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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 279, Issue 38, 40174-40184, September 17, 2004
The Transcriptional Responses of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to Inhibitors of Metabolism
NOVEL INSIGHTS INTO DRUG MECHANISMS OF ACTION*
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| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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An organism responds to changes in its environment by altering the level of expression of critical genes that transduce such signals into metabolic changes favoring continued growth and survival. Analysis of the transcriptional response by microarray can, in theory, provide clues to such adaptive responses, but thus far gene expression profiles have only been used to contrast the mechanisms of action of a small number of related drugs (1-3). Coordinately regulated sets of genes (regulons) are often controlled by single transcriptional regulators that function as genetic master switches, committing the bacterium to a major alteration in metabolism. In M. tuberculosis, examples of such regulatory mechanisms have been reported recently from studies using genetic approaches, including the dormancy regulon (4) and the stringent response (5). The complexity of the cellular transcriptional response to drug-induced stress makes it very difficult to derive this sort of information solely from microarray analysis of a limited number of agents affecting the same metabolic pathway (6, 7). However, by analyzing a wide variety of conditions, groups of genes have been identified that appear co-regulated under many different conditions in yeast (8). In this study, we applied genome-wide expression profiling to diverse environmental changes, including many different drug types, to begin to map the adaptability of the bacilli to interruption of specific arms of metabolism. This allowed us to identify clusters of coordinately regulated genes both diagnostic for drug mechanism of action and useful for a more rational approach to the selection of critical drug targets.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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M. tuberculosis carrying an integrated copy of the Mycobacterium smegmatis amidase pzaA, which hydrolyzes several aromatic amides (12), was used for cultures treated with pyrazinamide, 5-chloropyrazinamide, nicotinamide, or benzamide. This strain was also used to investigate the transcriptional response during extracellular pH stress. Treatment was done in Middlebrook 7H9-based medium adjusted to the required pH (4.8, 5.2, or 5.6) with H3PO4 and referenced to cells grown in the same acidified medium without amide addition. Since pyrazinamide is only effective at low cell densities, cultures were grown to an A650 of 0.05 before treatment was initiated. MICs were measured using the microbroth dilution technique (13) using H37Rv or M. tuberculosis
mbtB (14). Iron preloading of cells was done for 3 h in 7H9-based medium containing a 10-fold excess of Fe3+. RNA labeling and hybridization was as previously described (11).
Microarray Preparation and Data AnalysisMicroarray preparation is described under GEO accession number GSE1642 [NCBI GEO] . Expression ratios were calculated as the feature pixel median minus background pixel median for one color channel divided by the same for the other channel. In cases where more than 10% of the feature pixels were saturated, the feature pixel mean was used instead of the median. When the feature pixel mean did not exceed the background pixel mean by more than two S.D. values (calculated from the background pixel distribution), the feature pixel median is used in the ratio without background subtraction. In cases where both color channels were near background (same criterion), the ratio value was set to "missing." Expression ratios were transformed to the log base 2 for all further calculations.
Standardized gene expression ratio patterns were calculated by subtracting the mean expression ratio and dividing by the S.D. statistics calculated from all ratios (all microarrays) for that gene. Standardizing in this way corrected for scale differences between the response patterns for different genes. The resulting z-scores were averaged according to the drug treatment name, resulting in a single value for each drug name for each gene (see Supplementary Data). These gene patterns where then clustered using a K-means algorithm (SAS Proc Fastclus) using the Euclidean distance as the dissimilarity metric. Two rounds of K-means clustering were conducted. The first with the subset of genes showing the highest treatment-dependent variation in expression as judged by one-way analysis of variance (SAS Proc ANOVA) on the original log ratio vectors, using treatment name as the class variable. The second round used all genes, but without allowing the cluster number to increase or the cluster centroids to drift (assigning the remaining genes to the existing clusters formed in the first round of clustering). We arrived at the Fastclus "maxclusters" parameter, the maximum number of clusters to define, value of 150 clusters, by multiplying the number of class levels (treatments), 75, by 2. The number of genes selected for the first round of clustering (1650) was limited to 11 times the number of clusters and were those with the most statistically significant one-way analysis of variance score. A single pattern of response for each gene cluster was calculated as the mean of all standardized gene patterns assigned to the cluster by Proc Fastclus. These cluster centroids were themselves clustered using average linkage algorithm calculated in Microsoft Excel VBA using a one minus the Pearson correlation coefficient for the distance metric (15) to arrive at the ordering of rows in Fig. 3 (for details, see Supplementary Data). Patterns of response to each treatment were clustered using the same method to arrive at the column order in Fig. 3. The array data have been deposited in the Gene Expression Omnibus at NCBI (GEO; available on the World Wide Web at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo) with GEO accession number GSE1642 [NCBI GEO] .
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Enzyme AssaysEnzyme assays were done on proteins from M. smegmatis. Purification and determination of NADH dehydrogenase and succinate dehydrogenase activities was performed as previously described (16).
