This work was supported by &#34;Finanziamento di Ricerca di Ateneo&#34; to L. Baccigalupi, project title &#34;SP-LAY: Bacterial spores as live platform for proteins display&#34;.

1. Adsorption reaction
<ol>
	<li>Incubate 2, 5, and 10 &#181;g of mRFP with 2 x 109 of B. subtilis wild-type purified spores in 200 &#181;L of binding buffer, 50 mM sodium citrate, pH 4.0 (16.7 mM sodium citrate dihydrate; 33.3 mM citric acid) for 1 h at 25 &#176;C on a rocking shaker (Figure 1).</li>
	<li>Centrifuge the binding mixtures (13,000 x g for 10 min) to fractionate pellets (P2, P5, and P10) and supernatants (S2, S5, and S10). Store the supernatants for the indirect evaluation of the efficiency of adsorption described in step 3.2.</li>
	<li>Wash the pellets 2x with 200 &#181;L of binding buffer and resuspend them in 100 &#181;L of binding buffer and use it for the next analysis. 
	NOTE: The binding reaction preferentially occurs at a pH value lower than the isoelectric point of the protein; typically, 1.5 M phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), pH 4.0, or 50 mM sodium citrate, pH 4.0, are used.</li>
</ol>
2. Direct evaluation of the efficiency of adsorption
<ol>
	<li>Extraction of surface proteins and western blot analysis
	<ol>
		<li>Take 50 &#181;L of mRFP-adsorbed spores&#39; resuspension (P2, P5, and P10 of step 1.3) and add 50 &#181;L of 2x sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-dithiothreitol (DTT) (0.1 M Tris-HCl, pH 6.8; 2% SDS; 0.1 M DTT) to solubilize surface spore proteins.</li>
		<li>Use the free, purified mRFP and extracts of the same amounts of spores that are not adsorbed to the protein as positive and negative controls, respectively.</li>
		<li>After 45 min of incubation at 65 &#176;C, centrifuge (13,000 x g for 10 min) the mixtures and analyze 10 &#181;L of the extracted proteins (supernatant) by western blot with the monoclonal anti-His antibody recognizing the His tag present at the N-terminal of mRFP (Figure 2A).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Fluorescent microscopy observations 
	NOTE: By using fluorescent heterologous proteins or performing an immunofluorescence analysis, it is possible to localize and quantify the adsorbed molecules by fluorescence microscopy.
	<ol>
		<li>Take 5 &#181;L of the adsorbed spores&#39; resuspension from step 1.3 and add 95 &#181;L of 1x PBS, pH 4.0, to obtain ~1 x 106 spores/&#181;L.</li>
		<li>Place 5 &#181;L of suspension on a microscope slide, cover it with a coverslip previously treated with poly-l-lysine for 30 s, and observe it under a fluorescence microscope.</li>
		<li>For each field, save the phase-contrast microscopy image and fluorescence microscopy image (Figure 2B). 
		NOTE: Alternatively, fluorescent spores can be analyzed by cytofluorimetry. Resuspend a total of 106 spores adsorbed or not-adsorbed with the heterologous protein in 1 mL of 1x PBS, pH 4.0, and analyze the suspension using a flow cytometer (Figure 2C).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Data analysis using ImageJ
	<ol>
		<li>Open the fluorescence microscopy images with ImageJ software (http://rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/) and check to make sure all images are in the 8-bit format (Image | Type | 8-bit).</li>
		<li>Adjust the contrast if necessary (Image | Adjust | Brightness Contrast) and verify that the scale of the image is PIXEL (Image | Set Scale).</li>
		<li>From the Analyze menu, select Set measurements. Make sure to have Area, Integrated Density, and Mean Gray Value selected.</li>
		<li>Draw a line around the spore of interest using any of the drawing/selection tools (i.e., circle, polygon, or freeform) (Figure 3).</li>
		<li>Select Measure from the Analyze menu (or hit cmd + M). A popup box with a stack of values for this first spore appears (Figure 3).</li>
		<li>Repeat these two steps for at least 50 other spores in the field of view chosen to be measured.</li>
		<li>Select several regions without any spores (that have no fluorescence) and repeat the measurement; this will be the background. 
		NOTE: The size is not important. These corresponding background fluorescence values will be used to manually subtract the background.</li>
		<li>Select all the data in the Results window and copy the results into a spreadsheet.</li>
		<li>Calculate the mean of the Integrated Density and Area of the selected spores and of the background fluorescence values and use them to obtain the corrected total-per-cell fluorescence (CTCF) using the formula: CTCF = mean Integrated Density - (mean Area x mean Background fluorescence). 
		NOTE: Alternatively, if all the spores appear well separated, it is possible to analyze all the spores of the image field using the function Analyze Particles, following ImageJ&#39;s instruction. To avoid that the software reads a specific fluorescence or spore aggregates, the dimension of particles has to be set at pixel&#710;2 = 50-200 (Figure 4).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
3. Indirect evaluation of the efficiency of adsorption
<ol>
