Contribution of genetic background, traditional risk factors, and HIV-related factors to coronary artery disease events in HIV-positive persons.

BACKGROUND: Persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have increased rates of coronary artery disease (CAD). The relative contribution of genetic background, HIV-related factors, antiretroviral medications, and traditional risk factors to CAD has not been fully evaluated in the setting of HIV infection. METHODS: In the general population, 23 common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were shown to be associated with CAD through genome-wide association analysis. Using the Metabochip, we genotyped 1875 HIV-positive, white individuals enrolled in 24 HIV observational studies, including 571 participants with a first CAD event during the 9-year study period and 1304 controls matched on sex and cohort. RESULTS: A genetic risk score built from 23 CAD-associated SNPs contributed significantly to CAD (P = 2.9 × 10(-4)). In the final multivariable model, participants with an unfavorable genetic background (top genetic score quartile) had a CAD odds ratio (OR) of 1.47 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-2.04). This effect was similar to hypertension (OR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.06-1.73), hypercholesterolemia (OR = 1.51; 95% CI, 1.16-1.96), diabetes (OR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.10-2.49), ≥ 1 year lopinavir exposure (OR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.06-1.73), and current abacavir treatment (OR = 1.56; 95% CI, 1.17-2.07). The effect of the genetic risk score was additive to the effect of nongenetic CAD risk factors, and did not change after adjustment for family history of CAD. CONCLUSIONS: In the setting of HIV infection, the effect of an unfavorable genetic background was similar to traditional CAD risk factors and certain adverse antiretroviral exposures. Genetic testing may provide prognostic information complementary to family history of CAD.

Transcriptional analysis of the F0F1 ATPase operon of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 reveals strong induction by alkaline pH.

This article has been retracted at the request of Microbiology because identical bands for the 16S rRNA probe controls in the Northern blots were reported to correspond to experiments using different strains and experimental conditions in articles published in this journal and in Journal of Bacteriology over a period of 5 years.

The RNA polymerase omega factor RpoZ is regulated by PhoP and has an important role in antibiotic biosynthesis and morphological differentiation in Streptomyces coelicolor.

The RNA polymerase (RNAP) omega factor (ω) forms a complex with the α2ßß' core of this enzyme in bacteria. We have characterized the rpoZ gene of Streptomyces coelicolor, which encodes a small protein (90 amino acids) identified as the omega factor. Deletion of the rpoZ gene resulted in strains with a slightly reduced growth rate, although they were still able to sporulate. The biosynthesis of actinorhodin and, particularly, that of undecylprodigiosin were drastically reduced in the ΔrpoZ strain, suggesting that expression of these secondary metabolite biosynthetic genes is dependent upon the presence of RpoZ in the RNAP complex. Complementation of the ΔrpoZ mutant with the wild-type rpoZ allele restored both phenotype and antibiotic production. Interestingly, the rpoZ gene contains a PHO box in its promoter region. DNA binding assays showed that the phosphate response regulator PhoP binds to such a region. Since luciferase reporter studies showed that rpoZ promoter activity was increased in a ΔphoP background, it can be concluded that rpoZ is controlled negatively by PhoP, thus connecting phosphate depletion regulation with antibiotic production and morphological differentiation in Streptomyces.

Response of the cytoplasmic and membrane proteome of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 to pH changes.

