Acriflavine, a clinically approved drug, inhibits SARS-CoV-2 and other betacoronaviruses.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been socially and economically devastating. Despite an unprecedented research effort and available vaccines, effective therapeutics are still missing to limit severe disease and mortality. Using high-throughput screening, we identify acriflavine (ACF) as a potent papain-like protease (PLpro) inhibitor. NMR titrations and a co-crystal structure confirm that acriflavine blocks the PLpro catalytic pocket in an unexpected binding mode. We show that the drug inhibits viral replication at nanomolar concentration in cellular models, in vivo in mice and ex vivo in human airway epithelia, with broad range activity against SARS-CoV-2 and other betacoronaviruses. Considering that acriflavine is an inexpensive drug approved in some countries, it may be immediately tested in clinical trials and play an important role during the current pandemic and future outbreaks.

SARS-CoV-2 inhibition using a mucoadhesive, amphiphilic chitosan that may serve as an anti-viral nasal spray.

There are currently no cures for coronavirus infections, making the prevention of infections the only course open at the present time. The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult to prevent, as the infection is spread by respiratory droplets and thus effective, scalable and safe preventive interventions are urgently needed. We hypothesise that preventing viral entry into mammalian nasal epithelial cells may be one way to limit the spread of COVID-19. Here we show that N-palmitoyl-N-monomethyl-N,N-dimethyl-N,N,N-trimethyl-6-O-glycolchitosan (GCPQ), a positively charged polymer that has been through an extensive Good Laboratory Practice toxicology screen, is able to reduce the infectivity of SARS-COV-2 in A549ACE2+ and Vero E6 cells with a log removal value of - 3 to - 4 at a concentration of 10-100 µg/ mL (p < 0.05 compared to untreated controls) and to limit infectivity in human airway epithelial cells at a concentration of 500 µg/ mL (p < 0.05 compared to untreated controls). In vivo studies using transgenic mice expressing the ACE-2 receptor, dosed nasally with SARS-COV-2 (426,000 TCID50/mL) showed a trend for nasal GCPQ (20 mg/kg) to inhibit viral load in the respiratory tract and brain, although the study was not powered to detect statistical significance. GCPQ's electrostatic binding to the virus, preventing viral entry into the host cells, is the most likely mechanism of viral inhibition. Radiolabelled GCPQ studies in mice show that at a dose of 10 mg/kg, GCPQ has a long residence time in mouse nares, with 13.1% of the injected dose identified from SPECT/CT in the nares, 24 h after nasal dosing. With a no observed adverse effect level of 18 mg/kg in rats, following a 28-day repeat dose study, clinical testing of this polymer, as a COVID-19 prophylactic is warranted.

Plasmin inhibition by bacterial serpin: Implications in gum disease.

Tannerella forsythia is a periodontopathogen that expresses miropin, a protease inhibitor in the serpin superfamily. In this study, we show that miropin is also a specific and efficient inhibitor of plasmin; thus, it represents the first proteinaceous plasmin inhibitor of prokaryotic origin described to date. Miropin inhibits plasmin through the formation of a stable covalent complex triggered by cleavage of the Lys368-Thr369 (P2-P1) reactive site bond with a stoichiometry of inhibition of 3.8 and an association rate constant (kass) of 3.3 × 105 M-1s-1. The inhibition of the fibrinolytic activity of plasmin was nearly as effective as that exerted by α2-antiplasmin. Miropin also acted in vivo by reducing blood loss in a mice tail bleeding assay. Importantly, intact T. forsythia cells or outer membrane vesicles, both of which carry surface-associated miropin, strongly inhibited plasmin. In intact bacterial cells, the antiplasmin activity of miropin protects envelope proteins from plasmin-mediated degradation. In summary, in the environment of periodontal pockets, which are bathed in gingival crevicular fluid consisting of 70% of blood plasma, an abundance of T. forsythia in the bacterial biofilm can cause local inhibition of fibrinolysis, which could have possible deleterious effects on the tooth-supporting structures of the periodontium.

Type IX secretion system is pivotal for expression of gingipain-associated virulence of Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Porphyromonas gingivalis, a keystone pathogen in periodontitis, secretes an array of virulence factors including gingipains via the type IX secretion system (T9SS). Inactivation of any component of the T9SS leads to the accumulation of secreted proteins in unprocessed and, in the case of progingipains, inactive forms in the periplasm. To cast light on the paradox that active gingipains are essential for P. gingivalis fitness in vivo but a functional T9SS is not (Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 2017, 7:378), we have compared virulence of wild-type P. gingivalis W83 and the gingipain-null strain with isogenic mutants deficient in individual T9SS components. Using an in vivo subcutaneous chamber mouse model of infection, gingipain-null strain secretion mutants showed no virulence, but their pathogenic potential was reconstituted by coinfection with a low number of the parental strain. Apparently the same mechanism compensated fitness of mutants lacking functional T9SS the transposon library. In contrast to the parental strain, all mutants elicited significantly lower but an effective inflammatory immune response, which cleared infection and prevented systemic dissemination of P. gingivalis to organs. There were no significant differences in immune responses to different secretion mutants, which were generally more stimulatory than the gingipain-null strain. Together, these results indicate that functional T9SS is essential for P. gingivalis virulence apparently through delivery of active gingipains to the bacterial surface. Therefore, T9SS is a legitimate target for drug development to treat periodontitis.

