The use of 4-Hexylresorcinol as antibiotic adjuvant.

Ever decreasing efficiency of antibiotic treatment due to growing antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria is a critical issue in clinical practice. The two generally accepted major approaches to this problem are the search for new antibiotics and the development of antibiotic adjuvants to enhance the antimicrobial activity of known compounds. It was therefore the aim of the present study to test whether alkylresorcinols, a class of phenolic lipids, can be used as adjuvants to potentiate the effect of various classes of antibiotics. Alkylresorcinols were combined with 12 clinically used antibiotics. Growth-inhibiting activity against a broad range of pro- and eukaryotic microorganisms was determined. Test organisms did comprise 10 bacterial and 2 fungal collection strains, including E. coli and S. aureus, and clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae. The highest adjuvant activity was observed in the case of 4-hexylresorcinol (4-HR), a natural compound found in plants with antimicrobial activity. 50% of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 4-HR caused an up to 50-fold decrease in the MIC of antibiotics of various classes. Application of 4-HR as an adjuvant revealed its efficiency against germination of bacterial dormant forms (spores) and prevented formation of antibiotic-tolerant persister cells. Using an in vivo mouse model of K. pneumoniae-induced sepsis, we could demonstrate that the combination of 4-HR and polymyxin was highly effective. 75% of animals were free of infection after treatment as compared to none of the animals receiving the antibiotic alone. We conclude that alkylresorcinols such as 4-HR can be used as an adjuvant to increase the efficiency of several known antibiotics. We suggest that by this approach the risk for development of genetically determined antibiotic resistance can be minimized due to the multimodal mode of action of 4-HR.

[Applicability of MALDI Mass Spectrometry for Diagnostics of Phase Variants in Bacterial Populations].

Efficiency of MALDI mass spectrometry for differentiation between phenotypic phase variants (in colony morphology and virulence/avirulence) was investigated.for saprotrophic and opportunistically pathogenic bacteria of five genera (Acinetobacter, Arthrobacter, Rhodococcus, Corynebacterium, and Escherichia). Analysis of MALDI spectra (on the SA and HCCA matrices) included: (1) determination of similarity of the protein spectra as a percentage of the common protein peaks to the total amount of proteins, which reflects the phylogenetic relationships of the objects and has been recommended for identification of closely related species; (2) comparison of intensities of the common peaks; and (3) the presence of specific peaks as determinative characteristics of the variants. Under the standard analytical conditions the similarity between the MALDI profiles was shown to increase in the row: genus-species-strain-variant. Assessment of intensities of the common peaks was most applicable for differentiation between phase variants, especially in the case of high similarity of their profiles. Phase variants (A. oxydans strain K14) with similar colony morphotypes (S, R, M, and S(m)) grown on different media (LB agar, TSA, and TGYg) exhibited differences in their protein profiles reflecting the differences in their physiological characteristics. This finding is in agreement with our previous results on screening of the R. opacus with similar colony morphology and different substrate specificity in decomposition of chlorinated phenols. Analysis of MALDI spectra is probably the only efficient method for detection of such variants.

[Effect of Stress on Emergence of Antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli Cells].

Effect of sublethal doses of physical and chemical stressors (heat shock for 2 h at 45 degrees C and addition of C12-alkylhydroxybenzene, a microbial alarmone) on development of resistance to the subsequent lethal antibiotic attack and the role of the time interval between these treatments were studied on a submerged batch culture of Escherichia coli 12. The interval sufficient for the development of stress response provides for development of temporary adaptive resistance to the antibiotic attack, resulting in increased number of surviving persister cells. The interval below the time required for the stress response potentiates cell death and results in a decreased number of persisters. Heterogeneity of the fractions (10(-4) to 10(-2)% of the intial CFU number) surviving lethal doses of an antibiotic (a mpicillin or ciprofloxacin) was found. Apart from a low number of antibiotic-resistant cells (up to 0.005% of surviving cells), the fractions contained antibiotic-tolerant forms, such as temporarily resistant metabolically adapted cells, long-term persisters, and the cells of slowly growing SCV variants with small colonies (d ≤ 1 mm). Persisters are hypothesized to act as precursors for cystlike dormant cells (CLC), in which the cell differentiation stage is completed and the processes of cell ametabolism (transition to the anabiotic state) are still incomplete.

[Effect of Inherent Immunity Factors of Development of Antibiotic Tolerance and Survival of Bacterial Populations under Antibiotic Attack].

