Biomedical subjects

Yves Le Loir

Publications and source records attributed to Yves Le Loir.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Heterologous expression of Brucella abortus GroEL heat-shock protein in Lactococcus lactis.

BACKGROUND: Brucella abortus is a facultative intracellular pathogen that mainly infects cattle and humans. Current vaccines rely on live attenuated strains of B. abortus, which can revert to their pathogenic status and thus are not totally safe for use in humans. Therefore, the development of mucosal live vaccines using the food-grade lactic acid bacterium, Lactococcus lactis, as an antigen delivery vector, is an attractive alternative and a safer vaccination strategy against B. abortus. Here, we report the construction of L. lactis strains genetically modified to produce B. abortus GroEL heat-shock protein, a candidate antigen, in two cellular locations, intracellular or secreted. RESULTS: Only the secreted form of GroEL was stably produced in L. lactis, suggesting a detrimental effect of GroEL protein when intracellularly produced in this bacterium. Only trace amounts of mature GroEL were detected in the supernatant fraction of induced lactococcal cultures, and the GroEL precursor remained stacked in the cell fraction. Attempts to raise the secretion yields were made, but even when GroEL was fused to a synthetic propeptide, secretion of this antigen was not improved. CONCLUSION: We found that L. lactis is able to produce, and to secrete, a stable form of GroEL into the extracellular medium. Despite the low secretion efficiency of GroEL, which suggest that this antigen interacts with the cell envelope of L. lactis, secretion seems to be the best way to achieve both production and protein yields, regardless of cellular location. The L. lactis strain secreting GroEL has potential for in vivo immunization.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Testing of a whole genome PCR scanning approach to identify genomic variability in four different species of lactic acid bacteria.

Genomes can be markedly heterogeneous in conspecific bacterial strains. Genome sequences can be used to analyze genome plasticity via a PCR(2) (plasticity of chromosome revealed by PCR) approach. Small-sized chromosomes can indeed be fully amplified by long-range PCR with a set of primers designed using a reference strain and then applied to several other strains. Analysis of the resulting patterns can reveal genome plasticity. GenoFrag, a software package for the design of primers optimized for PCR(2) [N. Ben Zakour, M. Gautier, R. Andonov, D. Lavenier, M.F. Cochet, P. Veber, A. Sorokin, Y. Le Loir, GenoFrag: Software to design primers optimized for whole genome scanning by long-range PCR amplification, Nucleic Acids Res. 32 (2004) 17-24] was developed for the analysis of bacterial genome plasticity by whole genome amplification in approximately 10-kb-long fragments. By applying GenoFrag, we provide herewith evidence that genome plasticity can be analyzed in lactic acid bacteria using a PCR(2) approach. The genome sequences of Lactococcus lactis IL1403, Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1, Lactobacillus bulgaricus ATCC11842 and Bifidobacterium longum NCC2705 were used to design four sets of primers. Each set was evaluated in silico to check that it ensured optimum coverage of the bacterial chromosome. To validate the primers generated by GenoFrag, a subset of primers was successfully used in LR-PCR experiments on genomic DNA from four L. bulgaricus strains.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗

PubMed2005

Protein secretion in Lactococcus lactis : an efficient way to increase the overall heterologous protein production.

Lactococcus lactis, the model lactic acid bacterium (LAB), is a food grade and well-characterized Gram positive bacterium. It is a good candidate for heterologous protein delivery in foodstuff or in the digestive tract. L. lactis can also be used as a protein producer in fermentor. Many heterologous proteins have already been produced in L. lactis but only few reports allow comparing production yields for a given protein either produced intracellularly or secreted in the medium. Here, we review several works evaluating the influence of the localization on the production yields of several heterologous proteins produced in L. lactis. The questions of size limits, conformation, and proteolysis are addressed and discussed with regard to protein yields. These data show that i) secretion is preferable to cytoplasmic production; ii) secretion enhancement (by signal peptide and propeptide optimization) results in increased production yield; iii) protein conformation rather than protein size can impair secretion and thus alter production yields; and iv) fusion of a stable protein can stabilize labile proteins. The role of intracellular proteolysis on heterologous cytoplasmic proteins and precursors is discussed. The new challenges now are the development of food grade systems and the identification and optimization of host factors affecting heterologous protein production not only in L. lactis, but also in other LAB species.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

GenoFrag: software to design primers optimized for whole genome scanning by long-range PCR amplification.