Porphyromonas gingivalis in Alzheimer's disease brains: Evidence for disease causation and treatment with small-molecule inhibitors.

Porphyromonas gingivalis, the keystone pathogen in chronic periodontitis, was identified in the brain of Alzheimer's disease patients. Toxic proteases from the bacterium called gingipains were also identified in the brain of Alzheimer's patients, and levels correlated with tau and ubiquitin pathology. Oral P. gingivalis infection in mice resulted in brain colonization and increased production of Aß1-42, a component of amyloid plaques. Further, gingipains were neurotoxic in vivo and in vitro, exerting detrimental effects on tau, a protein needed for normal neuronal function. To block this neurotoxicity, we designed and synthesized small-molecule inhibitors targeting gingipains. Gingipain inhibition reduced the bacterial load of an established P. gingivalis brain infection, blocked Aß1-42 production, reduced neuroinflammation, and rescued neurons in the hippocampus. These data suggest that gingipain inhibitors could be valuable for treating P. gingivalis brain colonization and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease.

Impact of Porphyromonas gingivalis Peptidylarginine Deiminase on Bacterial Biofilm Formation, Epithelial Cell Invasion, and Epithelial Cell Transcriptional Landscape.

Peptidylarginine deiminase (PPAD) is a virulence factor unique to pathogenic Porphyromonas species, especially P. gingivalis. Mechanistically, PPAD activity, in conjunction with Arg-specific gingipains, generates protein fragments with citrullinated C-termini. Such polypeptides are potential de novo epitopes that are key drivers of rheumatoid arthritis. This process could underlie the observed clinical association between rheumatoid arthritis and periodontitis. However, the role of PPAD in host colonization by P. gingivalis and, subsequently, in triggering periodontitis is not known. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to delineate the role of PPAD in bacterial biofilm formation, and to define whether adherence to, invasion of, and host responses to bacteria of gingival keratinocytes depend on PPAD activity. We studied these aspects using PPAD-competent and PPAD-incompetent strains of P. gingivalis, and demonstrated that neither biofilm formation nor its composition was affected by PPAD activity. Similarly, flow cytometry revealed that PPAD did not impact the ability of P. gingivalis to adhere to and, subsequently, invade keratinocytes. Network analyses of gene expression patterns, however, revealed a group of host genes that were sensitive to PPAD activity (CXCL8, IL36G, CCL20, and IL1B). These genes can be categorized as potent immune modulators belonging to the interleukin 1 system, or chemoattractants of lymphocytes and neutrophils. Thus, we conclude that PPAD, although it is a potent modulator of the immune response, does not affect bacterial biofilm formation or the ability of P. gingivalis to adhere to and invade gingival epithelial cells.

Gingipains: Critical Factors in the Development of Aspiration Pneumonia Caused by Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Aspiration pneumonia is a life-threatening infectious disease often caused by oral anaerobic and periodontal pathogens such as Porphyromonas gingivalis. This organism produces proteolytic enzymes, known as gingipains, which manipulate innate immune responses and promote chronic inflammation. Here, we challenged mice with P. gingivalis W83 and examined the role of gingipains in bronchopneumonia, lung abscess formation, and inflammatory responses. Although gingipains were not required for P. gingivalis colonization and survival in the lungs, they were essential for manifestation of clinical symptoms and infection-related mortality. Pathologies caused by wild-type (WT) P. gingivalis W83, including hemorrhage, necrosis, and neutrophil infiltration, were absent from lungs infected with gingipain-null isogenic strains or WT bacteria preincubated with gingipain-specific inhibitors. Damage to lung tissue correlated with systemic inflammatory responses, as manifested by elevated levels of TNF, IL-6, IL-17, and C-reactive protein. These effects were unequivocally dependent on gingipain activity. Gingipain activity was also implicated in the observed increase in IL-17 in lung tissues. Furthermore, gingipains increased platelet counts in the blood and activated platelets in the lungs. Arginine-specific gingipains made a greater contribution to P. gingivalis-related morbidity and mortality than lysine-specific gingipains. Thus, inhibition of gingipain may be a useful adjunct treatment for P. gingivalis-mediated aspiration pneumonia.