Oxygen Consumption AssaysThe effect of drugs on oxygen consumption by M. tuberculosis was done in parafilm-sealed, glass screw-cap tubes that were filled with midlog phase culture containing 0.001% methylene blue. Decolorization typically occurred after 12 h. The rate of oxygen consumption was measured in M. smegmatis using midlog stage cultures treated with drug for 1 h before adding 0.01% methylene blue and monitoring decolorization at 665 nm.
Sugar AnalysisCell walls were prepared, and glycosyl compositions were determined by the alditol acetate methods as described (17).
NADH/NAD+ DeterminationNADH and NAD+ levels were determined by a sensitive cycling assay (18). Briefly, M. tuberculosis cultures were grown to an A650 of 0.3 and treated with drugs for 3 h. At this stage, cells were rapidly harvested (two 2-ml samples) and resuspended in 0.2 M HCl (NAD+ determination) or 0.2 M NaOH (NADH determination). Nucleotide extraction was further facilitated by bead beating of the suspensions with 0.2-ml glass beads (40 s, maximum speed). Extracts were further prepared, and enzyme assays were performed as previously described (18). All determinations were repeated in at least three independent experiments.
Menaquinol/Menaquinone AnalysisCultures were grown to an A650 of 0.3 and treated for 3 h with drug or solvent alone. Menaquinone and menaquinol were extracted as described (19) and quantified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (Hewlett-Packard 1100) using a C18 column with detection by DAD at UV 266 nm. All extractions were repeated at least three independent times.
Intracellular ATP DeterminationsThese assays were done on cultures of M. tuberculosis containing an integrated luciferase gene from pMV306-groELluc grown to an A650 of 0.1-0.2 and treated with drug for 20-120 min. ATP levels were determined by bioluminescence as previously described (20).
MTT AssaysM. smegmatis at an A650 of 0.2 was treated with drug or vehicle alone for 15 min (100 µl/well in 96-well plates in quadruplicate) before the addition of 25 µl of 2 mg/ml MTT. The reaction was stopped after 30 min by the addition of 25 µl of 10% SDS, and the absorbance at 595 nm was recorded. The assay was repeated two independent times.
| RESULTS |
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Genes previously shown to be members of the DosR- and RecA-controlled regulons (4, 11, 22) were independently identified by this process of gene clustering. Gene cluster 39 (GC39), for example, contained 21 of the 48 members of the dormancy regulon, and three closely linked clusters (GC126, -56, and -137) contained 38 genes previously reported to be up-regulated by DNA damage.
The Metabolic Response to Inhibition of TranslationAnalysis of the cellular response to translational inhibition revealed a general down-regulation of macromolecular synthesis, as expected, although there was an evident attempt to increase synthesis of the translational apparatus. Up-regulated genes included those implicated in ribosomal architecture and translation (e.g. GC28, -36, -70, -71, -90, and -118) whereas down-regulated genes included aspects of macromolecular metabolism similar to those responsive to starvation (e.g. ppk and relA). Regulation of these genes did not appear to be mediated by the stringent response through ppGpp, since relA was down-regulated. Interestingly, Rv1026 (encoding a possible pppGpp-5'-phosphohydrolase that would hydrolyze any residual mediator of the stringent response (23)) was up-regulated during translational inhibition and down-regulated during starvation. The observed up-regulation of the inorganic pyrophosphatase encoded by ppa would probably slow ribosomal degradation (24) and also contrasts with the down-regulation of this gene during starvation. Not surprisingly, ppa is part of a regulon (GC71) containing genes implicated in translation, and, combined with the observed down-regulation of ppk (a polyphosphate kinase), this suggests an important role for polyphosphate in mycobacterial adaption to translational inhibition (25).
A gene cluster containing the gene encoding the regulatory protein of pyrimidine biosynthesis (pyrR) (GC69) was also up-regulated, consistent with the observed down-regulation of expression of several genes involved in pyrimidine biosynthesis, whereas genes involved in purine and pyrimidine salvage (apt, gmk, prsA, thyA, and cdd) and conversion of nucleotides to deoxyribonucleotides (nrdF1, nrdF2, nrdH, and nrdI) were up-regulated upon translational inhibition.
Aminoglycosides were associated with an up-regulation of heat shock proteins (GC134), presumably resulting from mis-translation-induced aberrant peptides in the cytoplasm as has been observed for other bacteria (26). Tetracycline and roxithromycin did not induce this response, consistent with the fact that they block release of the nascent peptide during translational inhibition.
Our analysis also suggested that translational inhibition results in inhibition of DNA replication and the processing of replication forks. The down-regulation of several genes supports this hypothesis, including the following: Rv1708 (possible role in initiation of replication); the major replicative DNA polymerase (11); and DnaA, which plays a role in initiation of chromosomal replication. Likewise, genes implicated in turnover of DNA were up-regulated, including nth, recR, hupB, recF, and ssb. This did not result in a signal that was relayed as DNA damage, however, since recA and dnaE2 (11) were not up-regulated.
