally, Tse2 (yellow in the figure below) forms a complex with Tsi2 (green in the figure below), which is a protein coexpressed with Tse2 that serves as an antitoxin. Cells that express Tse2 and Tsi2 are immune to the toxic effects of Tse2. Before Tse2 is secreted into the target cell, Tsi2 and Tse2 become unbound and Tse2 is secreted into the target cell by the T6SS. The presence of Tse2 in the absence of Tsi2 causes the target cell to die. By controlling the expression of Tse2 and Tsi2 production and having it turn on only when a pathogen is present, we have an antibiotic that is fairly selective only for the pathogen. This helps combat both problems of specificity and resistance.

Schematic of our probiotic system ( adapted from [1] )



References

1. Hood RD, Singh P, Hsu F, Güvener T, Carl MA, Trinidad RR, Silverman JM, Ohlson BB, Hicks KG, Plemel RL, Li M, Schwarz S, Wang WY, Merz AJ, Goodlett DR, Mougous JD. [http://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/abstract/S1931-3128%2809%2900417-X#Summary A type VI secretion system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa targets a toxin to bacteria]. Cell Host Microbe. 2010 Jan 21;7(1):25-37. PMID: 20114026
2. Filloux, Alain, Hachani, Abderrahman, Bleves, Sophie [http://mic.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/154/6/1570#SEC7 The bacterial type VI secretion machine: yet another player for protein transport across membranes] Microbiology 2008 154: 1570-1583

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