Pyocyanina contributory factor in haem acquisition and virulence enhancement of Porphyromonas gingivalis in the lung [corrected].

Several recent studies show that the lungs infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa are often co-colonised by oral bacteria including black-pigmenting anaerobic (BPA) Porphyromonas species. The BPAs have an absolute haem requirement and their presence in the infected lung indicates that sufficient haem, a virulence up-regulator in BPAs, must be present to support growth. Haemoglobin from micro-bleeds occurring during infection is the most likely source of haem in the lung. Porphyromonas gingivalis displays a novel haem acquisition paradigm whereby haemoglobin must be firstly oxidised to methaemoglobin, facilitating haem release, either by gingipain proteolysis or capture via the haem-binding haemophore HmuY. P. aeruginosa produces the blue phenazine redox compound, pyocyanin. Since phenazines can oxidise haemoglobin, it follows that pyocyanin may also facilitate haem acquisition by promoting methaemoglobin production. Here we show that pyocyanin at concentrations found in the CF lung during P. aeruginosa infections rapidly oxidises oxyhaemoglobin in a dose-dependent manner. We demonstrate that methaemoglobin formed by pyocyanin is also susceptible to proteolysis by P. gingivalis Kgp gingipain and neutrophil elastase, thus releasing haem. Importantly, co-incubation of oxyhaemoglobin with pyocyanin facilitates haem pickup from the resulting methemoglobin by the P. gingivalis HmuY haemophore. Mice intra-tracheally challenged with viable P. gingivalis cells plus pyocyanin displayed increased mortality compared to those administered P. gingivalis alone. Pyocyanin significantly elevated both methaemoglobin and total haem levels in homogenates of mouse lungs and increased the level of arginine-specific gingipain activity from mice inoculated with viable P. gingivalis cells plus pyocyanin compared with mice inoculated with P. gingivalis only. These findings indicate that pyocyanin, by promoting haem availability through methaemoglobin formation and stimulating of gingipain production, may contribute to virulence of P. gingivalis and disease severity when co-infecting with P. aeruginosa in the lung.

Porphyromonas gingivalis facilitates the development and progression of destructive arthritis through its unique bacterial peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD).

Rheumatoid arthritis and periodontitis are two prevalent chronic inflammatory diseases in humans and are associated with each other both clinically and epidemiologically. Recent findings suggest a causative link between periodontal infection and rheumatoid arthritis via bacteria-dependent induction of a pathogenic autoimmune response to citrullinated epitopes. Here we showed that infection with viable periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis strain W83 exacerbated collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in a mouse model, as manifested by earlier onset, accelerated progression and enhanced severity of the disease, including significantly increased bone and cartilage destruction. The ability of P. gingivalis to augment CIA was dependent on the expression of a unique P. gingivalis peptidylarginine deiminase (PPAD), which converts arginine residues in proteins to citrulline. Infection with wild type P. gingivalis was responsible for significantly increased levels of autoantibodies to collagen type II and citrullinated epitopes as a PPAD-null mutant did not elicit similar host response. High level of citrullinated proteins was also detected at the site of infection with wild-type P. gingivalis. Together, these results suggest bacterial PAD as the mechanistic link between P. gingivalis periodontal infection and rheumatoid arthritis.

Expression of S100A8/A9 in HaCaT keratinocytes alters the rate of cell proliferation and differentiation.

S100A8/A9 promotes NADPH oxidase in HaCaT keratinocytes and subsequently increases NFκB activation, which plays important roles in the balance between epidermal growth and differentiation. S100A8/A9-positive HaCaT cells present with a significantly reduced rate of cell division and greater expression of two keratinocyte differentiation markers, involucrin and filaggrin, than control cells. S100A8/A9 mutants fail to enhance NFκB activation, TNFα-induced IL-8 gene expression and NFκB p65 phosphorylation, and S100A8/A9-positive cells demonstrate better cell survival in forced suspension culture than mutant cells. S100A8/A9 is induced in epithelial cells in response to stress. Therefore, S100A8/A9-mediated growth arrest could have implications for tissue remodeling and repair.

Expression and localization of Werner syndrome protein is modulated by SIRT1 and PML.

Mutations in genes for WRN and BLM RecQ family helicases cause cancer prone syndromes. Werner syndrome, resulting from WRN mutation, is a segmental progeria. Endogenous WRN and BLM proteins localize in nucleoli and in nuclear PML bodies defined by isoforms of the PML protein, which is a key regulator of cellular senescence. We further characterized WRN and BLM localization using labeling with monomeric red fluorescence protein (mRFP). When ectopically expressed, mRFP-WRN (or untagged WRN) forms nuclear bodies, which are donut-shaped in some cells. We identified PML isoforms associating with the nuclear bodies. Interestingly, mRFP-WRN relocalizes from nucleoli to the nucleoplasm, frequently showing conspicuous nucleolar exclusion as well as a decrease in frequency of mRFP-WRN nuclear bodies in response to overexpression of wild-type and deacetylase mutant (H363Y) SIRT1 proteins. Similar nucleolar relocalization in response to wild-type SIRT1 was detected for mRFP-labeled BLM. Moreover, increased SIRT1 expression was associated with the downregulation of endogenous WRN and a decreased frequency of cells with BRCA1 foci. Our data indicate for the first time that SIRT1 protein may be functionally associated with WRN and BLM helicases and that some major SIRT1 functions may not require its deacetylase activity.

