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Microorganism in Inflammation

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2022) | Viewed by 17638

Special Issue Editors

Division of Zoonotic and Vector Borne Diseases Research, Korea National Institute of Health, Cheongwon-gun, Korea
Interests: host–microbe interactions in relation to infectious and chronic diseases; molecular biology and immunology for the development of vaccines and therapeutic agents against microbial infections; microbial genetics and genomic evolution of pathogenic bacteria
1. Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoburo 2066, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
2. Samsung Advanced Institute of Health Science and Technology (SAIHST), Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 06351, Republic of Korea
Interests: glycobiology; sialobiology; sialyltransferase; N-glycan; O-glycan; glycolipid; sphingolipid; glycoprotein; surface sugar; ganglioside; sialic acid; Sialyl Le antigen; lectin; galectin; Siglec; ER-Golgi glycosylation; sugar–receptor interaction; innate immune; xenotransplantation; cell–cell interaction
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microorganisms live peacefully on exposed surfaces of the human body and have close relationships with their hosts. The microbial community maintains a balanced composition and host homeostasis. Under normal conditions, the host immune system prevents the invasion of pathogenic bacteria while tolerating entry by normal microbiota. However, when external pathogens destroy the balance between host and microbiota, they move toward the epithelial cells of host. If an imbalance in the microbiota occurs, the host immune system is altered, leading to the activation of an immune response that causes the induction of a disease state. In addition, dysbiosis increases the number of harmful bacteria, which may release enterotoxins, thereby increasing the permeability of the host, inducing the production of immunosuppressive proteins causing immune dysfunction, damaging epithelial cells, and affecting energy metabolism—leading to inflammation. This Special Issue in IJMS, “Microorganism in inflammation”, will take an interest in manuscript in the field of human inflammations in accordance with microorganisms.

Dr. Seung-Hak Cho
Prof. Dr. Cheorl-Ho Kim
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • microorganisms
  • host
  • host–microbe interaction
  • pathogenic bacteria
  • immune response
  • inflammation

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 3515 KiB  
Article
Functional Plasmon-Activated Water Increases Akkermansia muciniphila Abundance in Gut Microbiota to Ameliorate Inflammatory Bowel Disease
by Chun-Chao Chang, Chih-Yi Liu, I-Chia Su, Yuarn-Jang Lee, Hsing-Jung Yeh, Wen-Chao Chen, Chih-Jui Yu, Wei-Yu Kao, Yu-Chuan Liu and Chi-Jung Huang
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(19), 11422; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms231911422 - 28 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2035
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with dysbiosis and intestinal barrier dysfunction, as indicated by epithelial hyperpermeability and high levels of mucosal-associated bacteria. Changes in gut microbiota may be correlated with IBD pathogenesis. Additionally, microbe-based treatments could mitigate clinical IBD symptoms. Plasmon-activated water [...] Read more.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with dysbiosis and intestinal barrier dysfunction, as indicated by epithelial hyperpermeability and high levels of mucosal-associated bacteria. Changes in gut microbiota may be correlated with IBD pathogenesis. Additionally, microbe-based treatments could mitigate clinical IBD symptoms. Plasmon-activated water (PAW) is known to have an anti-inflammatory potential. In this work, we studied the association between the anti-inflammatory ability of PAW and intestinal microbes, thereby improving IBD treatment. We examined the PAW-induced changes in the colonic immune activity and microbiota of mice by immunohistochemistry and next generation sequencing, determined whether drinking PAW can mitigate IBD induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) and dysbiosis through mice animal models. The effects of specific probiotic species on mice with TNBS-induced IBD were also investigated. Experimental results indicated that PAW could change the local inflammation in the intestinal microenvironment. Moreover, the abundance of Akkermansia spp. was degraded in the TNBS-treated mice but elevated in the PAW-drinking mice. Daily rectal injection of Akkermansia muciniphila, a potential probiotic species in Akkermansia spp., also improved the health of the mice. Correspondingly, both PAW consumption and increasing the intestinal abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila can mitigate IBD in mice. These findings indicate that increasing the abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila in the gut through PAW consumption or other methods may mitigate IBD in mice with clinically significant IBD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microorganism in Inflammation)
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13 pages, 1986 KiB  
Article
Glycan-Adhering Lectins and Experimental Evaluation of a Lectin FimH Inhibitor in Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 Strain EDL933
by Jun-Young Park, Cheorl-Ho Kim and Seung-Hak Cho
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(17), 9931; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23179931 - 01 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1365
Abstract
In this study, we tried to develop a FimH inhibitor that inhibits adhesion of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) on the epithelium of human intestine during the initial stage of infections. Using a T7 phage display method with a reference strain, EHEC EDL933, FimH [...] Read more.
In this study, we tried to develop a FimH inhibitor that inhibits adhesion of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) on the epithelium of human intestine during the initial stage of infections. Using a T7 phage display method with a reference strain, EHEC EDL933, FimH was selected as an adherent lectin to GM1a and Gb3 glycans. In order to detect the ligand binding domain (LBD) of FimH, we used a docking simulation and found three binding site sequences of FimH, i.e., P1, P2, and P3. Among Gb3 mimic peptides, P2 was found to have the strongest binding strength. Moreover, in vitro treatment with peptide P2 inhibited binding activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, we conducted confirmation experiments through several strains isolated from patients in Korea, EHEC NCCP15736, NCCP15737, and NCCP15739. In addition, we analyzed the evolutionary characteristics of the predicted FimH lectin-like adhesins to construct a lectin-glycan interaction (LGI). We selected 70 recently differentiated strains from the phylogenetic tree of 2240 strains with Shiga toxin in their genome. We can infer EHEC strains dynamically evolved but FimH was conserved during the evolution time according to the phylogenetic tree. Furthermore, FimH could be a reliable candidate of drug target in terms of evolution. We examined how pathogen lectins interact with host glycans early in infection in EDL933 as well as several field strains and confirmed that glycan-like peptides worked as an initial infection inhibitor. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microorganism in Inflammation)
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16 pages, 2821 KiB  
Article
Indole-3-Propionic Acid, a Functional Metabolite of Clostridium sporogenes, Promotes Muscle Tissue Development and Reduces Muscle Cell Inflammation
by Lei Du, Renli Qi, Jing Wang, Zuohua Liu and Zhenlong Wu
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(22), 12435; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms222212435 - 18 Nov 2021
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4045
Abstract
Clostridium sporogenes (C. sporogenes), as a potential probiotic, metabolizes tryptophan and produces an anti-inflammatory metabolite, indole-3-propionic acid (IPA). Herein, we studied the effects of C. sporogenes and its bioactive metabolite, IPA, on skeletal muscle development and chronic inflammation in mice. In [...] Read more.
Clostridium sporogenes (C. sporogenes), as a potential probiotic, metabolizes tryptophan and produces an anti-inflammatory metabolite, indole-3-propionic acid (IPA). Herein, we studied the effects of C. sporogenes and its bioactive metabolite, IPA, on skeletal muscle development and chronic inflammation in mice. In the in vivo study, the muscle tissues and serum samples of mice with C. sporogenes supplementation were used to analyze the effects of C. sporogenes on muscle metabolism; the IPA content was determined by metabonomics and ELISA. In an in vitro study, C2C12 cells were exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) alone or LPS + IPA to verify the effect of IPA on muscle cell inflammation by transcriptome, and the involved mechanism was revealed by different functional assays. We observed that C. sporogenes colonization significantly increased the body weight and muscle weight gain, as well as the myogenic regulatory factors’ (MRFs) expression. In addition, C. sporogenes significantly improved host IPA content and decreased pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in the muscle tissue of mice. Subsequently, we confirmed that IPA promoted C2C12 cells’ proliferation by activating MRF signaling. IPA also effectively protected against LPS-induced C2C12 cells inflammation by activating Pregnane X Receptor and restoring the inhibited miR-26a-2-3p expression. miR-26a-2-3p serves as a novel muscle inflammation regulatory factor that could directly bind to the 3′-UTR of IL-1β, a key initiator factor in inflammation. The results suggested that C. sporogenes with its functional metabolite IPA not only helps muscle growth development, but also protects against inflammation, partly by the IPA/ miR-26a-2-3p /IL-1β cascade. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microorganism in Inflammation)
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Review

