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Pathogenic Microbiology Commons

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Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Pathogenic Microbiology

Host-Defense Piscidin Peptides As Antibiotic Adjuvants Against Clostridioides Difficile, Adenrele Oludiran, Areej Malik, Andriana C. Zourou, Yonghan Wu, Steven P. Gross, Albert Siryapon, Asia Poudel, Kwincy Alleyne, Savion Adams, David S. Courson, Myriam L. Cotten, Erin B. Purcell Jan 2024

Host-Defense Piscidin Peptides As Antibiotic Adjuvants Against Clostridioides Difficile, Adenrele Oludiran, Areej Malik, Andriana C. Zourou, Yonghan Wu, Steven P. Gross, Albert Siryapon, Asia Poudel, Kwincy Alleyne, Savion Adams, David S. Courson, Myriam L. Cotten, Erin B. Purcell

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The spore-forming intestinal pathogen Clostridioides difficile causes multidrug resistant infection with a high rate of recurrence after treatment. Piscidins 1 (p1) and 3 (p3), cationic host defense peptides with micromolar cytotoxicity against C. difficile, sensitize C. difficile to clinically relevant antibiotics tested at sublethal concentrations. Both peptides bind to Cu2+ using an amino terminal copper and nickel binding motif. Here, we investigate the two peptides in the apo and holo states as antibiotic adjuvants against an epidemic strain of C. difficile. We find that the presence of the peptides leads to lower doses of …


Expanding Our Grasp Of Two-Component Signaling In Clostridioides Difficile, Orlando Berumen Alvarez, Erin B. Purcell Jan 2023

Expanding Our Grasp Of Two-Component Signaling In Clostridioides Difficile, Orlando Berumen Alvarez, Erin B. Purcell

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The intestinal pathogen Clostridioides difficile encodes roughly 50 TCS, but very few have been characterized in terms of their activating signals or their regulatory roles. A. G. Pannullo, B. R. Zbylicki, and C. D. Ellermeier (J Bacteriol 205:e00164-23, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00164-23) have identified both for the novel C. difficile TCD DraRS. DraRS responds to antibiotics that target lipid-II molecules in the bacterial cell envelope, and regulates the production of a novel glycolipid necessary for bacitracin and daptomycin resistance in C. difficile.


Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Mucosal Attachment And Colonization By Clostridioides Difficile, Ben Sidner Jul 2022

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Mucosal Attachment And Colonization By Clostridioides Difficile, Ben Sidner

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Clostridioides difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, anaerobic bacterium which causes gastrointestinal disease and is a leading cause of nosocomial infections. Although infection typically occurs following antibiotic therapy, in recent years there has been an increase in infections which are not preceded by antibiotic use. Additionally, community-associated infections and rates of disease recurrence have increased. While it is understood that a healthy gastrointestinal microbiota provides protection against infection, the molecular mechanisms which underly C. difficile's ability to colonize and persist in the gut are mostly unknown. Building on work from others that suggests C. difficile associates with the outer mucus …


Investigating Microbial And Host Factors That Modulate Severity Of Clostridioides Difficile Associated Disease, Armando Lerma Nov 2020

Investigating Microbial And Host Factors That Modulate Severity Of Clostridioides Difficile Associated Disease, Armando Lerma

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Clostridioides difficile is recognized as one of the most important pathogens in hospital and community healthcare settings. The clinical outcome of infection of toxigenic C. difficile infection (CDI) ranges from asymptomatic colonization to fulminant pseudomembranous colitis and death. In recent studies, it has been suggested that a high proportion of nosocomial CDI cases are transmitted from asymptomatic carriers which might be acting as infection reservoirs. Understanding what causes the different responses to infection could lead to the development of novel prevention and treatment strategies. Although several explanations have been proposed to explain variations in susceptibility, understanding of the exact mechanisms …


Microbiota Accessible Carbohydrates And Susceptibility To Clostridioides Difficile Infection, Keegan Schuchart, Jennifer Auchtung, Thomas Auchtung Apr 2020

Microbiota Accessible Carbohydrates And Susceptibility To Clostridioides Difficile Infection, Keegan Schuchart, Jennifer Auchtung, Thomas Auchtung

UCARE Research Products

This experiment looked into the effects of dietary microbiota accessible carbohydrates (MACs)on the composition of human GI microbe colonies and their susceptibility to pathogen infection. Three different concentrations of MAC ingrained media were tested in mini bioreactor arrays, treated with antibiotics, infected with Clostridioides difficile, then allowed to recover. Microbe community was examined for strain composition and diversity before and after the antibiotic treatment and Clostridioides difficile infection. After the initial mini bioreactor run, individual isolates were investigated in their ability to respond to specific MACs Arabinoglactina, Inulin, and Soluble starch at experimental concentrations.