The Metabolic Response to Inhibitors of DNA Transcription and Gyrase FunctionUnsurprisingly, the mode of action of transcriptional inhibitors such as rifamycins could best be described as a global down-regulation of most gene clusters, including the ribonucleotide reductase genes (GC49), heat shock proteins (GC134), and several ribosomal genes. Despite this, some transcript levels were elevated, but this was probably due to differential mRNA stabilities.
Fluoroquinolones bind gyrase and topoisomerase IV on DNA, blocking transcription and replication and resulting in DNA damage (27). DNA damage also results from treatment with UV irradiation, H2O2, and mitomycin C. All of these treatments resulted in the up-regulation of the previously characterized (11, 28) SOS gene clusters (GC56, -126, and -137) as well as several DNA repair-associated genes that were not correlated with this regulon. The gyrase inhibitor novobiocin does not induce double-stranded breaks (29) and did not cluster with those agents that did. Novobiocin affected the expression of a more limited subset of DNA repair or structural maintenance genes including the up-regulation of the RecA-independent, Y family polymerase member encoded by dinP. The effects of fluoroquinolones (including novobiocin) could be distinguished from the other forms of DNA damage employed in this study by the unique up-regulation of the class Ib ribonucleotide reductase genes (GC49) as well as nrdF1.
Deoxyribonucleotide pools are regulated by the activity of ribonucleotide reductase and are intricately linked to DNA replication (30). Repair of fluoroquinolone-induced double-stranded DNA breaks may provide the signal to elevate DNA synthetic machinery, as has been reported in E. coli (31), or such a signal may be generated during the stalling of chromosomal DNA replication. The up-regulation of nrdF1, the alternate nonessential ribonucleotide reductase small subunit (32), suggests that this subunit may play a role in supplying dNTPs during DNA turnover or repair.
Gene Signatures for Inhibitors of Cell Wall BiosynthesisInhibition of cell wall biosynthesis by any known agent revealed that there was one unique set of genes broadly responsive to this insult. These genes comprised two regulons (GC27 and -128). GC27 consists of secreted cell wall-associated proteins such as Rv1987 encoding a putative glycohydrolase, lprJ, fbpC, murD, dacB1, and Rv3717 encoding a putative N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase and may be regulated by SigD. GC128 included the iniBAC operon, an operon of unknown function that has previously been shown to be responsive to such inhibitors (3, 33) and several cell wall-associated genes. This gene cluster was also linked to two others (GC79 and -89) that contained several cell wall biosynthetic and turnover genes.
The
-lactam antibiotics induced unique genes consistent with their known transpeptidase-inhibiting properties. These included Rv3717, a putative N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase that may correspond to the enzyme implicated in penicillin-induced autolysis in other bacteria (34).
Ethambutol (EMB), which inhibits the arabinosyltransferases that decorate arabinogalactan and lipoarabinomannan (35, 36), has recently been extensively analogued with some success (13). A comparison of the transcriptional profiles of two potent analogs with EMB showed that, despite many similarities in transcriptional profiles, EMB differentially affected a regulon (GC82) containing genes within the FAS-II pathway as well as a regulon (GC17) that contained genes implicated in fatty acid modification. This mechanistic divergence was confirmed by the observation that whereas M. tuberculosis cells treated with EMB rapidly lost acid-fastness, cells treated with the analogs did not (data not shown). Further, cells treated with EMB contained significantly less arabinose than controls, whereas cells treated with analogs of EMB did not (Fig. 4).
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subunit, as well as fadA2, suggesting that these gene products are involved in interlinked metabolic pathways. In addition, the closely linked GC120 contains fas, efpA, accA3, accD4, pks13, and fadD32 (Fig. 3B). A recent report describing the role of pks13 in the final step of mycolate condensation (37) is further evidence for the metabolic relatedness of genes in many of the gene clusters such as GC82 and GC120. Differential expression of distinct sets of gene clusters distinguishes FAS-II from FAS-I inhibitors, whereas other gene clusters can distinguish the effects of isoniazid and ethionamide from thiolactomycin, showing that these various fatty acid synthesis inhibitors affect biochemical pathways that are connected to distinct transcriptional regulators.