	<li>Prepare serial dilutions for the purified protein.
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare a first 1.5 mL tube containing 250 &#181;L of purified mRFP at a final concentration of 0.5 ng/&#181;L, using the binding buffer. This volume is sufficient to load two lanes.</li>
		<li>Perform six twofold serial dilutions of 250 &#181;L (final volume) each, using the binding buffer.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Prepare twofold serial dilutions for the supernatant samples containing the unbound mRFP fraction of the adsorption reaction (S2, S5, and S10 from step 1.2).
	<ol>
		<li>Put 100 &#181;L of each supernatant in a 1.5 mL tube and add 100 &#181;L of binding buffer. Perform six twofold serial dilutions of 200 &#181;L (final volume) each, using the binding buffer.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Cut a nitrocellulose membrane (0.45 &#181;m cutoff), 9 cm x 10 cm in size, to cover the area of 5 (number of samples) x 6 (number of dilutions) dots. The membrane should not extend beyond the edge of the gasket of the dot blot apparatus.</li>
	<li>Place the prewet membrane in the dot blot apparatus. Remove any air bubbles trapped between the membrane and the gasket. Cover the unused portion of the apparatus with tape or paraffin film to prevent air from moving through those wells.</li>
	<li>Assemble the dot blot apparatus as described by the manufacturer.</li>
	<li>If a vacuum is used during the assembling, rehydrate the membrane with 100 &#181;L of 1x PBS per well to ensure the uniform binding of the antigen and prevent halos or a weak detection signal.</li>
	<li>Gently remove the buffer from the wells by vacuum. As soon as the buffer solution drains from all the wells, stop the vacuum pump and disconnect it.</li>
	<li>Load the standard in the two most external lanes and the samples in the middle (Figure 5). Fill the appropriate wells with 100 &#181;L of each dilution. The same volume used for each well should ensure a homogeneous filtration of all sample wells.</li>
	<li>Turn on the vacuum pump for 2 min, stop it, and then, allow the sample to filter through the membrane by gravity flow.</li>
	<li>Wash all the wells with 100 &#181;L of 1x PBS and let the vacuum pump run for another 5 min after the washing buffer has been completely drained from the apparatus.</li>
	<li>With the vacuum on, loosen the screws, and carefully open the dot blot apparatus.</li>
	<li>Turn off the vacuum, take the membrane, and process it following a western blot protocol.</li>
	<li>Perform a densitometric analysis of the filter, using appropriate software, such as ImageJ.
	<ol>
		<li>Measure the integrated density of each dot by outlining them with a circle of the same area and using the Analyze/Measure command.</li>
		<li>Make a background correction of the image, drawing a circle in an empty area and measuring its integrated density or using the Process/Subtract Background command.</li>
		<li>Correlate the integrated density of the standard dots with the amount of loaded protein and obtain a calibration line (R2 values for calibration curves should be over 0.95).</li>
		<li>Use the calibration curve to extrapolate the concentration of mRFP of each sample dot.</li>
		<li>Calculate the concentration of the mRFP remaining in the unbound fractions. 
		NOTE: To ensure the correct closing of the dot blot apparatus and, therefore, to subject the membrane to a uniform pressure, tighten the screws by following a diagonally crossed scheme and, then, open the vacuum pump to tighten the screws more strongly.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
4. Spore collection and reuse
<ol>
	<li>For the recycling of the adsorbed spore, perform two adsorption reactions of 2.0 x 109 purified spores with 10 &#181;g of purified GH10-XA xylanase or 10 &#181;g of purified GH3-XT &#946;-xylosidase, as described in steps 1.1-1.3 (Figure 6A).</li>
	<li>Collect the pellets containing the enzyme-adsorbed spores, resuspend them in 50 &#181;L of the optimal buffer for the enzymatic reaction assay (50 mM sodium phosphate buffer at pH 6.5; 2.48689 g/L Na2HPO4, 4.88991 g/L NaH2PO4), and mix them together to obtain a 100 &#181;L mixture of spores adsorbing GH10-XA or GH3-XT.</li>
	<li>Add the substrate (5 mg/mL 4-O-methyl-d-glucuronod-xylan [MGX]) and let the enzyme reactions take place for 16 h at 65 &#176;C.</li>
	<li>Centrifuge the reaction mixture (for 15 min at 13,000 x g) and store the supernatant containing the enzyme reaction product.</li>
	<li>Resuspend the pellet in 100 &#181;L of fresh 50 mM sodium phosphate buffer at pH 6.5 in the presence of a new substrate (MGX) (Figure 6B). 
	NOTE: To adsorb more than one enzyme, it is possible to adsorb both together or one by one independently. The latter possibility facilitates the quantitative analysis of the adsorption efficiency and of the activity of each enzyme, allowing a stoichiometric balance of each enzyme needed for the reactions.</li>
</ol>

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The authors have nothing to disclose.