Effect of human inherent immunity factors of, a gene-encoded antibacterial peptide indolicidin (Ind) and a cytokine interleukin 1 (IL1) on formation of antibiotic-tolerant persister cells surviving in the presence of ciprofloxacin (Cpf, 100 µg/mL) and ampicillin (Amp, 100 µg/mL) in submerged bacterial cultures (Staphylococcus aureus FGA 209P, Escherichia coli K12, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1) was studied. While Ind in physiological concentrations (0.3 and 3.0 µg/mL) introduced to the lag- or exponential-phase cultures of test organisms exhibited no reliable effect on population growth, the number of persisters increased at 3.0 µg/mL. Bactericidal Ind concentrations (9 µg/mL) suppressed S. aureus growth (-0.1% of surviving cells) with subsequent recovery due to development of the more antibiotic-tolerant white variant. Treatment with Cpf after Ind addition resulted in mutual potentiation of their antimicrobial activity, with the number of S. aureus persisters 2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower than in the case of the antibiotic alone. IL1, another immunity factor, when introduced (0.1-1 ng/mL) to the exponentially growing S. aureus culture (but not to the lag phase culture) had a temporary growth-static effect, with the number of persisters surviving Cpf treatment (100 µg/mL) increasing by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude. Electron microscopy revealed significant alterations in the outer cell envelope layer of surviving S. aureus cells, which should be associated with their changed antigenic properties. Thus, the factors of human inherent immunity have a dose-dependent effect on the growth of bacterial populations. In combination with antibiotics, they exhibit synergism of antimicrobial action (indolicidin) and minimize (indolicidin) or increase (interleukin 1) the frequency of formation of persister cells responsible for survival of a population subjected to an antibiotic attack.

[Changes in the phase variant spectra in the populations of lactic acid bacteria under antibiotic treatment].

Effect of the antibiotics kanamycin and ampicillin on growth and phase variation of the populations of four strains of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus sp. M67AT, L. casei MB, Enterococcus faecium M, and E. faecium M3185) was studied. The presence of antibiotics in the medium resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in viable cell numbers and in partial or complete substitution of the dominant S variant with the minor Sm and Sb variants. The variants differed in colony morphology, as well as in some physiological, biochemical, biotechnological, and probiotic characteristics. The Sm type variants of all strains exhibited the highest resistance to antibiotics. High production of exopolysaccharides was found in Sb variants of lactobacilli and in S variants of enterococci. The highest antibacterial activity was found in Sm variants of lactobacilli, especially in Lactobacillus sp. M76AT The latter is biotechnologically the most promising strain, since all variants fermented milk yielding the products with uniformly pronounced functional and organoleptic properties. These patterns are of importance for the understanding of the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and for selection of the variants with desired properties, as well as for quality control of the lactic acid bacteria starter cultures.

[Effect of chemical chaperones on properties of lysozyme and the reaction center protein from Rhodobacter sphaeroides].

The influence of three chemical chaperones: glycerol, 4-hexylresorcinol, and 5-methylresorcinol on the structure, equilibrium fluctuations, and the functional activity of the hydrophilic enzyme lysozyme and the transmembrane reaction center (RC) protein from Rb. sphaeroides in a broad range of concentrations has been studied. Selected chemical chaperones are strongly different by the structure and action on hydrophilic and membrane proteins. The influence of the chemical chaperones (except methylresorcinol) on the structure, dynamics, and functional properties of lysozyme and RC protein are well described within the frames of extended models of preferential hydration and preferential interaction of protein with a chemical chaperone. A molecule of hexylresorcinol consists of a hydrophobic (alkyl radical) and a hydrophilic (aromatic nuclus) moieties. This fact provides additional regulation of functional activity of lysozyme and RC by hexylresorcinol. The influence of methylresorcinol on proteins differs from that of glycerol and hexylresorcinol. Methylresorcinol interacts with the surface of lysozyme directly, not via water hydrogen bonds. This leads to a decrease in denaturation temperature T(d), and an increase in the amplitude of equilibrium fluctuation, which allows him to be a powerful activator. Methylresorcinol interacts with the membrane RC protein only by the condensation of hydration water, which is negligible in the case of methylresorcinol. Therefore, methylresorcinol does not effect the functional properties of the RC protein. It was concluded that various chaperones at one and the same concentration and chaperones at different concentrations form diverse 3D structures of proteins, which differ by dynamic and functional characteristics.

[Antimicrobic features of phenolic lipids].

The connection between the efficiency of phenolic lipids (PL) and their hydrophobic property (solubility) and hydrophobic property of microorganisms' cell structure is shown. The mixture of amphiphilic di(oxiphenil)-phenil-methanes, which act bacteriostatically under 15 mg/l, possesses maximal efficiency against Staphylococcus aureus. Against Mycobacterium smegmatis with hydrophobic cell wall, hydrophobic 2,4-dialkylocibenzol 70 mg/l was the most effective. Hexylresorcin (HR) stops the development of gram-positive bacteria in concentrations 20-50 mg/l, that of gram-negative bacteria in concentration 65 mg/l, that of M. smegmatis at 70 mg/l, and that of yeast and fungi at 300 mg/l. HR prevails bacteria spores germination in the concentration 25-100 mg/l. The dependence of antibacterial action of isomers and homologues of alkylresorcins on their structure--number, position, and length of alkyl substituents--is studied.

[Regulatory effect of microbial alkyloxybenzenes of different structure on the stress response of yeast].

The effect of alkyloxybenzenes (AHBs) belonging to the class of alkylresorcinols differing in the degree of hydrophobicity--C7-AHB and more hydrophobic Cl12-AHB--on the resistance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells to heat shock and oxidative stress of lethal intensity was studied. Depending on structure and concentration, AHB added 2 h before exposure to stress had either an antistress or stress-potentiating effect on yeast cells in the mid-logarithmic growth phase. C7-AHB at concentrations 0.25-0.5 g/l caused a two- to fivefold increase in the resistance of yeast cells to hydrogen peroxide (30-150 mM), whereas Cl2-AHB reduced it at all concentrations. C7-AHB and Cl2-AHB had a similar effect on yeast subjected to heat shock (45 degrees C, 30 min). It was found that the degree of the protective effect of C7-AHB and potentiating effect of Cl2-AHB depended on the nature of the stressor, being more pronounced in heat shock. The environmental significance of the antistress and stress-potentiating effects of microbial AHBs is discussed.

[Changes in physicochemical properties of proteins, caused by modification with alkylhydroxybenzenes].

Kinetic characteristics of model enzymes and physicochemical properties of globular proteins modified by chemical analogues of low-molecular-weight microbial autoregulators (alkylhydroxybenzenes, AHBs) have been studied. C7 and C12 AHB homologues were used, differing in the length of the alkyl radical and the capacity for weak physicochemical interactions. Both homologues affected the degree of protein swelling, viscosity, and the degree of hydrophobicity. The effects depended on the structure of AHBs, their concentration, and pH of the solution, which likely reflects changes in the charge of the protein globule and its solvate cover. Variations of hydrophobicity indices of AHB-modified enzymes (trypsin and lysozyme) were coupled to changes in the catalytic activity. The values of K(M), measured for the enzymes within both AHB complexes, did not change, whereas V(max) increased (in the case of C7 complexes) or decreased (C12 complexes). Possible molecular mechanisms of changes in the physicochemical and catalytic parameters of enzymatically active proteins, induced by modification with structurally distinct AHBs, are described, with emphasis on targeted regulation of functional activity.

[Development and population structure of mixed (S + M) Pseudomonas aeruginosa cultures in the late stationary growth phase].

Population growth, the ratio between dissociants, pH, and levels of reducing sugars in the medium were monitored during prolonged (375 h) batch cultivation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa S and M dissociants on mineral medium with glucose. During the stationary growth phase (100-375 h), two scenarios were possible. The first one included extensive cell autolysis coupled to alkalinization of the medium and an increased ratio of the M dissociant. In the second case, acidification of the medium was coupled to the oscillating secondary growth, mostly of the M dissociant; the dynamics of cell numbers of this dissociant correlated with the dynamics of the culture optical density. In this scenario, periodical appearance of reducing sugars in the medium was detected; it was in the opposite phase with the changes of the M dissociant cell numbers. The differences between scenarios of P. aeruginosa growth in the late stationary phase were probably due to the physiological and biochemical characteristics of the S and M dissociants, including different pathways of glucose utilization (respiration or fermentation), resistance to acidification, synthetic (proteolytic) activity, and productivity of autoinducers.

[Autoregulation of phenotypic dissiciation in Bacillus licheniformis].