BACKGROUND: C. glutamicum has traditionally been grown in neutral-pH media for amino acid production, but in a previous article we reported that this microorganism is a moderate alkaliphile since it grows optimally at pH 7.0-9.0, as shown in fermentor studies under tightly controlled pH conditions. We determined the best pH values to study differential expression of several genes after acidic or basic pH conditions (pH 6.0 for acidic expression and pH 9.0 for alkaline expression). Thus, it was interesting to perform a detailed analysis of the pH-adaptation response of the proteome of C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 to clarify the circuits involved in stress responses in this bacterium. In this paper we used the above indicated pH conditions, based on transcriptional studies, to confirm that pH adaptation results in significant changes in cytoplasmatic and membrane proteins. RESULTS: The cytoplasmatic and membrane proteome of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 at different pH conditions (6.0, 7.0 and 9.0) was analyzed by classical 2D-electrophoresis, and by anion exchange chromatography followed by SDS-PAGE (AIEC/SDS-PAGE). A few cytoplasmatic proteins showed differential expression at the three pH values with the classical 2D-technique including a hypothetical protein cg2797, L-2.3-butanediol dehydrogenase (ButA), and catalase (KatA). The AIEC/SDS-PAGE technique revealed several membrane proteins that respond to pH changes, including the succinate dehydrogenase complex (SdhABCD), F0F1-ATP synthase complex subunits b, alpha and delta (AtpF, AtpH and AtpA), the nitrate reductase II alpha subunit (NarG), and a hypothetical secreted/membrane protein cg0752. Induction of the F0F1-ATP synthase complex beta subunit (AtpD) at pH 9.0 was evidenced by Western analysis. By contrast, L-2.3-butanediol dehydrogenase (ButA), an ATPase with chaperone activity, the ATP-binding subunit (ClpC) of an ATP-dependent protease complex, a 7 TMHs hypothetical protein cg0896, a conserved hypothetical protein cg1556, and the dihydrolipoamide acyltransferase SucB, were clearly up-regulated at pH 6.0. CONCLUSION: The observed protein changes explain the effect of the extracellular pH on the growth and physiology of C. glutamicum. Some of the proteins up-regulated at alkaline pH respond also to other stress factors suggesting that they serve to integrate the cell response to different stressing conditions.

Transcriptional control of the F0F1-ATP synthase operon of Corynebacterium glutamicum: SigmaH factor binds to its promoter and regulates its expression at different pH values.

Corynebacterium glutamicum used in the amino acid fermentation industries is an alkaliphilic microorganism. Its F(0)F(1)-ATPase operon (atpBEFHAGDC) is expressed optimally at pH 9.0 forming a polycistronic (7.5 kb) and a monocistronic (1.2 kb) transcripts both starting upstream of the atpB gene. Expression of this operon is controlled by the SigmaH factor. The sigmaH gene (sigH) was cloned and shown to be co-transcribed with a small gene, cg0877, encoding a putative anti-sigma factor. A mutant deleted in the sigH gene expressed the atpBEFHAGDC operon optimally at pH 7.0 at difference of the wild-type strain (optimal expression at pH 9.0). These results suggested that the SigmaH factor is involved in pH control of expression of the F(0) F(1) ATPase operon. The SigmaH protein was expressed in Escherichia coli fused to the GST (glutathione-S-transferase) and purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography on a GSTrap HP column. The fused protein was identified by immunodetection with anti-GST antibodies. DNA-binding studies by electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that the SigH protein binds to a region of the atpB promoter containing the sigmaH recognition sequence (-35)TTGGAT…18nt…GTTA(-10). SigmaH plays an important role in the cascade of control of pH stress in Corynebacterium.

Transcriptional analysis of the F0F1 ATPase operon of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 reveals strong induction by alkaline pH.

Corynebacterium glutamicum, a soil Gram-positive bacterium used for industrial amino acid production, was found to grow optimally at pH 7.0-9.0 when incubated in 5 litre fermenters under pH-controlled conditions. The highest biomass was accumulated at pH 9.0. Growth still occurred at pH 9.5 but at a reduced rate. The expression of the pH-regulated F0 F1 ATPase operon (containing the eight genes atpBEFHAGDC) was induced at alkaline pH. A 7.5 kb transcript, corresponding to the eight-gene operon, was optimally expressed at pH 9.0. The same occurred with a 1.2 kb transcript corresponding to the atpB gene. RT-PCR studies confirmed the alkaline pH induction of the F0 F1 operon and the existence of the atpI gene. The atpI gene, located upstream of the F0 F1 operon, was expressed at a lower level than the polycistronic 7.5 kb mRNA, from a separate promoter (P-atp1). Expression of the major promoter of the F0 F1 operon, designated P-atp2, and the P-atp1 promoter was quantified by coupling them to the pET2 promoter-probe vector. Both P-atp1 and P-atp2 were functional in C. glutamicum and Escherichia coli. Primer extension analysis identified one transcription start point inside each of the two promoter regions. The P-atp1 promoter fitted the consensus sequence of promoters recognized by the vegetative sigma factor of C. glutamicum, whereas the -35 and -10 boxes of P-atp2 fitted the consensus sequence for sigma(H)-recognized Mycobacterium tuberculosis promoters C(C)/(G)GG(A)/(G)AC 17-22 nt (C)/(G)GTT(C)/(G), known to be involved in expression of heat-shock and other stress-response genes. These results suggest that the F0 F1 operon is highly expressed at alkaline pH, probably using a sigma (H) RNA polymerase.