This spore adsorption protocol is very simple and straightforward. The reaction is strictly dependent on the pH of the reaction buffer and the efficiency of adsorption is optimal at acidic pH values (pH 5.0 or lower). At neutral pH conditions, the efficiency of adsorption is low, and at alkaline pH values, adsorption may not occur. Optimal adsorption is obtained using a volume of 200 &#181;L in 1.5 mL tubes (or keeping a similar ratio) on a rocking shaker.
Adsorption is very tight, and washes ...

Display systems are aimed at presenting biologically active molecules on the surface of microorganisms and finding applications in a variety of fields, from industrial to medical and environmental biotechnologies. In addition to phages1,2 and cells of various Gram-negative and -positive species3,4,5,6,7, bacterial spores have also been proposed as display systems by two approaches8,9.
Because of its peculiar structure, namely a dehydrated cytoplasm surrounded by a series of protective layers10, the spore provides several advantages over phage- and cell-based display systems8,9. A first advantage comes from the extreme robustness and stability of spores at conditions that would be deleterious to all other cells10,11. Spore-displayed antigens and enzymes are stable after prolonged storage at room temperature12 and protected from degradation at low pH and high temperatures13. A second advantage of spores is the safety of many spore-forming species. B. subtilis, B. clausii, B. coagulans, and several other species are used worldwide as probiotics and have been on the market for human or animal use for decades14,15. This exceptional safety record is an obvious general requirement for a surface display system and is of particular relevance when the system is intended for human or animal use16. A third, important advantage of a spore-based display system is that it does not have limitations for the size of the molecule that has to be exposed. In phage-based systems, a large heterologous protein may affect the structure of the capsid, while in cell-based systems, it may affect the structure of the membrane or may limit/impair the membrane translocation step17. The protective layers surrounding the spore are composed of more than 70 different proteins10 and are flexible enough to accept large foreign proteins without any evident structural defect or functional impairment8. In addition, with both spore-based display systems, the membrane translocation of the heterologous protein is not required8,9. Indeed, heterologous proteins are either produced in the mother cell cytoplasm and assembled on the spore that is forming in the same cytoplasm or adsorbed on the mature spore8,9.
Spore display was initially obtained by developing a genetic system to engineer the spore surface18. This genetic system was based on i) the construction of a gene fusion between the gene coding for a spore coat protein (used as a carrier) and the gene coding for the protein to be displayed - the presence of the transcriptional and translational signals of the endogenous gene will control the expression of the fusion, and ii) integration of the chimeric gene on the B. subtilis chromosome to grant genetic stability. A variety of antigens and enzymes have been displayed by this recombinant approach, using various spore surface proteins as carriers and aiming at various potential applications, ranging from mucosal vaccine to biocatalyst, biosensor, bioremediation, or bioanalytical tool8,13.
More recently, a different approach of spore display has been developed19. This second system is nonrecombinant and relies on the spontaneous and extremely tight adsorption of molecules on the spore surface9. Antigens19,20 and enzymes13,21 have been efficiently displayed and have revealed that this method is significantly more efficient than the recombinant one. This nonrecombinant approach allows the display of proteins in the native form20 and can also be used with autoclaved, death spores19. The molecular mechanism of adsorption has not been fully clarified yet. The negative charge and the hydrophobicity of the spore have been proposed as properties relevant for the adsorption13,19,22. Recently, it has been shown that a model protein, the red autofluorescent protein (mRFP) of the coral Discosoma, when adsorbed to the spore, was able to infiltrate through the surface layers localizing in the inner coat23. If proved true for other proteins, the internal localization of the heterologous proteins could explain their increased stability when adsorbed to spores23.
In a recent study, two enzymes catalyzing two successive steps of the xylan degradation pathway were independently displayed on spores of B. subtilis and, when incubated together, were able to perform both degradation steps21. Spores collected after the reaction were still active and able to continue the xylan degradation upon the addition of fresh substrate21. Even if a loss of about 15% of the final product was observed in the second reaction21, the reusability of adsorbed enzymes for single, as well as multi-step, reactions is an additional important advantage of the spore display system.
Pan et al.24 reported an additional approach to display heterologous proteins on the spore surface: heterologous proteins (an endoglucanase protein and a beta-galactosidase one) produced in the mother cell during sporulation were spontaneously encased in the forming spore coat, without the need of a carrier. This additional spore display system is a combination of the two approaches described so far. Indeed, it is recombinant since the heterologous proteins were engineered to be expressed in the mother cell during sporulation, while their assembly within the coat was spontaneous and, therefore, nonrecombinant24. However, the efficiency of display of this additional approach remains to be tested and compared with the other two approaches by using the same heterologous proteins.
The present protocol excludes the processes of spore production and purification, which have been described extensively elsewhere24. It includes the adsorption reaction, the evaluation of the efficiency of adsorption by dot-blotting and fluorescence microscopy, and the recycling of adsorbed enzymes for additional reaction rounds.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:908px;" width="906">
	<colgroup>
		<col />
		<col />
		<col />
		<col />
	</colgroup>
	<tbody>
		<tr height="26">
			<td height="26" style="height:27px;width:247px;">0.1% Poly-L-lysine solution</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">P8920</td>
			<td style="width:337px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="26">
			<td height="26" style="height:27px;width:247px;">0.45 &#181;m Nitrocellulose Blotting Membrane</td>
			<td>Sartorius</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">M_Blotting_Membranes</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="26">
			<td height="26" style="height:27px;width:247px;">100&#215; objective UPlanF1&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">Olympus</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">microscope equipment</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="26">
			<td height="26" style="height:27px;width:247px;">Bacillus subtilis&#160;strain NCIB3610</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">Bacillus Genetic Stock Center</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">3A1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="26">
			<td height="26" style="height:27px;width:247px;">BD ACCURI C6 PLUS</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">BD</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">flow cytometer</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="26">
			<td height="26" style="height:27px;width:247px;">BX51</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">Olympus</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">Fluorescent microscope</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="26">
			<td height="26" style="height:27px;width:247px;">Clarity</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">Biorad</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">1705060</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="26">
			<td height="26" style="height:27px;width:247px;">DP70 digital camera a</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">Olympus</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">microscope equipment</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:247px;">Goat anti-Rabbit IgG (H+L) Cross-Adsorbed Secondary Antibody, FITC</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">Thermo fisher</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">F-2754</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:247px;">Goat Anti-Rabbit IgG H&#38;L (HRP)&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">Abcam</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">ab6721</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:247px;">Monoclonal Anti-polyHistidine&#8722;Peroxidase antibody</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">A7058-1VL</td>
			<td style="width:337px;">used to detect adsorbed proteins presenting a 6xhistidine-tag at C- or N- terminal&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:247px;">SecureSlip&#160;glass coverslip</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">S1815-1PAK</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:247px;">Superwhite Uncharged Microscope Slides</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">VWR</td>
			<td>75836-190</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:247px;">U-CA Magnification Changer&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:151px;">Olympus</td>
			<td style="width:173px;">microscope equipment</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