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24 pages, 1539 KiB  
Review
The Immune Response in Adipocytes and Their Susceptibility to Infection: A Possible Relationship with Infectobesity
by Orestes López-Ortega, Nidia Carolina Moreno-Corona, Victor Javier Cruz-Holguin, Luis Didier Garcia-Gonzalez, Addy Cecilia Helguera-Repetto, Mirza Romero-Valdovinos, Haruki Arevalo-Romero, Leticia Cedillo-Barron and Moisés León-Juárez
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(11), 6154; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23116154 - 31 May 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4504
Abstract
The current obesity pandemic has been expanding in both developing and developed countries. This suggests that the factors contributing to this condition need to be reconsidered since some new factors are arising as etiological causes of this disease. Moreover, recent clinical and experimental [...] Read more.
The current obesity pandemic has been expanding in both developing and developed countries. This suggests that the factors contributing to this condition need to be reconsidered since some new factors are arising as etiological causes of this disease. Moreover, recent clinical and experimental findings have shown an association between the progress of obesity and some infections, and the functions of adipose tissues, which involve cell metabolism and adipokine release, among others. Furthermore, it has recently been reported that adipocytes could either be reservoirs for these pathogens or play an active role in this process. In addition, there is abundant evidence indicating that during obesity, the immune system is exacerbated, suggesting an increased susceptibility of the patient to the development of several forms of illness or death. Thus, there could be a relationship between infection as a trigger for an increase in adipose cells and the impact on the metabolism that contributes to the development of obesity. In this review, we describe the findings concerning the role of adipose tissue as a mediator in the immune response as well as the possible role of adipocytes as infection targets, with both roles constituting a possible cause of obesity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microorganism in Inflammation)
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18 pages, 1825 KiB  
Review
Skin Microbiota in Atopic Dermatitis
by Dora Hrestak, Mario Matijašić, Hana Čipčić Paljetak, Daniela Ledić Drvar, Suzana Ljubojević Hadžavdić and Mihaela Perić
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(7), 3503; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23073503 - 23 Mar 2022
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4785
Abstract
The skin microbiota represents an ecosystem composed of numerous microbial species interacting with each other, as well as with host epithelial and immune cells. The microbiota provides health benefits to the host by supporting essential functions of the skin and inhibiting colonization with [...] Read more.
The skin microbiota represents an ecosystem composed of numerous microbial species interacting with each other, as well as with host epithelial and immune cells. The microbiota provides health benefits to the host by supporting essential functions of the skin and inhibiting colonization with pathogens. However, the disturbance of the microbial balance can result in dysbiosis and promote skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis (AD). This review provides a current overview of the skin microbiota involvement in AD and its complex interplay with host immune response mechanisms, as well as novel therapeutic strategies for treating AD focused on restoring skin microbial homeostasis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microorganism in Inflammation)
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