Publicaties
High affinity iron uptake by pyoverdine in Pseudomonas aeruginosa involves multiple regulators besides Fur, PvdS, and FpvI Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative bacterium which can cause serious infections among immune-depressed people including cystic fibrosis patients where it can colonize the lungs causing chronic infections. Iron is essential for P. aeruginosa and can be provided via three sources under aerobic conditions: its own siderophores pyochelin (PCH) and pyoverdine (PVD), xenosiderophores, or heme, respectively. Pyoverdine is the high affinity ...
Effect of Phthalates and Their Substitutes on the Physiology of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Phthalates are used in a variety of applications-for example, as plasticizers in polyvinylchloride products to improve their flexibility-and can be easily released into the environment. In addition to being major persistent organic environmental pollutants, some phthalates are responsible for the carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, and endocrine disruption that are notably affecting steroidogenesis in mammals. Numerous studies have thus focused ...
Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Dispersion by the Human Atrial Natriuretic Peptide Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms cause chronic, antibiotic tolerant infections in wounds and lungs. Numerous recent studies demonstrate that bacteria can detect human communication compounds through specific sensor/receptor tools that modulate bacterial physiology. Consequently, interfering with these mechanisms offers an exciting opportunity to directly affect the infection process. It is shown that the human hormone Atrial Natriuretic ...
Traditional Chinese Medicine Tanreqing Inhibits Quorum Sensing Systems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that can infect a wide variety of hosts including humans, plants, and animals. The production of virulence factors is the determinant of the infection paradigm and is under orchestrated regulation via cell-to-cell communication process called quorum sensing (QS). To disable QS circuits and prevent bacterial infections, a large battery of anti-QS agents, particularly from traditional Chinese ...
Tackling Pseudomonas aeruginosa Virulence by Mulinane-Like Diterpenoids from Azorella atacamensis Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important multidrug-resistant human pathogen by dint of its high intrinsic, acquired, and adaptive resistance mechanisms, causing great concern for immune-compromised individuals and public health. Additionally, P. aeruginosa resilience lies in the production of a myriad of virulence factors, which are known to be tightly regulated by the quorum sensing (QS) system. Anti-virulence therapy has been adopted as an ...
Activation of the Cell Wall Stress Response in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infected by a Pf4 Phage Variant Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 has an integrated Pf4 prophage in its genome, encoding a relatively well-characterized filamentous phage, which contributes to the bacterial biofilm organization and maturation. Pf4 variants are considered as superinfectives when they can re-infect and kill the prophage-carrying host. Herein, the response of P. aeruginosa H103 to Pf4 variant infection was investigated. This phage variant caused partial lysis of the ...
The Temperature-Regulation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cmaX-cfrX-cmpX Operon Reveals an Intriguing Molecular Network Involving the Sigma Factors AlgU and SigX Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a highly adaptable Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen, notably due to its large number of transcription regulators. The extracytoplasmic sigma factor (ECFσ) AlgU, responsible for alginate biosynthesis, is also involved in responses to cell wall stress and heat shock via the RpoH alternative σ factor. The SigX ECFσ emerged as a major regulator involved in the envelope stress response via membrane remodeling, ...
Membrane-Interactive Compounds From Pistacia lentiscus L. Thwart Pseudomonas aeruginosa Virulence Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is capable to deploy a collection of virulence factors that are not only essential for host infection and persistence, but also to escape from the host immune system and to become more resistant to drug therapies. Thus, developing anti-virulence agents that may directly counteract with specific virulence factors or disturb higher regulatory pathways controlling the production of virulence armories are urgently needed. ...
Putting an end to the Pseudomonas aeruginosa IQS controversy Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Despite published evidence that IQS (2-(2-hydroxylphenyl)-thiazole-4-carbaldehyde) is in fact aeruginaldehyde, a by-product of the siderophore pyochelin biosynthesis or degradation and that the ambABCDE genes are not responsible for IQS synthesis, several authors, including in top review journals, perpetuate the wrong information. I hope that this short comment will clarify the situation once and for all.