spore adsorption as a nonrecombinant display system for enzymes and antigens

The bacterial spore is a metabolically quiescent cell, formed by a series of protective layers surrounding a dehydrated cytoplasm. This peculiar structure makes the spore extremely stable and resistant and has suggested the use of the spore as a platform to display heterologous molecules. So far, a variety of antigens and enzymes have been displayed on spores of Bacillus subtilis and of a few other species, initially by a recombinant approach and, then, by a simple and efficient nonrecombinant method. The nonrecombinant display system is based on the direct adsorption of heterologous molecules on the spore surface, avoiding the construction of recombinant strains and the release of genetically modified bacteria in the environment. Adsorbed molecules are stabilized and protected by the interaction with spores, which limits the rapid degradation of antigens and the loss of enzyme activity at unfavorable conditions. Once utilized, spore-adsorbed enzymes can be collected easily with a minimal reduction of activity and reused for additional reaction rounds. In this paper is shown how to adsorb model molecules to purified spores of B. subtilis, how to evaluate the efficiency of adsorption, and how to collect used spores to recycle them for new reactions.

Successful adsorption can be assessed by western blotting. Upon the reaction, the mixture is fractionated by centrifugation and washed, and the pellet fraction (Figure 1) is used to extract the surface proteins. The extract is fractionated by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), electrotransferred to a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane, and reacted against primary and secondary antibodies. The presence of proteins of the expected size, only in...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Spore Adsorption as a Nonrecombinant Display System for Enzymes and Antigens at JoVE.com

Spore Adsorption as a Nonrecombinant Display System for Enzymes and Antigens

This protocol focuses on the use of bacterial spores as a &#34;live&#34; nanobiotechnological tool to adsorb heterologous molecules with various biological activities. The methods to measure the efficiency of adsorption are also shown.

The bacterial spore is a metabolically quiescent cell, formed by a series of protective layers surrounding a dehydrated cytoplasm. This peculiar structure ...

spore-adsorption-as-nonrecombinant-display-system-for-enzymes

Research

JoVE Journal

Immunology and Infection

6.6K Views.  Federico II University. This protocol focuses on the use of bacterial spores as a "live" nanobiotechnological tool to adsorb heterologous molecules with various biological activities. The methods to measure the efficiency of adsorption are also shown.

