近日,国际著名杂志PLoS Pathogens(IF 9.079 2010)刊登了荷兰和以色列研究人员最新的一篇综述文章“Microbial Spy Games and Host Response: Roles of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa Small Molecule in Communication with Other Species。”,在文章中,作者分析了铜绿假单胞菌(绿脓杆菌 Pseudomonas aeruginosa)中QS系统信号分子3OC12HSL的重要作用,以及在其他微生物群体中的中枢信号调节作用,最后作者阐述了人体免疫系统对该信号分子的免疫反应以及应对策略。
Microbial Spy Games and Host Response: Roles of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa Small Molecule in Communication with Other Species
Lucja M. Jarosz, Ekaterina S. Ovchinnikova1, Michael M. Meijler, Bastiaan P. Krom.
Gathering and sharing of information is extremely important in human society. Especially in times of war, the difference between victory and defeat can depend on the ability to obtain, encrypt, and share information, and sophisticated systems have been developed for exactly this purpose. Similarly, in their constant battles with competitors and the host immune system, (opportunistic) microbial pathogens have developed sophisticated cell–cell communication systems termed quorum sensing (QS) that allow exchange of critical information. In return, competing microbes, as well as the host immune system, have developed means to intercept and decode these messages. The information obtained by this molecular espionage is used for their benefit,either to win the war (microbe against microbe), or to prepare for an upcoming battle (microbe against immune system). To illustrate the clinical importance of this microbial spy game, we will focus on the biological activity of a single bacterial QS molecule on surrounding microbes and the host immune system and its diverse ‘‘meaning’’ to different receivers. Infections related to burn wounds, cystic fibrosis, and periodontal diseases consist most commonly of the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus and the fungus Candida albicans, and represent niches with an active host response. Therefore, we will specifically provide five facts about how the P. aeruginosa QS molecule 3-oxo-dodecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (3OC12HSL) plays a pivotal role in this triangle of interspecies interactions and how microbial behavior elicited by 3OC12HSL has consequences on host response.