Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB): metabolic adaptation and transcriptional response to human urine (HU)
Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) is a major human pathogen and a research priority for developing new antimicrobial agents. CRAB is a causative agent of a variety of infections in different body sites. One of the manifestations is catheter-associated urinary tract infection, which exposes the bacteria to the host's urine, creating a particular environment. Exposure of two CRAB clinical isolates, AB5075 and AMA40, to human urine (HU) resulted in the differential expression levels of 264 and 455 genes, respectively, of which 112 were common to both strains. Genes within this group play roles in metabolic pathways such as phenylacetic acid (PAA) catabolism, the Hut system, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and other processes like quorum sensing and biofilm formation. These results indicate that the presence of HU induces numerous adaptive changes in gene expression of the infecting bacteria. These changes presumably help bacteria establish and thrive in the hostile conditions in the urinary tract. These analyses advance our understanding of CRAB's metabolic adaptations to human fluids, as well as expand knowledge on bacterial responses to distinct human fluids containing different concentrations of human serum albumin (HSA).
Authors
- Robert A. Bonomo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3299-894X)
- Carol Davies‐Sala
- Marcelo E. Tolmasky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6298-7811)
- Brent Nishimura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3325-8978)
- Rodrigo Sieira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4495-563X)
- Tomás Subils (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2888-048X)
- Luis A. Actis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9644-9088)
- Germán M. Traglia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4780-5311)
- Jenny Escalante
- Marisel R. Tuttobene (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0234-4643)
- María Soledad Ramírez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9904-7890)
- Meghan Melecio
- Chloe Pham
- Mase Hamza
Institutions
- California State University, Fullerton (US)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR)
- Universidad de la República de Uruguay (UY)
- Fundación Instituto Leloir (AR)
- National University of Rosario (AR)
- Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (US)
- Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center (US)
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario (AR)
- University School (US)
- Case Western Reserve University (US)
- Miami University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2024-08-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-70216-w
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.34
Funders
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- Office of Research and Development
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
- National Institutes of Health
- Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center
- NIH Clinical Center
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities