Controlled Release of Microorganisms from Engineered Living Materials.

Probiotics offer therapeutic benefits by modulating the local microbiome, the host immune response, and the proliferation of pathogens. Probiotics have the potential to treat complex diseases, but their persistence or colonization is required at the target site for effective treatment. Although probiotic persistence can be achieved by repeated delivery, no biomaterial that releases clinically relevant doses of metabolically active probiotics in a sustained manner has been previously described.

Controlled release of microorganisms from engineered living materials.

Unlabelled: Probiotics offer therapeutic benefits by modulating the local microbiome, the host immune response, and the proliferation of pathogens. Probiotics have the potential to treat complex diseases, but their persistence or colonization is required at the target site for effective treatment. Although probiotic persistence can be achieved by repeated delivery, no biomaterial that releases clinically relevant doses of metabolically active probiotics in a sustained manner has been previously described.

Identification of a copper-responsive small molecule inhibitor of uropathogenic .

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a major global health problem and are caused predominantly by uropathogenic (UPEC). UTIs are a leading cause of prescription antimicrobial use. Incessant increase in antimicrobial resistance in UPEC and other uropathogens poses a serious threat to the current treatment practices.

Competitive fitness of asymptomatic bacteriuria strain 83972 against uropathogens in human urine.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections worldwide. The main causative agent of UTI is uropathogenic (UPEC). There is an immediate need for novel prophylactic and treatment strategies against UTI because of the increasing incidence of antimicrobial resistance among uropathogens.

The inner membrane protein YhiM links copper and CpxAR envelope stress responses in uropathogenic .

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a ubiquitous infectious condition, and uropathogenic (UPEC) is the predominant causative agent of UTI. Copper (Cu) is implicated in innate immunity, including against UPEC. Cu is a trace element utilized as a co-factor, but excess Cu is toxic due to mismetalation of non-cognate proteins.

Controlling shape morphing and cell release in engineered living materials.

Engineered living materials (ELMs) derive functionality from both a polymer matrix and the behavior of living cells within the material. The long-term goal of this work is to enable a system of ELM-based medical devices with both mechanical and bioactive functionality. Here, we fabricate multifunctional, stimuli-responsive ELMs comprised of acrylic hydrogel matrix and Escherichia coli.

Vaginal Inoculation of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli during Estrus Leads to Genital and Renal Colonization.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most prevalent bacterial infections, particularly in women, children, and the elderly. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is the predominant etiological agent of UTI. Uropathogens are directly instilled in the urinary bladder, bypassing the lower urogenital tract, in the widely used murine model of UTI.

Copper Resistance Promotes Fitness of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus during Urinary Tract Infection.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infectious conditions affecting people in the United States and around the world. Our knowledge of the host-pathogen interaction during UTI caused by Gram-positive bacterial uropathogens is limited compared to that for Gram-negative pathogens. Here, we investigated whether copper and the primary copper-containing protein, ceruloplasmin, are mobilized to urine during naturally occurring UTI caused by Gram-positive uropathogens in patients.

A genome-wide screen reveals the involvement of enterobactin-mediated iron acquisition in Escherichia coli survival during copper stress.

Copper (Cu) is a key transition metal that is involved in many important biological processes in a cell. Cu is also utilized by the immune system to hamper pathogen growth during infection. However, genome-level knowledge on the mechanisms involved in adaptation to Cu stress is limited.

Feasibility study evaluating a veterinary point-of-care urine culture system for diagnosing septic peritonitis.

Objective: To evaluate the use of a veterinary point-of-care urine culture system (POCUCS) for the diagnosis of septic peritonitis.

Design: Prospective feasibility study performed between August 2017 and April 2018.

Setting: Private referral hospital.

Copper Homeostatic Mechanisms and Their Role in the Virulence of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica.

Copper is an essential micronutrient that also exerts toxic effects at high concentrations. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge on copper handling and homeostasis systems in Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica. We describe the mechanisms by which transcriptional regulators, efflux pumps, detoxification enzymes, metallochaperones, and ancillary copper response systems orchestrate cellular response to copper stress.

Copper primes adaptation of uropathogenic Escherichia coli to superoxide stress by activating superoxide dismutases.

Copper and superoxide are used by the phagocytes to kill bacteria. Copper is a host effector encountered by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) during urinary tract infection in a non-human primate model, and in humans. UPEC is exposed to higher levels of copper in the gut prior to entering the urinary tract.

Hyperglucosuria induced by dapagliflozin augments bacterial colonization in the murine urinary tract.

Aim: To test the effects of dapagliflozin-induced hyperglucosuria on ascending bacterial urinary tract infection (UTI) in a mouse model.

