Biomedical subjects

Jean-Pierre Liautard

Publications and source records attributed to Jean-Pierre Liautard.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Different roles of the two high-oxygen-affinity terminal oxidases of Brucella suis: Cytochrome c oxidase, but not ubiquinol oxidase, is required for persistence in mice.

The survival of Brucella suis mutant strains in mice demonstrated different roles of the two high-oxygen-affinity terminal oxidases. The cbb3-type cytochrome c oxidase was essential for chronic infection in oxygen-deficient organs. Lack of the cytochrome bd ubiquinol oxidase led to hypervirulence of bacteria, which could rely on nitrite accumulation inhibiting the inducible nitric oxide synthase of the host.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Release of LL-37 by activated human Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells: a microbicidal weapon against Brucella suis.

Human Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells play a crucial role in early immune response to intracellular pathogens. Moreover, in brucellosis, these cells are drastically increased in the peripheral blood of patients during the acute phase of infection. In vitro, Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells are capable of inhibiting Brucella growth and development through a combination of mechanisms: 1) cytotoxicity, 2) macrophage activation and bactericidal activity through cytokine and chemokine secretion, and 3) antibacterial effects. We previously described that antibacterial factors were found in supernatants from activated Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells. In this study, we show that Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells express the human cathelicidin hCAP18 and its mature form, known as LL-37, is released upon activation of Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells. We also show that LL-37 has an antibacterial effect on Brucella suis. Overall, our results demonstrate that LL-37 is a soluble factor responsible for a part of the bactericidal activity of Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells.

Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides↗

PubMed2006

Antimicrobials: targeting virulence genes necessary for intracellular multiplication.

Intracellular bacteria constitute a major class of pathogens for humans and animals. Their pathogenicity is linked to their ability to multiply inside a host cell. A set of virulence genes (virulome) is required for this intracellular lifestyle. Recent studies have shown that blocking the enzymes encoded by these virulence genes impairs intracellular multiplication of the pathogen. These specific factors could constitute a new set of possible targets for antimicrobial drugs. The potential advantages, pitfalls and challenges of a strategy that targets these virulence factors are discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Requirement of norD for Brucella suis virulence in a murine model of in vitro and in vivo infection.

A mutant of Brucella suis bearing a Tn5 insertion in norD, the last gene of the operon norEFCBQD, encoding nitric oxide reductase, was unable to survive under anaerobic denitrifying conditions. The norD strain exhibited attenuated multiplication within nitric oxide-producing murine macrophages and rapid elimination in mice, hence demonstrating that norD is essential for Brucella virulence.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Modulation of prion protein structure by pressure and temperature.

High pressure and temperature have been used efficiently to shed light on prion protein structure and folding. These physical parameters induce different conformational states of the prion protein, suggesting that prion structural changes occur within a complex energy landscape. Pressure has been used to prevent and even reverse prion protein aggregation. Alternatively, depending on experimental conditions, pressure also promotes prion protein aggregation leading to the formation of amorphous aggregates and amyloid fibrils. The latter ones show all characteristics of the pathogenic scrapie form. Furthermore, the pressure effects on prion protein structure appear to be strongly dependent on the integrity of the disulfide bond. In this paper, we discuss the mechanism and the origin of these opposing effects of pressure, taking the truncated form of hamster prion protein (SHaPrP(90-231)) as a model.

Disulfides↗

PubMed2005

Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells use a combination of mechanisms to limit the spread of the pathogenic bacteria Brucella.

Human Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells play a crucial role in early immune response to intracellular pathogens. In brucellosis infection, this population of cells is drastically increased in the peripheral blood of patients during the acute phase of infection. In vitro, Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells exhibit strong cytolytic activity against Brucella-infected cells and are able to impair intracellular growth of Brucella suis in autologous macrophages. In this study, we have investigated the relative importance of contact-dependent mechanisms versus soluble factors in the intracellular growth and viability of B. suis. We show that Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells use contact-dependent mechanisms, such as the release of lytic granules and Fas-mediated signals, to decrease intracellular B. suis through lysis of infected macrophages, but these mechanisms have little impact on Brucella survival. Moreover, we demonstrate that soluble factors secreted by Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells can directly affect B. suis survival through their potent bactericidal effects. From these results, we conclude that Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells are able to use a combination of mechanisms that reduce the total numbers of B. suis and thus, may benefit the host by limiting the spread of this intracellular pathogen.

Blood Bactericidal Activity↗

PubMed2005

The role of the 132-160 region in prion protein conformational transitions.