Video: Spore Adsorption as a Nonrecombinant Display System for Enzymes and Antigens

Development of a Negative Selectable Marker for Entamoeba histolytica

Entamoeba histolytica is the causative agent of amebiasis and infects up to 10% of the world's population. The molecular techniques that have enabled the up- and down-regulation of gene expression rely on the transfection of stably maintained plasmids. While these have increased our understanding of Entamoeba virulence factors, the capacity to integrate exogenous DNA into genome, which would allow reverse genetics experiments, would be a significant advantage in the study of this parasite. The challenges presented by this organism include inability to select for homologous recombination events and difficulty to cure episomal plasmid DNA from transfected trophozoites. The later results in a high background of exogenous DNA, a major problem in the identification of trophozoites in which a bona fide genomic integration event has occurred. We report the development of a negative selection system based upon transgenic expression of a yeast cytosine deaminase and uracil phosphoribosyl transferase chimera (FCU1) and selection with prodrug 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC). The FCU1 enzyme converts non-toxic 5-FC into toxic 5-fluorouracil and 5-fluorouridine-5'-monophosphate. E. histolytica lines expressing FCU1 were found to be 30 fold more sensitive to the prodrug compared to the control strain.

Development of a Negative Selectable Marker for Entamoeba histolytica

We report development of a negative selection system in E. histolytica based upon transgenic expression of a chimeric protein (FCU1) and selection with the prodrug 5-fluorocytosine. The FCU1 protein is a fusion of yeast cytosine deaminase and uracil phosphoribosyltransferase. Expression of FCU1 resulted in increased E. histolytica sensitivity towards 5-fluorocytosine.

Entamoeba histolytica is the causative agent of amebiasis and infects up to 10% of the world's population. The molecular techniques that have enabled the ...

Introducing Shear Stress in the Study of Bacterial Adhesion

During bacterial infections a sequence of interactions occur between the pathogen and its host. Bacterial adhesion to the host cell surface is often the initial and determining step of the pathogenesis. Although experimentally adhesion is mostly studied in static conditions adhesion actually takes place in the presence of flowing liquid. First encounters between bacteria and their host often occur at the mucosal level, mouth, lung, gut, eye, etc. where mucus flows along the surface of epithelial cells. Later in infection, pathogens occasionally access the blood circulation causing life-threatening illnesses such as septicemia, sepsis and meningitis. A defining feature of these infections is the ability of these pathogens to interact with endothelial cells in presence of circulating blood. The presence of flowing liquid, mucus or blood for instance, determines adhesion because it generates a mechanical force on the pathogen. To characterize the effect of flowing liquid one usually refers to the notion of shear stress, which is the tangential force exerted per unit area by a fluid moving near a stationary wall, expressed in dynes/cm2. Intensities of shear stress vary widely according to the different vessels type, size, organ, location etc. (0-100 dynes/cm2). Circulation in capillaries can reach very low shear stress values and even temporarily stop during periods ranging between a few seconds to several minutes 1. On the other end of the spectrum shear stress in arterioles can reach 100 dynes/cm2 2. The impact of shear stress on different biological processes has been clearly demonstrated as for instance during the interaction of leukocytes with the endothelium 3. To take into account this mechanical parameter in the process of bacterial adhesion we took advantage of an experimental procedure based on the use of a disposable flow chamber 4. Host cells are grown in the flow chamber and fluorescent bacteria are introduced in the flow controlled by a syringe pump. We initially focused our investigations on the bacterial pathogen Neisseria meningitidis, a Gram-negative bacterium responsible for septicemia and meningitis. The procedure described here allowed us to study the impact of shear stress on the ability of the bacteria to: adhere to cells 1, to proliferate on the cell surface 5and to detach to colonize new sites 6 (Figure 1). Complementary technical information can be found in reference 7. Shear stress values presented here were chosen based on our previous experience1 and to represent values found in the literature. The protocol should be applicable to a wide range of pathogens with specific adjustments depending on the objectives of the study.

During the infection process, a key step is the adhesion of pathogens with host cells. In most instances this adhesion step occurs in the presence of mechanical stress generated by flowing liquid. We describe a technique that introduces shear stress as an important parameter in the study of bacterial adhesion.

During bacterial infections a sequence of interactions occur between the pathogen and its host. Bacterial adhesion to the host cell surface is often the ...