HaCaT keratinocytes overexpressing the S100 proteins S100A8 and S100A9 show increased NADPH oxidase and NF-kappaB activities.

The calcium- and arachidonic acid (AA)-binding proteins S100A8 and S100A9 are involved in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase activation in phagocytes. They are specifically expressed in myeloid cells, and are also found in epithelial cells in various (patho)physiological conditions. We have investigated the consequences of S100A8/A9 overexpression in epithelial cell lines on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and downstream signaling. Epithelial carcinoma HeLa cells, which exclusively express Nox2, showed dramatically increased activation of NADPH oxidase by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate after S100A8/A9 gene transfection. HaCaT keratinocytes overexpressing S100A8/A9 showed enhanced, transient ROS generation in response to the calcium ionophore A23187 compared to mock-transfected cells. Polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed mRNA transcripts for Nox1, Nox2, and Nox5 in HaCaT keratinocytes. Detailed transfection studies confirmed that NADPH oxidase activities in Nox1- and Nox5-transfected HeLa cells were enhanced after S100A8/A9 gene complementation. Furthermore, mutational analysis revealed that AA binding and Thr113 phosphorylation are important for S100A8/A9-enhanced activation of NADPH oxidase. Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation and interleukin-8 mRNA levels were increased in S100A8/A9-HaCaT keratinocytes, consistent with the view that NF-kappaB is a redox-sensitive transcription factor. Because they are expressed in epithelia under specific conditions, S100A8 and S100A9 might be involved in skin pathogenesis by modulating aspects of downstream signaling.

Identification of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase-1 and Ku70/Ku80 as transcriptional regulators of S100A9 gene expression.

BACKGROUND: S100 proteins, a multigenic family of non-ubiquitous cytoplasmic Ca2+-binding proteins, have been linked to human pathologies in recent years. Dysregulated expression of S100 proteins, including S100A9, has been reported in the epidermis as a response to stress and in association with neoplastic disorders. Recently, we characterized a regulatory element within the S100A9 promotor, referred to as MRE that drives the S100A9 gene expression in a cell type-specific, activation- and differentiation-dependent manner (Kerkhoff et al. (2002) J. Biol. Chem. 277, 41879-41887). RESULTS: In the present study, we investigated transcription factors that bind to MRE. Using the MRE motif for a pull-down assay, poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase-1 (PARP-1) and the heterodimeric complex Ku70/Ku80 were identified by mass spectrometry and confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation. Furthermore, TPA-induced S100A9 gene expression in HaCaT keratinocytes was blocked after the pharmacologic inhibition of PARP-1 with 1,5-isoquinolinediol (DiQ). CONCLUSION: The candidates, poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase-1 (PARP-1) and the heterodimeric complex Ku70/Ku80, are known to participate in inflammatory disorders as well as tumorgenesis. The latter may indicate a possible link between S100 and inflammation-associated cancer.

The arachidonic acid-binding protein S100A8/A9 promotes NADPH oxidase activation by interaction with p67phox and Rac-2.

The Ca2+- and arachidonic acid-binding S100A8/A9 protein complex was recently identified by in vitro studies as a novel partner of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase. The present study demonstrated its functional relevance by the impaired oxidase activity in neutrophil-like NB4 cells, after specific blockage of S100A9 expression, and bone marrow polymorphonuclear neutrophils from S100A9-/- mice. The impaired oxidase activation could also be mimicked in a cell-free system by pretreatment of neutrophil cytosol with an S100A9-specific antibody. Further analyses gave insights into the molecular mechanisms by which S100A8/A9 promoted NADPH oxidase activation. In vitro analysis of oxidase activation as well as protein-protein interaction studies revealed that S100A8 is the privileged interaction partner for the NADPH oxidase complex since it bound to p67phox and Rac, whereas S100A9 did interact with neither p67phox nor p47phox. Moreover, S100A8/A9 transferred the cofactor arachidonic acid to NADPH oxidase as shown by the impotence of a mutant S100A8/A9 complex unable to bind arachidonic acid to enhance NADPH oxidase activity. It is concluded that S100A8/A9 plays an important role in phagocyte NADPH oxidase activation.