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Microorganisms
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Current Trends in Exploiting Molecular Signaling in Bacteria and Host...
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Current Trends in Exploiting Molecular Signaling in Bacteria and Host Immunomodulation

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology and Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2021) | Viewed by 15946

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Monica C. Gestal

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Deaprtment of Microbiology and Immunology. Louisiana State University, Health Science Center, Shreveport. LA, USA
Interests: microbiology and immunology; host immune response; bacterial pathogenesis and inter-kingdom communication; multi-drug-resistant bacteria; Bordetella spp.; novel vaccines and therapies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Alina Maria Holban

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 060101 Bucharest, Romania
2. The Research Institute of the University of Bucharest, ICUB, 060023 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: microbiology; immunology; new antimicrobial agents; host-pathogen signaling; infection control; antimicrobial nanomaterials; bacterial pathogenesis; virulence factors; quorum sensing; biofilms; antibacterial activity; antibiotic resistance; Staphylococcus aureus; Escherichia coli; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; microbial molecular biology; bioactive materials; nanotechnology; nanoengineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Infectious diseases are one of the biggest threats to humankind, and despite the fact that we have been studying infectious diseases for over a century, there is still a lot to be learn. With the discovery of antibiotics, life expectancy increased significantly; unfortunately, due to their overuse/misuse they are no longer as effective, creating an imperative need to develop novel strategies to be applied in vaccine and therapeutic development.

Bacteria have evolved means that allow them to sense external cues, allowing them to adapt to different environments, including the host. Nevertheless, this bacterial ability to sense signals is only starting to be understood in a broad sense. Bacteria to bacteria communication is not unidirectional, and different genus or bacteria and even bacteria-fungi can also exchange signals that modulate their phenotype.

Interestingly, a new emerging area of investigation focuses on pathogens’ ability to manipulate host immune responses in order to infect, persist and transmit to a new host. A better understanding of how microorganisms sense host immune signals and manipulate them will provide new rational targets for vaccine and therapeutics that most likely would be applicable to a broad range of diseases.

The goal of this Special Issue is to provide a platform to exchange ideas, that demonstrate that bacteria can sense and respond to multiple stimuli, including other bacteria, other microorganisms, and even host immunity. We anticipate that this Special Issue will be the source of many novel ideas to come for the future development of vaccines and therapies that can even be applied to multiple infections.

Prof. Monica C. Gestal
Prof. Alina Maria Holban
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • quorum sensing
  • bacterial signaling
  • host immunity
  • immunomodulation
  • host–pathogen communication
  • biofilms
  • vaccines

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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28 pages, 3011 KiB  
Article
Glucose-Binding of Periplasmic Protein GltB Activates GtrS-GltR Two-Component System in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
by Chenchen Xu, Qiao Cao and Lefu Lan
Microorganisms 2021, 9(2), 447; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9020447 - 21 Feb 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4407
Abstract
A two-component system GtrS-GltR is required for glucose transport activity in P. aeruginosa and plays a key role during P. aeruginosa-host interactions. However, the mechanism of action of GtrS-GltR has not been definitively established. Here, we show that gltB, which encodes [...] Read more.
A two-component system GtrS-GltR is required for glucose transport activity in P. aeruginosa and plays a key role during P. aeruginosa-host interactions. However, the mechanism of action of GtrS-GltR has not been definitively established. Here, we show that gltB, which encodes a periplasmic glucose binding protein, is essential for the glucose-induced activation of GtrS-GltR in P. aeruginosa. We determined that GltB is capable of binding to membrane regulatory proteins including GtrS, the sensor kinase of the GtrS-GltR TCS. We observed that alanine substitution of glucose-binding residues abolishes the ability of GltB to promote the activation of GtrS-GltR. Importantly, like the gtrS deletion mutant, gltB deletion mutant showed attenuated virulence in both Drosophila melanogaster and mouse models of infection. In addition, using CHIP-seq experiments, we showed that the promoter of gltB is the major in vivo target of GltR. Collectively, these data suggest that periplasmic binding protein GltB and GtrS-GltR TCS form a complex regulatory circuit that regulates the virulence of P. aeruginosa in response to glucose. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Trends in Exploiting Molecular Signaling in Bacteria and Host Immunomodulation)
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Review