A New Screening Method for the Directed Evolution of Thermostable Bacteriolytic Enzymes

Directed evolution is defined as a method to harness natural selection in order to engineer proteins to acquire particular properties that are not associated with the protein in nature. Literature has provided numerous examples regarding the implementation of directed evolution to successfully alter molecular specificity and catalysis1. The primary advantage of utilizing directed evolution instead of more rational-based approaches for molecular engineering relates to the volume and diversity of variants that can be screened2. One possible application of directed evolution involves improving structural stability of bacteriolytic enzymes, such as endolysins. Bacteriophage encode and express endolysins to hydrolyze a critical covalent bond in the peptidoglycan (i.e. cell wall) of bacteria, resulting in host cell lysis and liberation of progeny virions. Notably, these enzymes possess the ability to extrinsically induce lysis to susceptible bacteria in the absence of phage and furthermore have been validated both in vitro and in vivo for their therapeutic potential3-5. The subject of our directed evolution study involves the PlyC endolysin, which is composed of PlyCA and PlyCB subunits6. When purified and added extrinsically, the PlyC holoenzyme lyses group A streptococci (GAS) as well as other streptococcal groups in a matter of seconds and furthermore has been validated in vivo against GAS7. Significantly, monitoring residual enzyme kinetics after elevated temperature incubation provides distinct evidence that PlyC loses lytic activity abruptly at 45 &deg;C, suggesting a short therapeutic shelf life, which may limit additional development of this enzyme. Further studies reveal the lack of thermal stability is only observed for the PlyCA subunit, whereas the PlyCB subunit is stable up to ~90 &deg;C (unpublished observation). In addition to PlyC, there are several examples in literature that describe the thermolabile nature of endolysins. For example, the Staphylococcus aureus endolysin LysK and Streptococcus pneumoniae endolysins Cpl-1 and Pal lose activity spontaneously at 42 &deg;C, 43.5 &deg;C and 50.2 &deg;C, respectively8-10. According to the Arrhenius equation, which relates the rate of a chemical reaction to the temperature present in the particular system, an increase in thermostability will correlate with an increase in shelf life expectancy11. Toward this end, directed evolution has been shown to be a useful tool for altering the thermal activity of various molecules in nature, but never has this particular technology been exploited successfully for the study of bacteriolytic enzymes. Likewise, successful accounts of progressing the structural stability of this particular class of antimicrobials altogether are nonexistent. In this video, we employ a novel methodology that uses an error-prone DNA polymerase followed by an optimized screening process using a 96 well microtiter plate format to identify mutations to the PlyCA subunit of the PlyC streptococcal endolysin that correlate to an increase in enzyme kinetic stability (Figure 1). Results after just one round of random mutagenesis suggest the methodology is generating PlyC variants that retain more than twice the residual activity when compared to wild-type (WT) PlyC after elevated temperature treatment.

A novel directed evolution method specific to the field of thermostability engineering was developed and consequently validated for bacteriolytic enzymes. After only one round of random mutagenesis, an evolved bacteriolytic enzyme, PlyC 29C3, displayed greater than twice the residual activity when compared to the wild-type protein after elevated temperature incubation.

Directed evolution is defined as a method to harness natural selection in order to engineer proteins to acquire particular properties that are not ...

Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Glycosphingolipid Antigens

Glycosphingolipids (GSL's) belong to the glycoconjugate class of biomacromolecules, which bear structural information for significant biological processes such as embryonic development, signal transduction, and immune receptor recognition1-2. They contain complex sugar moieties in the form of isomers, and lipid moieties with variations including fatty acyl chain length, unsaturation, and hydroxylation. Both carbohydrate and ceramide portions may be basis of biological significance. For example, tri-hexosylceramides include globotriaosylceramide (Gal&alpha;4Gal&beta;4Glc&beta;1Cer) and isoglobotriaosylceramide (Gal&alpha;3Gal&beta;4Glc&beta;1Cer), which have identical molecular masses but distinct sugar linkages of carbohydrate moiety, responsible for completely different biological functions3-4. In another example, it has been demonstrated that modification of the ceramide part of alpha-galactosylceramide, a potent agonist ligand for invariant NKT cells, changes their cytokine secretion profiles and function in animal models of cancer and auto-immune diseases5. The difficulty in performing a structural analysis of isomers in immune organs and cells serve as a barrier for determining many biological functions6.
Here, we present a visualized version of a method for relatively simple, rapid, and sensitive analysis of glycosphingolipid profiles in immune cells7-9. This method is based on extraction and chemical modification (permethylation, see below Figure 5A, all OH groups of hexose were replaced by MeO after permethylation reaction) of glycosphingolipids10-15, followed by subsequent analysis using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) and ion trap mass spectrometry. This method requires 50 million immune cells for a complete analysis. The experiments can be completed within a week. The relative abundance of the various glycosphingolipids can be delineated by comparison to synthetic standards. This method has a sensitivity of measuring 1% iGb3 among Gb3 isomers, when 2 fmol of total iGb3/Gb3 mixture is present9.
Ion trap mass spectrometry can be used to analyze isomers. For example, to analyze the presence of globotriaosylceramide and isoglobtriaosylceramide in the same sample, one can use the fragmentation of glycosphingolipid molecules to structurally discriminate between the two (see below Figure 5). Furthermore, chemical modification of the sugar moieties (through a permethylation reaction) improves the ionization and fragmentation efficiencies for higher sensitivity and specificity, and increases the stability of sialic acid residues. The extraction and chemical modification of glycosphingolipids can be performed in a classic certified chemical hood, and the mass spectrometry can be performed by core facilities with ion trap MS instruments.