Genome sequence data can be used to analyze genome plasticity by whole genome PCR scanning. Small sized chromosomes can indeed be fully amplified by long-range PCR with a set of primers designed using a reference strain and applied to several other strains. Analysis of the resulting patterns can reveal the genome plasticity. To facilitate such analysis, we have developed GenoFrag, a software package for the design of primers optimized for whole genome scanning by long-range PCR. GenoFrag was developed for the analysis of Staphylococcus aureus genome plasticity by whole genome amplification in approximately 10 kb-long fragments. A set of primers was generated from the genome sequence of S.aureus N315, employed here as a reference strain. Two subsets of primers were successfully used to amplify two portions of the N315 chromosome. This experimental validation demonstrates that GenoFrag is a robust and reliable tool for primer design and that whole genome PCR scanning can be envisaged for the analysis of genome diversity in S.aureus, one of the major public health concerns worldwide.

Base Pairing↗

PubMed2004

An inducible surface presentation system improves cellular immunity against human papillomavirus type 16 E7 antigen in mice after nasal administration with recombinant lactococci.

Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) is the major causative agent of cervical cancer. To date, vaccine strategies against HPV-16 are based on the ability of the E7 oncoprotein to elicit an immune response against this virus. In this study, the use of an inducible or a constitutive system to produce the HPV-16 E7 protein in Lactococcus lactis, a non-pathogenic and non-invasive Gram-positive bacterium, was compared. The highest E7 production was obtained with the inducible system. When mice were immunized intranasally with recombinant lactococci expressing either inducible or constitutive E7, an antigen-specific cellular response (i.e. secretion of IL2 and IFN-gamma cytokines) was evoked and was substantially higher in mice receiving L. lactis expressing E7 with the inducible system. As bacterial antigen location may influence the immune response, recombinant L. lactis strains that produced E7 in three cellular locations, intracellular, secreted or cell-wall-anchored were evaluated. The highest immune response was elicited by administration of L. lactis producing an inducible cell-wall-anchored form of E7 protein. These promising results represent a step towards the development of a new, safe mucosal vector to treat HPV-related cervical cancer.

Administration, Intranasal↗

PubMed2004

Development of a PCR test to differentiate between Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus intermedius.

The presence of Staphylococcus intermedius in food remains unclear because routine laboratory analysis does not discriminate between S. intermedius and Staphylococcus aureus, a major cause of food poisoning. Both species share many phenotypic characteristics, including coagulase and thermonuclease production. In both species, some strains can produce enterotoxin and therefore can be the cause of food poisoning outbreaks. Although the ID32 Staph System (bioMérieux, SA, Marcy l'Etoile, France), based on a miniaturized phenotypic characterization, gives satisfactory results for discriminating between these two species, some rapid molecular PCR-based methods have been developed to identify S. aureus specifically, but they do not identify S. intermedius. Here, we developed a rapid, accurate, and discriminative multiplex PCR method that targets species-specific sequences in the nuc gene, which encodes thermonuclease in the two species. The test includes an internal positive control that targets a highly conserved region of 16S ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA). A total of 116 strains were used to validate our test. The test gave no signal on the following Staphylococcus species: S. epidermidis, S. chromogenes, S. hyicus, S. warneri, S. xylosus, S. lentus, and S. sciuri. It allowed a 100% successful discrimination between S. aureus (44 strains tested) and S. intermedius (57 strains) isolated from different origins.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Oxidative stress in Lactococcus lactis.

Lactococcus lactis, the most extensively characterized lactic acid bacterium, is a mesophilic- and microaerophilic-fermenting microorganism widely used for the production of fermented food products. During industrial processes, L. lactis is often exposed to multiple environmental stresses (low and high temperature, low pH, high osmotic pressure, nutrient starvation and oxidation) that can cause loss or reduction of bacterial viability, reproducibility, as well as organoleptic and/or fermentative qualities. Among these stress factors, oxidation can be considered one of the most deleterious to the cell, causing cellular damage at both molecular and metabolic levels. During the last two decades, considerable efforts have been made to improve our knowledge of oxidative stress in L. lactis. Many genes involved with both oxidative stress resistance and control mechanisms have been identified; functionally they seem to overlap. The finding of new genes, and a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of stress resistance in L. lactis and other lactic acid bacterium, will lead to the construction and isolation of stress-resistant strains. Such strains could be exploited for both traditional and probiotic uses.

Cell Survival↗

PubMed2003

Mice immunization with live lactococci displaying a surface anchored HPV-16 E7 oncoprotein.

E7 oncoprotein of human papillomavirus-16 (HPV-16) is constitutively produced in cervical cancer (CxCa) and is a good candidate for the design of therapeutic vaccines. In this work, the nisin-controlled expression system was used to display the E7 protein at the cell surface of the food-grade Gram-positive bacterium Lactococcus lactis. An efficient cell wall anchoring of E7 was obtained. Intranasal administration of these recombinant lactococci in mice induced an HPV-16 E7-specific immune response. This is the first report of E7 cell wall anchoring in L. lactis and represents one more step towards the use of live food-grade bacteria to fight against CxCa.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Controlled intra- or extracellular production of staphylococcal nuclease and ovine omega interferon in Lactococcus lactis.