The Transcriptional Profile of TRC Suggests That the Primary Mode of Action Is on RespirationTRC, a potent inhibitor of the FAS-II system in vitro, did not appear to elicit a similar response in vivo. This broad spectrum antibacterial agent inhibits the bacterial fatty acid biosynthetic enzyme, enoyl-(acyl-carrier protein) reductase in vitro (38). Counterintuitively, TRC apparently stimulates degradation of fatty acids, since enzymes corresponding to every step of
-oxidation are up-regulated. TRC concurrently up-regulated citrate synthase (gltA1), which controls flux through the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and the enzymes of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, which control levels of acetyl-CoA. Because TRC clustered with known respiratory inhibitors (Fig. 2), we investigated the activity of components of the respiratory chain in vitro. TRC was found to cause a dose-dependent inhibition of the membrane-bound quinol reductase succinate dehydrogenase (Fig. 5A). The effect of TRC on the membrane-bound electron transport chain was also manifested in a rapid drop in intracellular ATP levels in a reporter strain of M. tuberculosis expressing the luciferase gene, which was not observed with other cell wall inhibitors (Fig. 6). The effect of the rapid depletion of ATP levels was evidenced by the concomitant up-regulation of relA, which can be directly linked to the expected decrease in synthesis of charged tRNAs. In addition, TRC treatment resulted in a decline in the intracellular redox potential of M. smegmatis as measured by reduction of MTT by intracellular dehydrogenases (Fig. 7). The decline in the intracellular redox status was reflected in a decrease in the NADH/NAD+ ratio and an increase in the menaquinol/menaquinone ratio of the major isomer MK-9(H2) (39) (Table I), an effect that was not observed with isoniazid. TRC did not, however, directly inhibit oxygen consumption as measured by the rate of methylene blue decolorization in normally growing cells (results not shown).
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The phenothiazines and azoles shared many similarities in regulated gene clusters, including one that contained known components of the respiratory chain (GC149), which included the alternative terminal oxidase encoded by the cydA and cydB genes. To unambiguously demonstrate an effect on respiration, we performed methylene blue decolorization assays to measure the rate of oxygen consumption in treated and untreated cells. The results (Fig. 5D) indicated that the phenothiazines inhibited oxygen consumption in both M. tuberculosis and M. smegmatis (Fig. 5D), whereas TRC, azoles, carbonyl cyanide chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), dicyclohexylcarboxidiimide, KCN, and dinitrophenol (DNP) did not (results not shown). The activity of two quinone reductases, type II NADH-ubiquinone dehydrogenase and succinate dehydrogenase, were also assessed in membrane preparations in the presence of these drugs. The phenothiazines were potent inhibitors of both the type II NADH-ubiquinone dehydrogenase and the integral membrane succinate dehydrogenase (Fig. 5, B and C), whereas the azoles were inhibitors of succinate dehydrogenase activity (results not shown). The effects of the phenothiazines on respiration were further manifested in a rapid drop in intracellular ATP levels in M. tuberculosis (Fig. 6) as well as a decline in intracellular redox potential in M. smegmatis (Fig. 7), effects that were also observed with known modulators of the proton motive force such as protonophores (DNP, CCCP, and nigericin).
These respiratory inhibitors all up-regulated relA expression, which can be ascribed to the expected decrease in charged tRNAs due to ATP depletion. The decreased intracellular redox potential was reflected by a decrease in the intracellular NADH/NAD+ ratio as well as a decrease in the cell-associated menaquinol/menaquinone ratio (Table I).
To further define the effect of respiratory inhibitors such as the phenothiazines on the regulation of respiratory chain components, we analyzed transcriptional profiles of cells treated either alone or with combinations of known respiratory modulators including cyanide, azide, dithiothreitol, ZnSO4, uncouplers, redox cycling agents (menadione and clofazimine), and NO. We also explored the effect on respiration for cells grown on palmitate as the sole carbon source. This analysis revealed that two distinct gene clusters (GC149 and -39) were independently associated with alterations in electron flux through the respiratory chain (Fig. 8). One of these was the previously described NO-inducible dosR (4), whereas the other was a cluster of genes containing the cyd operon (GC149). Inhibition of both terminal oxidases, cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) and cytochrome bd oxidase, by NO (but not CcO-specific inhibitors like cyanide or azide) or by depletion of oxygen during adaption to hypoxic conditions resulted in up-regulation of the dosR regulon, as did growth on the reduced carbon source palmitate. The effect of NO on the dosR regulon could be fully reversed by cyanide, menadione, and clofazimine, all of which could reoxidize the nitrosylferroheme of cytochromes (Fig. 8). Notably, all three also were found to result in resumption of oxygen consumption (results not shown).
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Since changes in the pyridine nucleotide or respiratory quinol redox poises are associated with modulation of expression of respiratory components in a variety of bacteria (47-49), the reduced versus oxidized forms of these molecules were measured with a variety of respiratory inhibitors that affected the expression of the cyd operon or the dosR regulon (Table I). This indicated that the regulation of these gene sets could not be simply correlated with the redox state of these electron carriers.