The native conformation of host-encoded cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) is metastable. As a result of a post-translational event, PrP(C) can convert to the scrapie form (PrP(Sc)), which emerges as the essential constituent of infectious prions. Despite thorough research, the mechanism underlying this conformational transition remains unknown. However, several studies have highlighted the importance of the N-terminal region spanning residues 90-154 in PrP folding. In order to understand why PrP folds into two different conformational states exhibiting distinct secondary and tertiary structure, and to gain insight into the involvement of this particular region in PrP transconformation, we studied the pressure-induced unfolding/ refolding of recombinant Syrian hamster PrP expanding from residues 90-231, and compared it with heat unfolding. By using two intrinsic fluorescent variants of this protein (Y150W and F141W), conformational changes confined to the 132-160 segment were monitored. Multiple conformational states of the Trp variants, characterized by their spectroscopic properties (fluorescence and UV absorbance in the fourth derivative mode), were achieved by tuning the experimental conditions of pressure and temperature. Further insight into unexplored conformational states of the prion protein, likely to mimic the in vivo structural change, was obtained from pressure-assisted cold unfolding. Furthermore, salt-induced conformational changes suggested a structural stabilizing role of Tyr150 and Phe141 residues, slowing down the conversion to a beta-sheet form.

Amino Acids↗

PubMed2005

Targeting of the virulence factor acetohydroxyacid synthase by sulfonylureas results in inhibition of intramacrophagic multiplication of Brucella suis.

The acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) of Brucella suis can be effectively targeted by the sulfonylureas chlorimuron ethyl and metsulfuron methyl. Growth in minimal medium was inhibited, and multiplication in human macrophages was totally abolished with 100 microM of sulfonylureas. Metsulfuron methyl-resistant mutants showed reduced viability in macrophages and reduced AHAS activity.

Acetolactate Synthase↗

PubMed2005

Absence of evidence for the participation of the macrophage cellular prion protein in infection with Brucella suis.

Brucella spp. are stealthy bacteria that enter host cells without major perturbation. The molecular mechanism involved is still poorly understood, although numerous studies have been published on this subject. Recently, it was reported that Brucella abortus utilizes cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) to enter the cells and to reach its replicative niche. The molecular mechanisms involved were not clearly defined, prompting us to analyze this process using blocking antibodies against PrP(C). However, the behavior of Brucella during cellular infection under these conditions was not modified. In a next step, the behavior of Brucella in macrophages lacking the prion gene and the infection of mice knocked out for the prion gene were studied. We observed no difference from results obtained with the wild-type control. Although some contacts between PrP(C) and Brucella were observed on the surface of the cells by using confocal microscopy, we could not show that Brucella specifically bound recombinant PrP(C). Therefore, we concluded from our results that prion protein (PrP(C)) was not involved in Brucella infection.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Analysis of the behavior of eryC mutants of Brucella suis attenuated in macrophages.

The facultatively intracellular pathogen Brucella, characterized by its capacity to replicate in professional and non professional phagocytes, also causes abortion in ruminants. This property has been linked to the presence of erythritol in the placenta, as brucellae preferentially utilize erythritol. The ery operon encodes enzymes involved in erythritol metabolism, and a link with virulence has since been discussed. Allelic exchange mutants in eryC of Brucella suis were erythritol sensitive in vitro with a MIC of 1 to 5 mM of erythritol. Their multiplication in macrophage-like cells was 50- to 90-fold reduced, but complementation of the mutant restored wild-type levels of intracellular multiplication and the capacity to use erythritol as a sole carbon source. In vivo, the eryC mutant colonized the spleens of infected BALB/c mice to a significantly lower extent than the wild type and the complemented strain. Interestingly, eryC mutants that were in addition spontaneously erythritol tolerant nevertheless exhibited wild-type-like intramacrophagic and intramurine replication. We concluded from our results that erythritol was not an essential carbon source for the pathogen in the macrophage host cell but that the inactivation of the eryC gene significantly reduced the intramacrophagic and intramurine fitness of B. suis.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Differential use of the two high-oxygen-affinity terminal oxidases of Brucella suis for in vitro and intramacrophagic multiplication.

Expression of the high-oxygen-affinity cytochrome cbb3 and cytochrome bd ubiquinol oxidases of Brucella suis was studied in vitro and in the intramacrophagic niche, which was previously proposed to be oxygen limited. The cytochrome cbb3 oxidase was exclusively expressed in vitro, whereas the cytochrome bd oxidase was preferentially used inside macrophages and contributed to intracellular bacterial replication.

Aerobiosis↗

PubMed2004

Synthesis of prenyl pyrophosphonates as new potent phosphoantigens inducing selective activation of human Vgamma9Vdelta2 T lymphocytes.