Methods: Dapagliflozin or canagliflozin was used to induce hyperglucosuria in non-diabetic adult female mice prior to transurethral inoculation with uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) or Klebsiella pneumoniae. Glucose, bacterial load, cytokines, neutrophil mobilization and inflammation during acute and chronic UTI were determined.

Genetically diverse uropathogenic adopt a common transcriptional program in patients with UTIs.

Uropathogenic (UPEC) is the major causative agent of uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs). A common virulence genotype of UPEC strains responsible for UTIs is yet to be defined, due to the large variation of virulence factors observed in UPEC strains. We hypothesized that studying UPEC functional responses in patients might reveal universal UPEC features that enable pathogenesis.

Human-origin probiotic cocktail increases short-chain fatty acid production via modulation of mice and human gut microbiome.

The gut bacteria producing metabolites like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs; e.g., acetate, propionate and butyrate), are frequently reduced in Patients with diabetes, obesity, autoimmune disorders, and cancers.

Distinct Signature of Oxylipid Mediators of Inflammation during Infection and Asymptomatic Colonization by in the Urinary Bladder.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is an extremely common infectious disease. Uropathogenic (UPEC) is the predominant etiological agent of UTI. Asymptomatic bacteriuric (ABEC) strains successfully colonize the urinary tract resulting in asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU) and do not induce symptoms associated with UTI.

Role of Ethanolamine Utilization Genes in Host Colonization during Urinary Tract Infection.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the second most common infection in humans, making it a global health priority. Nearly half of all women will experience a symptomatic UTI, with uropathogenic (UPEC) being the major causative agent of the infection. Although there has been extensive research on UPEC virulence determinants, the importance of host-specific metabolism remains understudied.

Copper Is a Host Effector Mobilized to Urine during Urinary Tract Infection To Impair Bacterial Colonization.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a major global infectious disease affecting millions of people annually. Human urinary copper (Cu) content is elevated during UTI caused by uropathogenic (UPEC). UPEC upregulates the expression of Cu efflux genes during clinical UTI in patients as an adaptive response to host-derived Cu.

Acinetobacter baumannii Genes Required for Bacterial Survival during Bloodstream Infection.

Acinetobacter baumannii is emerging as a leading global multiple-antibiotic-resistant nosocomial pathogen. The identity of genes essential for pathogenesis in a mammalian host remains largely unknown. Using transposon-directed insertion-site sequencing (TraDIS), we identified A.

Virulence and Fitness Determinants of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is a major global public health concern. Increasing antibiotic resistance found in clinical UPEC isolates underscores the immediate need for development of novel therapeutics against this pathogen. Better understanding of the fitness and virulence mechanisms that are integral to the pathogenesis of UTI will facilitate identification of novel strategies to prevent and treat infection with UPEC.

Back to the metal age: battle for metals at the host-pathogen interface during urinary tract infection.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) represents one of the most common bacterial infections in humans and uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) is the major causative agent of UTI in people. Research on UPEC and other bacterial pathogens causing UTI has now identified the critical role of metal transport systems in the pathogenesis of UTI.

Blocking yersiniabactin import attenuates extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli in cystitis and pyelonephritis and represents a novel target to prevent urinary tract infection.

The emergence and spread of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases and carbapenemases among common bacterial pathogens are threatening our ability to treat routine hospital- and community-acquired infections. With the pipeline for new antibiotics virtually empty, there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutics. Bacteria require iron to establish infection, and specialized pathogen-associated iron acquisition systems like yersiniabactin, common among pathogenic species in the family Enterobacteriaceae, including multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and pathogenic Escherichia coli, represent potentially novel therapeutic targets.

Host-specific induction of Escherichia coli fitness genes during human urinary tract infection.

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is the predominant etiological agent of uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI), manifested by inflammation of the urinary bladder, in humans and is a major global public health concern. Molecular pathogenesis of UPEC has been primarily examined using murine models of UTI. Translational research to develop novel therapeutics against this major pathogen, which is becoming increasingly antibiotic resistant, requires a thorough understanding of mechanisms involved in pathogenesis during human UTIs.

Genome-wide detection of fitness genes in uropathogenic Escherichia coli during systemic infection.

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is a leading etiological agent of bacteremia in humans. Virulence mechanisms of UPEC in the context of urinary tract infections have been subjected to extensive research. However, understanding of the fitness mechanisms used by UPEC during bacteremia and systemic infection is limited.

Draft genome sequences of five recent human uropathogenic Escherichia coli isolates.

This study reports the release of draft genome sequences of five isolates of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), isolated from patients suffering from uncomplicated cystitis in 2012 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that these strains belonged to E. coli phylogroups B2 and D and are closely related to known UPEC strains.