High Information Content Screening: Transcriptional Profiling for de Novo Mechanism of Action DeterminationAscididemin is a marine pyridoacridone alkaloid that has cytotoxic activity to tumor cells as well as showing antiparasitic activity (50). The mechanism of action of these compounds in eukaryotic cells has been attributed to inhibition of DNA topoisomerase and direct cleavage of DNA (51). Ascididemin has also been reported to have potent antimycobacterial activity (Table II). By transcriptional profiling, ascididemin was shown to induce up-regulation of the mycobactin biosynthetic genes and affected transcription of several iron-associated genes. The mycobactin genes and a few putative functionally related genes formed a gene cluster (GC108) that constituted a signature profile for this group of drugs that included other iron scavengers such as dipyridyl and desferoxamine.
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High Information Content Screening: Predicting DetoxificationMolecules with aromatic character in general were potent inducers of monooxygenases, dioxygenases, certain methylases, efflux systems, and the associated carboxylic acid degradation genes. There was, for example, a striking up-regulation of potential drug detoxification and efflux mechanisms during TRC treatment, and many of the gene clusters up-regulated in common between the phenothiazines, azoles, DNP, CCCP, clofazimine, and TRC included genes potentially involved in drug detoxification and efflux. Gene clusters 53 and 51 consisted largely of potential detoxification mechanisms. Microarray analysis indicated that the diamine analogs were potent inducers of potential drug detoxification mechanisms and that the apparent lack of effect on cell wall arabinogalactan composition could also be ascribed to detoxification of the analogs.
| DISCUSSION |
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In general, inhibitors of protein translation induce the cell to attempt to synthesize more ribosomes, reduce the turnover and degradation of existing ribosomes, and reduce the de novo synthesis of nucleotides while enhancing nucleotide recycling and salvage. Although somewhat similar to the genetic response to starvation (5) this response is unique and independent of ppGpp regulation. Importantly, these studies suggest an as yet unexplored role for polyphosphate metabolism in determining the overall status of the mycobacterial translational apparatus.
The cellular response to interrupting DNA supercoiling was directly related to the ability of the inhibitor to induce double-stranded breaks in the chromosome. Fluoroquinolones, which induce such damage, strongly induce the SOS response, whereas novobiocin, which does not induce such damage, does not. Disruption of DNA supercoiling levels by either fluoroquinolones or novobiocin induces genes involved in DNA synthesis and the synthesis of DNA precursors like deoxyribonucleotides. The unique regulation of nrdF1 suggests either a general role of this subunit in the regulation of DNA synthesis levels or a specific role in DNA synthesis during DNA turnover or repair.
Pyrazinamide-elicited transcriptional profiles clustered with other amides such as nicotinamide and benzamide, supporting the hypothesis that these agents exert their antimycobacterial effect by imposing stress on the intracellular pH homeostasis mechanisms (12). These aromatic amide-elicited profiles were in turn distinct from the transcriptional responses of the organism due to extracellular pH stress during growth in an acidic environment.
Inhibition of cell wall synthesis represents a major mechanism of action for many existing antituberculars and has been historically a well studied area. Transcriptional profiles of all such inhibitors (except TRC) revealed a potent up-regulation of common cell wall gene clusters (GC27 and -128) that included the iniBAC operon, previously shown to be responsive to such inhibitors (3, 33). This and other genes regulated in common by this class (interestingly, many are also up-regulated by starvation) are strong candidates for genes involved in cell wall turnover, remodeling, or maintenance, possibly critical functions in nonreplicating organisms. Cell wall turnover is thought to play a role during adaption to microaerophilia, and although GC27 and GC128 were down-regulated during adaptation to oxygen limitation, gene clusters implicated in fatty acid modification and polyketide synthesis were up-regulated (GC17 and -66). TRC is the single outlier that does not appear to induce any of the cell wall-responsive genes that characterized the cell wall inhibitors, instead stimulating fatty acid degradation and clustering with respiratory inhibitors. This was confirmed by showing that TRC directly inhibits the membrane-bound succinate dehydrogenase but surprisingly this does not translate into a global effect on respiration since oxygen consumption appears normal in TRC-treated cells. Thus, despite evidence that TRC has a cell wall component to its mechanism of action, the mechanism of toxicity is clearly more complex than previously appreciated (20).
The up-regulation of genes implicated in biogenesis of respiratory cytochromes and of the cydAB genes encoding the cytochrome bd quinol oxidase by CPZ, the azoles, and TRC suggested a common effect on electron transport. CYP121, suggested as the target of the azoles, seemed an unlikely target due to its absence from the susceptible M. smegmatis and its nonessentiality in M. tuberculosis (52). For the phenothiazines CPZ and TRZ, the similarities in transcriptional profiles with known uncouplers and respiratory poisons suggested a direct effect on respiration. We were able to support this by directly demonstrating that consumption of oxygen by M. tuberculosis was in fact inhibited by these compounds and that two different dehydrogenases of the respiratory chain were inhibited in vitro, strongly suggesting that respiratory inhibition is a major component of the mode of action of these agents. TRC and the azoles inhibited the respiratory succinate dehydrogenase but did not inhibit oxygen consumption. The effect of these drugs on respiration may be due to their hydrophobicity, which would tend to sequester them in the mycobacterial cell wall, consistent with their effect on the membrane-bound succinate dehydrogenase complex. However, the effects of TRC and the azoles on respiratory and other membrane-associated proteins may be nonspecific.