A system for controlled targeting of heterologous protein was developed in the food-grade bacterium Lactococcus lactis. It is composed of the L. lactis strain NZ9000 and of two broad host range expression vectors pCYT:Nuc and pSEC:Nuc for, respectively, cytoplasmic and secreted staphylococcal nuclease (Nuc) nisin-inducible production. The level of intracellular production of Nuc measured with pCYT:Nuc (3 mg x l(-1)) is significantly lower than the one obtained with pSEC:Nuc ( approximately 20 mg x l(-1)). The secretion efficiency (SE) of Nuc is estimated to be approximately 70%, corresponding to approximately 15 mg of secreted Nuc x l(-1). Furthermore, we established that Nuc production continued in L. lactis 10 h after a 1-h nisin-pulse induction. This system was then used for intra- and extracellular production of a protein of therapeutical interest in L. lactis, the ovine interferon-omega (IFN-omega). The SE and the quantity of secreted active IFN-omega were evaluated respectively to be approximately 70% and approximately 1 mg x l(-1) ( approximately two-fold higher than the cytoplasmic form).

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Staphylococcus aureus and food poisoning.

Food-borne diseases are of major concern worldwide. To date, around 250 different food-borne diseases have been described, and bacteria are the causative agents of two thirds of food-borne disease outbreaks. Among the predominant bacteria involved in these diseases, Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of gastroenteritis resulting from the consumption of contaminated food. Staphylococcal food poisoning is due to the absorption of staphylococcal enterotoxins preformed in the food. Here, we briefly review the latest data on staphylococcal enterotoxins and some papers exemplifying the interactions between S. aureus and the food matrix; environmental factors affecting staphylococcal enterotoxin production are discussed.

Enterotoxins↗

PubMed2003

Heterologous protein production and delivery systems for Lactococcus lactis.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), widely used in the food industry, are present in the intestine of most animals, including humans. The potential use of these bacteria as live vehicles for the production and delivery of heterologous proteins of vaccinal, medical or technological interest has therefore been extensively investigated. Lactococcus lactis, a LAB species, is a potential candidate for the production of biologically useful proteins. Several delivery systems have been developed to target heterologous proteins to a specific cell location (i.e., cytoplasm, cell wall or extracellular medium). A promising application of L. lactis is its use as an antigen delivery vehicle, for the development of live mucosal vaccines. The expression of heterologous proteins and antigens as well as the various delivery systems developed in L. lactis, and its use as an oral vaccine carrier are discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Induction of partial protection in mice after oral administration of Lactococcus lactis producing Brucella abortus L7/L12 antigen.

The Brucella abortus ribosomal protein L7/L12 is an immunodominant antigen and an interesting candidate for the development of oral live vaccines against brucellosis. Here, a recombinant Lactococcus lactis strain producing L7/L12 under the control of nisin inducible promoter was orally administered to BALB/c mice. Significant levels of anti-L7/L12 specific IgA detected in feces revealed an induced local humoral immune response. However, serum analysis did not reveal any anti-L7/L12 antibodies suggesting the absence of a systemic response. Nevertheless, the vaccinated mice showed a partial protective immunity against B. abortus virulent strain (S2308) challenged by intraperitoneal inoculation.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed2003

Characterization of a Lactococcus lactis strain that secretes a major epitope of bovine beta-lactoglobulin and evaluation of its immunogenicity in mice.

Bovine beta-lactoglobulin (Blg) is one of the major cow's milk allergens. Peptide 41-60 of Blg (Blg41-60) was described as a murine T-cell determinant and a murine, rat, and human immunoglobulin E (IgE) epitope. The aim of this study was the expression of Blg41-60 as a fusion protein in the food-grade bacterium Lactococcus lactis and the characterization of its immunogenicity in mice. We constructed a recombinant strain of L. lactis capable of inducible production and secretion of Blg41-60::Nuc, a fusion protein between Blg41-60 and the mature part of the staphylococcal nuclease (Nuc). The highest production yield of Blg41-60::Nuc (32.5 mg/liter) was reached 4 h after induction. At this time, up to 75% of Blg41-60::Nuc was secreted. When monoclonal antibodies specific for Blg41-60 were used, purified Blg41-60::Nuc and synthetic Blg41-60 exhibited very similar immunoreactivities. Subcutaneous coadministration of purified Blg41-60::Nuc and killed nonrecombinant L. lactis resulted in the induction of specific anti-Blg41-60 IgG2a and IgG1. The IgG1/IgG2a ratio and the lack of specific IgE suggest a Th1-type immune response, i.e., a nonallergic response. Similar administrations of the killed Blg41-60::Nuc-producing L. lactis strain did not elicit a specific immune response, whereas a transitory mucosal IgA-specific immune response was induced in mice after oral administration of the live Blg41-60::Nuc-producing L. lactis strain.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed2003

Intranasal immunization with recombinant Lactococcus lactis secreting murine interleukin-12 enhances antigen-specific Th1 cytokine production.