Gamma9delta2T cells represent the most abundant population of human blood gammadeltaT lymphocytes. They produce and promote strong cytotoxic activity against many pathogens that are implicated in several human infectious diseases. Their activation requires their exposure to small phosphorus-containing antigens in the family of prenyl pyrophosphates and their related biosynthetic precursors such as isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP), which are naturally occurring metabolites in mycobacteria and several other microbial pathogens. The broad specificity in the recognition of these molecules by the T-lymphocyte population expressing a Vgamma9Vdelta2 cell receptor might facilitate their manipulation by designing small potent synthetic agonist ligands. In this paper, we describe the synthesis and the biological evaluation of new pyrophosphonate compounds as new isosteric analogues of natural prenyl pyrophosphates. Several prenyl and alkenyl pyrophosphonate with different chain lengths and degrees of insaturation (24-28, 48-50, and 64-66) were tested as well as the alkoxymethylpyrophosphonic analogue of IPP (compound 76) as its closest isostere. Several of them appeared to be better activators of Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cell proliferation than IPP. These results open the perspective of a potential use of isoprenoides pyrophosphonates as specific immunoregulatory molecules.

Antigens↗

PubMed2004

High pressure induces scrapie-like prion protein misfolding and amyloid fibril formation.

Our understanding of conformational conversion of proteins in diseases is essential for any diagnostic and therapeutic approach. Although not fully understood, misfolding of the prion protein (PrP) is implicated in the pathogenesis of prion diseases. Despite several efforts to produce the pathologically misfolded conformation in vitro from a recombinant PrP, no positive result has yet been obtained. Within the "protein-only hypothesis", the reason for this hindrance may be that the experimental conditions used did not allow selection of the pathway adopted in vivo resulting in conversion into the infectious form. Here, using a pressure perturbation approach, we show that recombinant PrP is converted to a novel misfolded conformer, which is prone to aggregate and ultimately form amyloid fibrils. A short incubation at high pressure (600 MPa) of the truncated form of hamster prion protein (SHaPrP(90-231)) resulted in the formation of pre-amyloid structures. The mostly globular aggregates were characterized by ThT and ANS binding, and by a beta-sheet-rich secondary structure. After overnight incubation at 600 MPa, amyloid fibrils were formed. In contrast to pre-amyloid structures, they showed birefringency of polarized light after Congo red staining and a strongly decreased ANS binding capacity, but enhanced ThT binding. Both aggregate types were resistant to digestion by PK, and can be considered as potential scrapie-like forms or precursors. These results may be useful for the search for compounds preventing pathogenic PrP misfolding and aggregation.

Amyloid↗

PubMed2004

Impairment of intramacrophagic Brucella suis multiplication by human natural killer cells through a contact-dependent mechanism.

Brucella spp. are facultative intracellular bacteria that can establish themselves and cause chronic disease in humans and animals. NK cells play a key role in host defense. They are implicated in an early immune response to a variety of pathogens. However, it was shown that they do not control Brucella infection in mice. On the other hand, NK cell activity is impaired in patients with acute brucellosis, and recently it was demonstrated that human NK cells mediate the killing of intramacrophagic Mycobacterium tuberculosis in in vitro infection. Therefore, we have analyzed the behavior of Brucella suis infecting isolated human macrophages in the presence of syngeneic NK cells. We show that (i) NK cells impair the intramacrophagic development of B. suis, a phenomenon enhanced by NK cell activators, such as interleukin-2; (ii) NK cells cultured in the presence of infected macrophages are highly activated and secrete gamma interferon and tumor necrosis factor alpha; (iii) impairment of bacterial multiplication inside infected cells is marginally associated with the cytokines produced during the early phase of macrophage-NK cell cocultures; (iv) direct cell-to-cell contact is required for NK cells to mediate the inhibition of B. suis development; and (v) inhibition of B. suis development results from an induction of NK cell cytotoxicity against infected macrophages. Altogether, these findings show that NK cells could participate early in controlling the intramacrophagic development of B. suis in humans. It seems thus reasonable to hypothesize a role for NK cells in the control of human brucellosis. However, by impairing the activity of these cells in the acute phase of the illness, the pathogen should avoid this control.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Specific signaling pathways triggered by IL-2 in human V gamma 9V delta 2 T cells: an amalgamation of NK and alpha beta T cell signaling.