Our studies with various inhibitors also suggest some fundamental principles underlying respiratory regulation. The dormancy (dosR) regulon, induced by inhibition of both terminal oxidases by NO, is regulated by DosR and mediates adaptation to hypoxia (4, 53). It has been suggested that the signal detected by the cognate sensor kinase of DosR might be transduced by CcO (4). However, in our studies, we found that the CcO inhibitors cyanide and azide do not induce up-regulation of this response, whereas growth on reduced carbon sources did. This argues against CcO as the transducer of the dormancy signal and points to a sensor that detects the redox status of the cell. In some bacteria, the redox balance between quinones and quinols transduces signals to flavin-containing sensor kinases (47, 48), whereas in some other bacteria, the redox poise is sensed through the NADH/NAD+ ratio (49). However, we found that neither the NADH/NAD+ nor the menaquinol/menaquinone redox status was responsible for the differential regulation of these gene sets in M. tuberculosis. These findings do not rule out the possibility that the redox poise of another electron carrier is the signal that controls the regulation of at least one of these sets of genes.
Inhibition of CcO specifically results in up-regulation of the cyd operon encoding the non-proton-pumping cytochrome bd oxidase (46). This operon was also up-regulated during adaption to hypoxic conditions as has been found in M. smegmatis (46) and during growth on palmitate. Such conditions would be expected to alter the transmembrane proton gradient due to intracellular accumulation of organic acids and a protonophore effect of fatty acids. This effect was verified using known protonophores such as CCCP, DNP, and nigericin, which specifically disrupts the proton gradient of the transmembrane electrochemical potential. Intracellular acidification would be expected to have a similar effect, and, in fact, amides such as pyrazinamide resulted in up-regulation of the cyd operon.
Thus, the data base of transcriptional profiles described here for a very diverse set of drugs and growth-inhibitory conditions provides information that is highly consistent with historical studies. It has also proven useful for agents lacking historical information. Transcriptional profiling of the pyridoacridone ascididemin suggested that this compound interfered with iron acquisition, which we were able to validate directly. Moreover, transcriptional profiles were useful in highlighting key metabolic responses even in the face of the more complex responses observed with unpurified natural products. The signature of ascididemin, for example, was found to be entirely reproducible in the crude extract of the tunicate from which it was obtained. Since a primary bottleneck in the discovery of new agents from natural sources lies in the resource-intensive process of isolation of the active principle, transcriptional profiling offers the opportunity to prioritize such extracts to those with novel mechanisms of action prior to such a commitment. This concept of high information content screening also encompasses information regarding chemotypes that induce undesirable bacterial detoxification and efflux systems that could be used to prioritize hits from high throughput screening using responses of a small number of responsive gene clusters.
The coordinately regulated gene clusters identified here represent the most extensive set of regulons to date defining the metabolic potential of this important pathogen. Understanding this potential and the plasticity of the pathogen's response to challenge, is critical to understanding pathogen biology to a level sufficient to define targets against both actively replicating and nonreplicating organisms. Highly responsive genes and the list of those that are not suggest precise targets and intervention points for the development of a new generation of antituberculosis agents.
| FOOTNOTES |
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The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains supplemental data. ![]()
To whom correspondence should be addressed: Twinbrook II, Rm. 239, 12441 Parklawn Dr., Rockville, MD 20852. Tel.: 301-4519438; Fax: 301-4020993; E-mail: HBOSHOFF{at}niaid.nih.gov.