Interleukin-12 (IL-12), a heterodimeric cytokine, plays an important role in cellular immunity to several bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections and has adjuvant activity when it is codelivered with DNA vaccines. IL-12 has also been used with success in cancer immunotherapy treatments. However, systemic IL-12 therapy has been limited by high levels of toxicity. We describe here inducible expression and secretion of IL-12 in the food-grade lactic acid bacterium Lactococcus lactis. IL-12 was expressed as two separate polypeptides (p35-p40) or as a single recombinant polypeptide (scIL-12). The biological activity of IL-12 produced by the recombinant L. lactis strain was confirmed in vitro by its ability to induce gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) production by mouse splenocytes. Local administration of IL-12-producing strains at the intranasal mucosal surface resulted in IFN-gamma production in mice. The activity was greater with the single polypeptide scIL-12. An antigen-specific cellular response (i.e., secretion of Th1 cytokines, IL-2, and IFN-gamma) elicited by a recombinant L. lactis strain displaying a cell wall-anchored human papillomavirus type 16 E7 antigen was dramatically increased by coadministration with an L. lactis strain secreting IL-12 protein. Our data show that IL-12 is produced and secreted in an active form by L. lactis and that the strategy which we describe can be used to enhance an antigen-specific immune response and to stimulate local mucosal immunity.

Administration, Intranasal↗

PubMed2002

Production and targeting of the Brucella abortus antigen L7/L12 in Lactococcus lactis: a first step towards food-grade live vaccines against brucellosis.

Brucella abortus is a facultative intracellular gram-negative bacterial pathogen that infects humans and animals by entry mainly through the digestive tract. B. abortus causes abortion in pregnant cattle and undulant fever in humans. The immunogenic B. abortus ribosomal protein L7/L12 is a promising candidate antigen for the development of oral live vaccines against brucellosis, using food-grade lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as a carrier. The L7/L12 gene was expressed in Lactococcus lactis, the model LAB, under the nisin-inducible promoter. Using different signals, L7/L12 was produced in cytoplasmic, cell-wall-anchored, and secreted forms. Cytoplasmic production of L7/L12 gave a low yield, estimated at 0.5 mg/liter. Interestingly, a secretable form of this normally cytoplasmic protein via fusion with a signal peptide resulted in increased yield of L7/L12 to 3 mg/liter; secretion efficiency (SE) was 35%. A fusion between the mature moiety of the staphylococcal nuclease (Nuc) and L7/L12 further increased yield to 8 mg/liter. Fusion with a synthetic propeptide (LEISSTCDA) previously described as an enhancer for heterologous protein secretion in L. lactis (Y. Le Loir, A. Gruss, S. D. Ehrlich, and P. Langella, J. Bacteriol. 180:1895-1903, 1998) raised the yield to 8 mg/liter and SE to 50%. A surface-anchored L7/L12 form in L. lactis was obtained by fusing the cell wall anchor of Streptococcus pyogenes M6 protein to the C-terminal end of L7/L12. The fusions described allow the production and targeting of L7/L12 in three different locations in L. lactis. This is the first example of a B. abortus antigen produced in a food-grade bacterium and opens new perspectives for alternative vaccine strategies against brucellosis.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Production of human papillomavirus type 16 E7 protein in Lactococcus lactis.

The E7 protein of human papillomavirus type 16 was produced in Lactococcus lactis. Secretion allowed higher production yields than cytoplasmic production. In stationary phase, amounts of cytoplasmic E7 were reduced, while amounts of secreted E7 increased, suggesting a phase-dependent intracellular proteolysis. Fusion of E7 to the staphylococcal nuclease, a stable protein, resulted in a highly stable cytoplasmic protein. This work provides new candidates for development of viral screening systems and for oral vaccine against cervical cancer.

Cloning, Molecular↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Fusion to a carrier protein and a synthetic propeptide enhances E7 HPV-16 production and secretion in Lactococcus lactis.

An inducible system to improve and stabilize the production of an extremely labile protein (E7 antigen of human papillomavirus type 16) was developed in the food-grade bacterium Lactococcus lactis. A protein carrier, the staphylococcal nuclease Nuc, was fused either to N- or C-termini of E7 protein, and the resulting hybrid proteins were rescued from intracellular proteolysis but poorly secreted by L. lactis. A synthetic propeptide (LEISSTCDA) was then fused and significantly improved the secretion efficiency of the hybrid protein Nuc-E7 by L. lactis.

Carrier Proteins↗