A specific and sensitive method to gain insight into the expression profile of glycosphingolipid antigens in immune organs and cells is described. The method takes advantage of the ion trap mass spectrometry allowing step-wise fragmentation of glycosphingolipid molecules for structural analysis in comparison to chemically synthesized standards.

Glycosphingolipids (GSL's) belong to the glycoconjugate class of biomacromolecules, which bear structural information for significant biological processes ...

Antigens Protected Functional Red Blood Cells By The Membrane Grafting Of Compact Hyperbranched Polyglycerols

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is vital for the treatment of a number of acute and chronic medical problems such as thalassemia major and sickle cell anemia 1-3. Due to the presence of multitude of antigens on the RBC surface (~308 known antigens 4), patients in the chronic blood transfusion therapy develop alloantibodies due to the miss match of minor antigens on transfused RBCs 4, 5. Grafting of hydrophilic polymers such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) and hyperbranched polyglycerol (HPG) forms an exclusion layer on RBC membrane that prevents the interaction of antibodies with surface antigens without affecting the passage of small molecules such as oxygen ,glucose, and ions3. At present no method is available for the generation of universal red blood donor cells in part because of the daunting challenge presented by the presence of large number of antigens (protein and carbohydrate based) on the RBC surface and the development of such methods will significantly improve transfusion safety, and dramatically improve the availability and use of RBCs. In this report, the experiments that are used to develop antigen protected functional RBCs by the membrane grafting of HPG and their characterization are presented. HPGs are highly biocompatible compact polymers 6, 7, and are expected to be located within the cell glycocalyx that surrounds the lipid membrane 8, 9 and mask RBC surface antigens10, 11.

The cell membrane modification of red blood cells (RBCs) with hyperbranched polyglycerol (HPG) is presented. Modified RBCs were characterized by aqueous two phase partitioning, osmotic fragility and complement mediated lysis. The camouflage of surface proteins and antigens was evaluated using the flow cytometry and Micro Typing System (MTS) blood phenotyping cards.

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is vital for the treatment of a number of acute and chronic medical problems such as thalassemia major and sickle cell ...

Detecting Cortex Fragments During Bacterial Spore Germination

The process of endospore germination in Clostridium difficile, and other Clostridia, increasingly is being found to differ from the model spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus subtilis. Germination is triggered by small molecule germinants and occurs without the need for macromolecular synthesis. Though differences exist between the mechanisms of spore germination in species of Bacillus and Clostridium, a common requirement is the hydrolysis of the peptidoglycan-like cortex which allows the spore core to swell and rehydrate. After rehydration, metabolism can begin and this, eventually, leads to outgrowth of a vegetative cell. The detection of hydrolyzed cortex fragments during spore germination can be difficult and the modifications to the previously described assays can be confusing or difficult to reproduce. Thus, based on our recent report using this assay, we detail a step-by-step protocol for the colorimetric detection of cortex fragments during bacterial spore germination.

Herein, we describe a colorimetric assay to detect the presence of reducing sugars during bacterial spore germination.

The process of endospore germination in Clostridium difficile, and other Clostridia, increasingly is being found to differ from the model spore-forming ...

Purification of the Membrane Compartment for Endoplasmic Reticulum-associated Degradation of Exogenous Antigens in Cross-presentation

Dendritic cells (DCs) are highly capable of processing and presenting internalized exogenous antigens upon major histocompatibility class (MHC) I molecules also known as cross-presentation (CP). CP plays an important role not only in the stimulation of na&#239;ve CD8+ T cells and memory CD8+ T cells for infectious and tumor immunity but also in the inactivation of self-acting na&#239;ve T cells by T cell anergy or T cell deletion. Although the critical molecular mechanism of CP remains to be elucidated, accumulating evidence indicates that exogenous antigens are processed through endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) after export from non-classical endocytic compartments. Until recently, characterizations of these endocytic compartments were limited because there were no specific molecular markers other than exogenous antigens. The method described here is a new vesicle isolation protocol, which allows for the purification of these endocytic compartments. Using this purified microsome, we reconstituted the ERAD-like transport, ubiquitination, and processing of the exogenous antigen in vitro, suggesting that the ubiquitin-proteasome system processed the exogenous antigen after export from this cellular compartment. This protocol can be further applied to other cell types to clarify the molecular mechanism of CP.

