The Multiple Signaling Systems Regulating Virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Top Cited Papers
- 1 March 2012
- journal article
- review article
- Published by American Society for Microbiology in Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews
- Vol. 76 (1), 46-65
- https://doi.org/10.1128/mmbr.05007-11
Abstract
Cell-to-cell communication is a major process that allows bacteria to sense and coordinately react to the fluctuating conditions of the surrounding environment. In several pathogens, this process triggers the production of virulence factors and/or a switch in bacterial lifestyle that is a major determining factor in the outcome and severity of the infection. Understanding how bacteria control these signaling systems is crucial to the development of novel antimicrobial agents capable of reducing virulence while allowing the immune system of the host to clear bacterial infection, an approach likely to reduce the selective pressures for development of resistance. We provide here an up-to-date overview of the molecular basis and physiological implications of cell-to-cell signaling systems in Gram-negative bacteria, focusing on the well-studied bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All of the known cell-to-cell signaling systems in this bacterium are described, from the most-studied systems, i.e., N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs), the 4-quinolones, the global activator of antibiotic and cyanide synthesis (GAC), the cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) and cyclic AMP (cAMP) systems, and the alarmones guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp) and guanosine pentaphosphate (pppGpp), to less-well-studied signaling molecules, including diketopiperazines, fatty acids (diffusible signal factor [DSF]-like factors), pyoverdine, and pyocyanin. This overview clearly illustrates that bacterial communication is far more complex than initially thought and delivers a clear distinction between signals that are quorum sensing dependent and those relying on alternative factors for their production.Keywords
This publication has 232 references indexed in Scilit:
- Adenylate cyclase activity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ExoY can mediate bleb-niche formation in epithelial cells and contributes to virulenceMicrobial Pathogenesis, 2011
- New and Unexpected Insights into the Modulation of LuxR-Type Quorum Sensing by Cyclic DipeptidesACS Chemical Biology, 2009
- Structural Analysis of the GGDEF-EAL Domain-Containing c-di-GMP Receptor FimXStructure, 2009
- The quorum quenching antibody RS2-1G9 protects macrophages from the cytotoxic effects of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing signalling molecule N-3-oxo-dodecanoyl-homoserine lactoneMolecular Immunology, 2008
- A novel DSF-like signal from Burkholderia cenocepacia interferes with Candida albicans morphological transitionThe ISME Journal, 2007
- Infection Control by Antibody Disruption of Bacterial Quorum Sensing SignalingCell Chemical Biology, 2007
- A structurally unrelated mimic of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa acyl-homoserine lactone quorum-sensing signalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Cell–cell signaling in Xanthomonas campestris involves an HD-GYP domain protein that functions in cyclic di-GMP turnoverProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Small colony variants: a pathogenic form of bacteria that facilitates persistent and recurrent infectionsNature Reviews Microbiology, 2006
- Membrane vesicles traffic signals and facilitate group activities in a prokaryoteNature, 2005