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19 pages, 26190 KiB  
Review
Gut Microbiota-Modulated Metabolomic Profiling Shapes the Etiology and Pathogenesis of Autoimmune Diseases
by Yi-Wen Tsai, Jia-Ling Dong, Yun-Jie Jian, Shin-Huei Fu, Ming-Wei Chien, Yu-Wen Liu, Chao-Yuan Hsu and Huey-Kang Sytwu
Microorganisms 2021, 9(9), 1930; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9091930 - 10 Sep 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5794
Abstract
Autoimmunity is a complex and multifaceted process that contributes to widespread functional decline that affects multiple organs and tissues. The pandemic of autoimmune diseases, which are a global health concern, augments in both the prevalence and incidence of autoimmune diseases, including type 1 [...] Read more.
Autoimmunity is a complex and multifaceted process that contributes to widespread functional decline that affects multiple organs and tissues. The pandemic of autoimmune diseases, which are a global health concern, augments in both the prevalence and incidence of autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. The development of autoimmune diseases is phenotypically associated with gut microbiota-modulated features at the molecular and cellular levels. The etiology and pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases comprise the alterations of immune systems with the innate and adaptive immune cell infiltration into specific organs and the augmented production of proinflammatory cytokines stimulated by commensal microbiota. However, the relative importance and mechanistic interrelationships between the gut microbial community and the immune system during progression of autoimmune diseases are still not well understood. In this review, we describe studies on the profiling of gut microbial signatures for the modulation of immunological homeostasis in multiple inflammatory diseases, elucidate their critical roles in the etiology and pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, and discuss the implications of these findings for these disorders. Targeting intestinal microbiome and its metabolomic associations with the phenotype of autoimmunity will enable the progress of developing new therapeutic strategies to counteract microorganism-related immune dysfunction in these autoimmune diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Trends in Exploiting Molecular Signaling in Bacteria and Host Immunomodulation)
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21 pages, 679 KiB  
Review
“NETs and EETs, a Whole Web of Mess”
by Tyler L. Williams, Balázs Rada, Eshaan Tandon and Monica C. Gestal
Microorganisms 2020, 8(12), 1925; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8121925 - 4 Dec 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4699
Abstract
Neutrophils and eosinophils are granulocytes that have very distinct functions. Neutrophils are first responders to external threats, and they use different mechanisms to control pathogens. Phagocytosis, reactive oxygen species, and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are some of the mechanisms that neutrophils utilize to [...] Read more.
Neutrophils and eosinophils are granulocytes that have very distinct functions. Neutrophils are first responders to external threats, and they use different mechanisms to control pathogens. Phagocytosis, reactive oxygen species, and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are some of the mechanisms that neutrophils utilize to fight pathogens. Although there is some controversy as to whether NETs are in fact beneficial or detrimental to the host, it mainly depends on the biological context. NETs can contribute to disease pathogenesis in certain types of diseases, while they are also undeniably critical components of the innate immune response. On the contrary, the role of eosinophils during host immune responses remains to be better elucidated. Eosinophils play an important role during helminthic infections and allergic responses. Eosinophils can function as effector cells in viral respiratory infections, gut bacterial infections, and as modulators of immune responses by driving the balance between Th1 and Th2 responses. In particular, eosinophils have biological activities that appear to be quite similar to those of neutrophils. Both possess bactericidal activity, can activate proinflammatory responses, can modulate adaptive immune responses, can form extracellular traps, and can be beneficial or detrimental to the host according to the underlying pathology. In this review we compare these two cell types with a focus on highlighting their numerous similarities related to extracellular traps. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Trends in Exploiting Molecular Signaling in Bacteria and Host Immunomodulation)
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