1 The abbreviations used are: GSNO, S-nitrosoglutathione; MIC, minimum inhibitory concentration; MTT, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide; GC, gene cluster; TRC, triclosan; CPZ, chlorpromazine; TRZ, thioridazine; CCCP, carbonyl cyanide chlorophenylhydrazone; DNP, dinitrophenol; CCO, cytochrome c oxidase; EMB, ethambutol. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| REFERENCES |
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A. Gurvitz, J. K. Hiltunen, and A. J. Kastaniotis Heterologous Expression of Mycobacterial Proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Reveals Two Physiologically Functional 3-Hydroxyacyl-Thioester Dehydratases, HtdX and HtdY, in Addition to HadABC and HtdZ J. Bacteriol., April 15, 2009; 191(8): 2683 - 2690. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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R. Provvedi, F. Boldrin, F. Falciani, G. Palu, and R. Manganelli Global transcriptional response to vancomycin in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Microbiology, April 1, 2009; 155(4): 1093 - 1102. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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R. A. Slayden and J. T. Belisle Morphological features and signature gene response elicited by inactivation of FtsI in Mycobacterium tuberculosis J. Antimicrob. Chemother., March 1, 2009; 63(3): 451 - 457. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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A. C. van Brummelen, K. L. Olszewski, D. Wilinski, M. Llinas, A. I. Louw, and L.-M. Birkholtz Co-inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum S-Adenosylmethionine Decarboxylase/Ornithine Decarboxylase Reveals Perturbation-specific Compensatory Mechanisms by Transcriptome, Proteome, and Metabolome Analyses J. Biol. Chem., February 13, 2009; 284(7): 4635 - 4646. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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M. B. Mowa, D. F. Warner, G. Kaplan, B. D. Kana, and V. Mizrahi Function and Regulation of Class I Ribonucleotide Reductase-Encoding Genes in Mycobacteria J. Bacteriol., February 1, 2009; 191(3): 985 - 995. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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R. Singh, U. Manjunatha, H. I. M. Boshoff, Y. H. Ha, P. Niyomrattanakit, R. Ledwidge, C. S. Dowd, I. Y. Lee, P. Kim, L. Zhang, et al. PA-824 Kills Nonreplicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Intracellular NO Release Science, November 28, 2008; 322(5906): 1392 - 1395. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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H. I. M. Boshoff, X. Xu, K. Tahlan, C. S. Dowd, K. Pethe, L. R. Camacho, T.-H. Park, C.-S. Yun, D. Schnappinger, S. Ehrt, et al. Biosynthesis and Recycling of Nicotinamide Cofactors in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: AN ESSENTIAL ROLE FOR NAD IN NONREPLICATING BACILLI J. Biol. Chem., July 11, 2008; 283(28): 19329 - 19341. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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C. D. Sohaskey Nitrate Enhances the Survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis during Inhibition of Respiration J. Bacteriol., April 15, 2008; 190(8): 2981 - 2986. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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P. C. Karakousis, E. P. Williams, and W. R. Bishai Altered expression of isoniazid-regulated genes in drug-treated dormant Mycobacterium tuberculosis J. Antimicrob. Chemother., February 1, 2008; 61(2): 323 - 331. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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A. K. Agarwal, T. Xu, M. R. Jacob, Q. Feng, M. C. Lorenz, L. A. Walker, and A. M. Clark Role of Heme in the Antifungal Activity of the Azaoxoaporphine Alkaloid Sampangine Eukaryot. Cell, February 1, 2008; 7(2): 387 - 400. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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P. Golby, K. A. Hatch, J. Bacon, R. Cooney, P. Riley, J. Allnutt, J. Hinds, J. Nunez, P. D. Marsh, R. G. Hewinson, et al. Comparative transcriptomics reveals key gene expression differences between the human and bovine pathogens of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex Microbiology, October 1, 2007; 153(10): 3323 - 3336. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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M. E. Boyne, T. J. Sullivan, C. W. amEnde, H. Lu, V. Gruppo, D. Heaslip, A. G. Amin, D. Chatterjee, A. Lenaerts, P. J. Tonge, et al. Targeting Fatty Acid Biosynthesis for the Development of Novel Chemotherapeutics against Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Evaluation of A-Ring-Modified Diphenyl Ethers as High-Affinity InhA Inhibitors Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., October 1, 2007; 51(10): 3562 - 3567. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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C. I. Montero, M. R. Johnson, C.-J. Chou, S. B. Conners, S. G. Geouge, S. Tachdjian, J. D. Nichols, and R. M. Kelly Responses of Wild-Type and Resistant Strains of the Hyperthermophilic Bacterium Thermotoga maritima to Chloramphenicol Challenge Appl. Envir. Microbiol., August 1, 2007; 73(15): 5058 - 5065. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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S. T. Byrne, S. M. Denkin, P. Gu, E. Nuermberger, and Y. Zhang Activity of ketoconazole against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vitro and in the mouse model J. Med. Microbiol., August 1, 2007; 56(8): 1047 - 1051. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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A. Singh, L. Guidry, K. V. Narasimhulu, D. Mai, J. Trombley, K. E. Redding, G. I. Giles, J. R. Lancaster Jr., and A. J. C. Steyn Mycobacterium tuberculosis WhiB3 responds to O2 and nitric oxide via its [4Fe-4S] cluster and is essential for nutrient starvation survival PNAS, July 10, 2007; 104(28): 11562 - 11567. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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P. D. Rogers, T. T. Liu, K. S. Barker, G. M. Hilliard, B. K. English, J. Thornton, E. Swiatlo, and L. S. McDaniel Gene expression profiling of the response of Streptococcus pneumoniae to penicillin J. Antimicrob. Chemother., April 1, 2007; 59(4): 616 - 626. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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B. V. Nikonenko, M. Protopopova, R. Samala, L. Einck, and C. A. Nacy Drug Therapy of Experimental Tuberculosis (TB): Improved Outcome by Combining SQ109, a New Diamine Antibiotic, with Existing TB Drugs Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., April 1, 2007; 51(4): 1563 - 1565. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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M. Rezwan, T. Grau, A. Tschumi, and P. Sander Lipoprotein synthesis in mycobacteria Microbiology, March 1, 2007; 153(3): 652 - 658. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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M. Van La, P. Barbry, D. Raoult, and P. Renesto Molecular basis of Tropheryma whipplei doxycycline susceptibility examined by transcriptional profiling J. Antimicrob. Chemother., March 1, 2007; 59(3): 370 - 377. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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L. Amaral, M. Martins, and M. Viveiros Enhanced killing of intracellular multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis by compounds that affect the activity of efflux pumps J. Antimicrob. Chemother., January 11, 2007; (2007) dkl500v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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B. Saint-Joanis, C. Demangel, M. Jackson, P. Brodin, L. Marsollier, H. Boshoff, and S. T. Cole Inactivation of Rv2525c, a Substrate of the Twin Arginine Translocation (Tat) System of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Increases {beta}-Lactam Susceptibility and Virulence. J. Bacteriol., September 1, 2006; 188(18): 6669 - 6679. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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P. Chen, J. Gearhart, M. Protopopova, L. Einck, and C. A. Nacy Synergistic interactions of SQ109, a new ethylene diamine, with front-line antitubercular drugs in vitro J. Antimicrob. Chemother., August 1, 2006; 58(2): 332 - 337. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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D. F. Warner and V. Mizrahi Tuberculosis Chemotherapy: the Influence of Bacillary Stress and Damage Response Pathways on Drug Efficacy Clin. Microbiol. Rev., July 1, 2006; 19(3): 558 - 570. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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R. A. Slayden, D. L. Knudson, and J. T. Belisle Identification of cell cycle regulators in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by inhibition of septum formation and global transcriptional analysis Microbiology, June 1, 2006; 152(6): 1789 - 1797. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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T. Yano, L.-S. Li, E. Weinstein, J.-S. Teh, and H. Rubin Steady-state Kinetics and Inhibitory Action of Antitubercular Phenothiazines on Mycobacterium tuberculosis Type-II NADH-Menaquinone Oxidoreductase (NDH-2) J. Biol. Chem., April 28, 2006; 281(17): 11456 - 11463. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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X. Dong, S. Bhamidi, M. Scherman, Y. Xin, and M. R. McNeil Development of a Quantitative Assay for Mycobacterial Endogenous Arabinase and Ensuing Studies of Arabinase Levels and Arabinan Metabolism in Mycobacterium smegmatis Appl. Envir. Microbiol., April 1, 2006; 72(4): 2601 - 2605. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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H. Rachman, M. Strong, T. Ulrichs, L. Grode, J. Schuchhardt, H. Mollenkopf, G. A. Kosmiadi, D. Eisenberg, and S. H. E. Kaufmann Unique Transcriptome Signature of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Infect. Immun., February 1, 2006; 74(2): 1233 - 1242. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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Z. Xie, N. Siddiqi, and E. J. Rubin Differential Antibiotic Susceptibilities of Starved Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., November 1, 2005; 49(11): 4778 - 4780. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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M. Protopopova, C. Hanrahan, B. Nikonenko, R. Samala, P. Chen, J. Gearhart, L. Einck, and C. A. Nacy Identification of a new antitubercular drug candidate, SQ109, from a combinatorial library of 1,2-ethylenediamines J. Antimicrob. Chemother., November 1, 2005; 56(5): 968 - 974. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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L. Shi, C. D. Sohaskey, B. D. Kana, S. Dawes, R. J. North, V. Mizrahi, and M. L. Gennaro Changes in energy metabolism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in mouse lung and under in vitro conditions affecting aerobic respiration PNAS, October 25, 2005; 102(43): 15629 - 15634. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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L. G. Matsoso, B. D. Kana, P. K. Crellin, D. J. Lea-Smith, A. Pelosi, D. Powell, S. S. Dawes, H. Rubin, R. L. Coppel, and V. Mizrahi Function of the Cytochrome bc1-aa3 Branch of the Respiratory Network in Mycobacteria and Network Adaptation Occurring in Response to Its Disruption J. Bacteriol., September 15, 2005; 187(18): 6300 - 6308. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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L. Cabusora, E. Sutton, A. Fulmer, and C. V. Forst Differential network expression during drug and stress response Bioinformatics, June 15, 2005; 21(12): 2898 - 2905. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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S. H.E. Kaufmann, S. T. Cole, V. Mizrahi, E. Rubin, and C. Nathan Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the host response J. Exp. Med., June 6, 2005; 201(11): 1693 - 1697. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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E. A. Weinstein, T. Yano, L.-S. Li, D. Avarbock, A. Avarbock, D. Helm, A. A. McColm, K. Duncan, J. T. Lonsdale, and H. Rubin Inhibitors of type II NADH:menaquinone oxidoreductase represent a class of antitubercular drugs PNAS, March 22, 2005; 102(12): 4548 - 4553. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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