Regulation of phenotypic variability of Bacillus licheniformis mediated by autoinducers of anabiosis, d1-factors was investigated. These factors are represented by alkylhydroxybenzenes. Colonial morphological variants of B. licheniformis were obtained and described (of R,S,M-types) in the first passage of both vegetative proliferative and resting cells. Resting cells were of different type, spores and cyst-like refractile cells induced by autoinducers of anabiosis. The possibility to manage the spectrum of dissociants by the mean of autoinducers of anabiosis was demonstrated.

[Resting forms of gram negative chemolithoautotrophic bacteria Thioalkalivibrio versutus and Thioalkalimicrobium aerophilum]. / Obrazovanie pokoiashchikhsia form u gramotritsatel'nykh khemolitoavtotrofnykh bakterii Thioalkalivibrio versutus i Thioalkalimicrobium aerophilum.

The haloalkaliphilic chemoautotrophic gram-negative bacteria Thioalkalivibrio versutus, strain AL2, and Thioalkalimicrobium aerophilum, strain AL3, were shown to possess the capacity to produce resting forms, namely cyst-like refractile cells (CRC), whose production was controlled by the level of the d1 extracellular factors, exhibiting the function of anabiosis autoinducers. The conditions were elucidated that promoted the formation of CRC in the developmental cycles of the cultures studied, in condensed cell suspensions undergoing autolysis, and under the action of exogenously introduced chemical analogues of anabiosis autoinducers (alkylhydroxybenzenes). The peculiarities of the fine structure of the resting cells obtained were studied. Distinctions were revealed (with respect to viability and thermotolerance) between the CRC formed under different conditions. The relationship between the growth strategy and survival strategy of extremophilic bacteria is discussed with taking into account the effect of the d1 autoregulatory factors. A new model of CRC formation is proposed: CRC production in the life cycle of bacteria developing under conditions of increased concentration of anabiosis autoinducers.

[Low-molecular-weight autoregulatory factors in bacteria Thioalkalivibrio versutus and Thioalkalimicrobium aerophilum]. / Nizkomolekuliarnye autoreguliatory razvitiia bakterii Thioalkalivibrio versutus i Thioalkalimicrobium aerophilum.

The haloalkaliphilic, lithoautotrophic, sulfur-oxidizing gram-negative bacteria Thioalkalivibrio versutus and Thioalkalimicrobium aerophilum were found to possess a special system for the autoregulation of their growth. The system includes the extracellular autoinducers of anabiosis (the d1 factor) and autolysis (the d2 factor). The principal components of the d1 factor are alkylhydroxybenzenes. The principal components of the d2 factor are free unsaturated fatty acids dominated by oleic acid isomers. Like the respective autoregulators of neutrophilic bacteria, the d1 factor of haloalkaliphilic bacteria presumably controls their growth and transition to a anabiotic state, while the d2 factor controls autolytic processes. Alkylhydroxybenzenes of both microbial and chemical origin were found to influence bacterial respiration. The low-molecular-weight osmoprotectant glycine betaine enhanced the thermostability of trypsin. This suggests that glycine betaine, like the d1 factor, serves as a molecular chaperone.

[Comparative study of the elemental composition of vegetative and dormant microbial cells]. / Sravnitel'noe izuchenie élementnogo sostava vegetativnykh i pokoiashchikhsia kletok mikroorganizmov.

X-ray microanalysis showed that vegetative cells, viable resting forms, and nonviable forms (micromummies) of the bacteria Bacillus cereus and Micrococcus luteus and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae differ in the contents of bioelements S, P, Ca, and K and the Ca/K and P/S ratios. Viable resting forms (cystlike refractory cells and bacillar endospores) had more calcium and less phosphorus and potassium than vegetative cells, the difference being higher for bacilli than for micrococci and yeasts. The distinctive feature of all viable resting microbial forms was their low P/S ratios and high Ca/K ratios. The differences revealed in the cellular content and ratios of bioelements probably reflect changes in ionic homeostasis accompanying the transition of vegetative microbial cells to the dormant state. Relevant potassium parameters indicate that the membranes of viable resting forms retain their barrier function. At the same time, the nonviable forms, even morphologically intact, of B. cereus and S. cerevisiae exhibited an anomalously low content of potassium, while those of M. luteus had an anomalously high content of this element. This suggests that the cellular membranes of micromummies lose their barrier function, which results in a free diffusion of potassium ions across the membranes. The possibility of using the elemental composition parameters for quick analysis of the physiological state of microorganisms in natural environments is discussed.