The method described here is a new vesicle isolation protocol, which allows for the purification of the cellular compartments where exogenous antigens are processed by endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation in cross-presentation.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are highly capable of processing and presenting internalized exogenous antigens upon major histocompatibility class (MHC) I ...

Expression of Exogenous Antigens in the Mycobacterium bovis BCG Vaccine via Non-genetic Surface Decoration with the Avidin-biotin System

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious infectious disease and the only available vaccine M. bovis bacillus Calmette-Gu&#233;rin (BCG) is safe and effective for protection against children&#39;s severe TB meningitis and some forms of disseminated TB, but fails to protect against pulmonary TB, which is the most prevalent form of the disease. Promising strategies to improve BCG currently rely either on its transformation with genes encoding immunodominant M. tuberculosis (Mtb)-specific antigens and/or complementation with genes encoding co-factors that would stimulate antigen presenting cells. Major limitations to these approaches include low efficiency, low stability, and the uncertain level of safety of expression vectors. In this study, we present an alternative approach to vaccine improvement, which consists of BCG complementation with exogenous proteins of interest on the surface of bacteria, rather than transformation with plasmids encoding corresponding genes. First, proteins of interest are expressed in fusion with monomeric avidin in standard E. coli expression systems and then used to decorate the surface of biotinylated BCG. Animal experiments using BCG surface decorated with surrogate ovalbumin antigen demonstrate that the modified bacterium is fully immunogenic and capable of inducing specific T cell responses. Altogether, the data presented here strongly support a novel and efficient method for reshaping the current BCG vaccine that replaces the laborious conventional approach of complementation with exogenous nucleic acids.

Expression of Exogenous Antigens in the Mycobacterium bovis BCG Vaccine via Non-genetic Surface Decoration with the Avidin-biotin System

A novel technique for rapid antigen display on a bacterial surface is presented, which involves surface biotinylation followed by exposure to proteins of interest in fusion with monomeric avidin. Loading BCG with selected antigens successfully improves its immunogenicity, suggesting that surface decoration can replace traditional genetic approaches.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious infectious disease and the only available vaccine M. bovis bacillus Calmette-Gu&#233;rin (BCG) is safe and effective for ...

Enhancement Method of Surface Acoustic Wave-Atomizer Efficiency for Olfactory Display

Since olfaction is an important sense in human interfaces, we have developed an olfactory display using a surface acoustic wave (SAW) atomizer and micro-dispensers. In this olfactory display, the efficiency of atomization is important in order to avoid smell persistence problems often encountered in human olfactory interfaces. Thus, the SAW device is coated with amorphous Teflon film to change the substrate nature from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. It is also necessary to silanize the piezoelectric substrate surface prior to Teflon coating to enhance the adhesion of the film. A dip coating method was adopted to obtain uniform coating on the substrate. The high-speed solenoid valve was used as micro-dispenser to spout a liquid droplet to the SAW device surface since its accuracy and reproducibility were high. Then, the atomization became easier on the hydrophobic substrate. In this study, the amorphous Teflon coating for minimizing the remaining liquid on the substrate after atomization was studied. The goal of the protocol described here is to show the methods for coating a SAW device surface with amorphous Teflon film and generating the smell using the SAW atomizer and a micro-dispenser, followed by a sensory test.

We establish here a method for coating the surface of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device with amorphous Teflon film to improve the atomization efficiency required for application to an olfactory display.

Since olfaction is an important sense in human interfaces, we have developed an olfactory display using a surface acoustic wave (SAW) atomizer and ...

Co-immunoprecipitation Assay for Studying Functional Interactions Between Receptors and Enzymes

Receptor-associated enzymes are the major mediators of cellular activation. These enzymes are regulated, at least in part, by physical interactions with cytoplasmic tails of the receptors. The interactions often occur through specific protein domains and result in activation of the enzymes. There are several methods to study interactions between proteins. While co-immunoprecipitation is commonly used to study domains that are required for protein-protein interactions, there are no assays that document the contribution of specific domains to activity of the recruited enzymes at the same time. Accordingly, the method described here combines co-immunoprecipitation and an on-bead enzymatic activity assay for simultaneous evaluation of interactions between proteins and associated enzymatic activation. The goal of this protocol is to identify the domains that are critical for physical interactions between a protein and enzyme and the domains that are obligatory for complete activation of the enzyme. The importance of this assay is demonstrated, as certain receptor protein domains contribute to the binding of the enzyme to the cytoplasmic tail of the receptor, while other domains are necessary to regulate the function of the same enzyme.

Here, we present a protocol for co-immunoprecipitation and an on-bead enzymatic activity assay to simultaneously study the contribution of specific protein domains of plasma membrane receptors to both enzyme recruitment and enzyme activity.

Receptor-associated enzymes are the major mediators of cellular activation. These enzymes are regulated, at least in part, by physical interactions with ...