The global immune response can be simplified into two components: the innate and the acquired systems. The innate immune response comprises primarily macrophages and NK cells, while B and T cells orchestrate the acquired response. Human Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells represent a minor T cell subpopulation in blood (1-5%) that is activated via the TCR by small nonpeptidic molecules. Their percentage dramatically increases during the early phase of infection by intracellular pathogens, and they display many characteristics of NK cells, which places them at a unique position within the immune system. Our aim was to explore the behavior of these cells when they are activated by a receptor that is common to NK and alphabeta T cells, and to determine signaling pathways and biological responses induced in these cells through this receptor. Thus, we investigated whether Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells behave as NK cells or as alphabeta T cells. We demonstrated that IL-2 activates not only STAT3, STAT5, the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase-2 pathway, but also STAT4 as in NK cells, and the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway as in alphabeta T cells. Moreover, IL-2 induces the production of IFN-gamma in Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells as observed in NK cells. Due to their double profiles, Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells are at the interface of the innate and the acquired immune response and may therefore not only modulate the activity of innate cells, but also influence Th1/Th2 differentiation.

Cells, Cultured↗

PubMed2003

Subversion and utilization of the host cell cyclic adenosine 5'-monophosphate/protein kinase A pathway by Brucella during macrophage infection.

Brucella spp. are intramacrophage pathogens that induce chronic infections in a wide range of mammals, including domestic animals and humans. Therefore, the macrophage response to infection has important consequences for both the survival of phagocytosed bacteria and the further development of host immunity. However, very little is known about the macrophage cell signaling pathways initiated upon infection and the virulence strategy that Brucella use to counteract these responses and secure their survival. In a previous study, we have shown that macrophages activated by SR141716A, a ligand of the cannabinoid receptor CB1, acquired the capacity to control Brucella and observed that the CB1 receptor-triggering engages the microbicidal activity of phagocytes. To analyze the perturbation of cell signaling pathway during macrophage infection by Brucella, we hypothesized that SR141716A provides cell signaling that interferes with the bacterial message leading to inhibition of macrophage functions. As CB1 receptor belongs to the family of G protein-linked receptors, we explored the cAMP signaling pathway. In this study, we show that the CB1 ligand inhibited the bacteria-induced cell signaling. Taking advantage of this result, we then demonstrated that Brucella infection elicited a rapid activation of the cAMP/protein kinase A pathway. This activation resulted in a prolonged phosphorylation of the transcription factor CREB. We finally demonstrate that the activation of the cAMP/protein kinase A pathway is crucial for the survival and establishment of Brucella within macrophages. For the first time in phagocytes, we thus characterized a primordial virulence strategy of Brucella involving the host signaling pathway, a novel point of immune intervention of this virulent pathogen.

Brucella suis↗

PubMed2003

Optimized overproduction, purification, characterization and high-pressure sensitivity of the prion protein in the native (PrP(C)-like) or amyloid (PrP(Sc)-like) conformation.

Overproduction and purification of the prion protein is a major concern for biological or biophysical analysis as are the structural specificities of this protein in relation to infectivity. We have developed a method for the effective cloning, overexpression in Escherichia coli and purification to homogeneity of Syrian golden hamster prion protein (SHaPrP(90-231)). A high level of overexpression, resulting in the formation of inclusion bodies, was obtained under the control of the T7-inducible promoter of the pET15b plasmid. The protein required denaturation, reduction and refolding steps to become soluble and attain its native conformation. Purification was carried out by differential centrifugation, gel filtration and reverse phase chromatography. An improved cysteine oxidation protocol using oxidized glutathione under denaturing conditions, resulted in the recovery of a higher yield of chromatographically pure protein. About 10 mg of PrP protein per liter of bacterial culture was obtained. The recombinant protein was identified by monoclonal antibodies and its integrity was confirmed by electrospray mass spectrometry (ES/MS), whereas correct folding was assessed by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. This protein had the structural characteristics of PrP(C) and could be converted to an amyloid structure sharing biophysical and biochemical properties of the pathologic form (PrP(Sc)). The sensitivity of these two forms to high pressure was investigated. We demonstrate the potential of using pressure as a thermodynamic parameter to rescue trapped aggregated prion conformations into a soluble state, and to explore new conformational coordinates of the prion protein conformational landscape.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Alternative prion structural changes revealed by high pressure.

At high temperature, recombinant hamster prion protein (SHaPrP(90-231)) undergoes aggregation and changes from a predominantly alpha-helical to beta-sheet conformation. We then applied high pressure (200 MPa) to the beta-sheet-rich conformation. The aggregation was reversed, and the original tertiary and secondary structures were recovered at ambient pressure, after pressure release. The application of a pressure of 200 MPa thus allowed studying the heat-induced equilibrium refolding in the absence of protein aggregation. Prion protein unfolding as a function of high pressure was also investigated. Simple two-state, reversible unfolding transitions were observed, as monitored by spectral changes in the UV and fluorescence of the hydrophobic probe 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonate. However, these heat- and pressure-induced conformers differed in their unfolding free energy. At pressures over 400 MPa, strong thioflavin-T binding was observed, suggesting a further structural change to a metastable oligomeric structure.

Animals↗