Pathogens and Pathogenesis Flashcards
How has technology spread disease?
Via airplane travel, use of blood banks and suburban sprawl.
What are examples of diseases that have spread due to technological advances?
Lyme disease = suburban development
E.coli O157:H7 = meat processing plants
COVID-19 and travel
What are bioweapons?
Highly virulent infectious agents or toxins
What are the implications of biowarfare?
Inflict massive casualties, rapid onset symptoms, death or temporary incapacitation.
What are the implications of Bioterrorism?
Widespread panic, disruption of society
What is the modern drug discovery process?
- Use genomics to identify new targets.
- Design compounds to inhibit the targets
- Alter the compounds to optimize MIC.
- Determine the spectrum of the compound
- Determine the pharmaceutical properties.
What are Antibiotics?
Secondary metabolites, not essential for microorganism survival, enhances ability to survive
How do Protein synthesis inhibitors work?
They either interact with the 30S or 50S subunit of the ribosome
What are examples of drugs that interact with the 30S subunit of the ribosome?
Aminoglycosides and Tetracyclines
What do Aminoglycosides do?
Cause translational misreading of mRNA.
What do Tetracyclines do?
Block binding of charged tRNAs to a site on the ribosome
What type of agent are Aminoglycosides?
Bactericidal - include streptomycin
What type of agent are Tetracyclines?
Bacteriostatic, include doxycycline
What are some drugs that interact with the 50S subunit?
Macrolides, Lincosamides, Chloramphenicol, Oxazolidinones, Strepogramins
What do Macrolides and Lincosamides do?
Inhibit translocation
What do Chloramphenicols do?
Inhibit peptidyl transferase activity
What do Oxazolidinones do?
Prevent formation of the 70S ribosome initiation complex
What do Streptogramins do?
Streptogramin A - Block tRNA binding
Streptogramin B - Blocks translocation
What are some examples of RNA synthesis inhibitors?
Rifampin and Actinomycin D
How does Rifampin work?
Binds to beta subunit of RNA polymerase to prevent the elongation step of transcription
How does Actinomycin D work?
Binds to DNA, prevents the initiation step of transcription
Downside of Actinomycin D?
It is not selectively toxic
Examples of DNA synthesis inhibitors?
Quinolones, Metronizadole, Sulfa Drugs
Examples of Quinolone drugs?
Nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin
How do Quinolone drugs work?
Block bacterial DNA gyrase, preventing DNA replication
How does Metronizadole work?
It is non-toxic unless it is metabolised by anaerobes.
How do Sulfa Drugs work?
They are PABA analogues (folic acid precursor)
What are some drugs that disrupt cell membranes?
Gramicidin and Polymyxin
How does Gramicidin work?
Forms cation channels, which ions can leak through
How does Polymyxin work?
Destroys cell membranes - detergent like
What are bacterial drug targets?
- Cell Wall
- Cell Membrane
- DNA synthesis
- RNA synthesis
- Protein Synthesis
- Metabolism
What are the stages of Peptidoglycan synthesis?
- Precursors are synthesized in the cytoplasm (UDP-NAG and UDP-NAM)
- They are then carried across the cell membrane by bactoprenol
- The precursors are polymerised via transglycosylase.
- The peptide side chains are crosslinked by transpeptides.
What are some Beta-Lactam antibiotics?
Penicillins and cephalosporins
How do Beta-lactam antibiotics work?
By competitively inhibiting transpeptidases
How does Vancomycin work?
Binds ends of peptides and prevents the action of transglycosylases and peptidases.
How does Cycloserine work?
By inhibiting the formation of D-ala-D-ala dipeptide precursor.
How does Bacitracin work?
By blocking the lipid carrier bactoprenol. Meaning disaccharide subunits do not reach the periplasm
What are the classifications of antibiotics?
- Bactericidal and Bacteriostatic
What do Bactericidal compounds do?
Kill target organisms, but are only effective if the organism is building a new cell wall.
What do bacteriostatic antibiotics do?
Prevent the growth of the organisms.
Broad Spectrum
Effective against many species
Narrow Spectrum
Effective against few or single species
Source of Antibiotics
Most are discovered as natural products that are then often modified by artificial means.
How does selective toxicity come into Antibiotic development?
Drug must affect target without being detrimental to host.
Can cause side effects and allergic responses.
How are issues with hosts avoided when developing Antibiotics?
They should target physiologies not present in the host. E.g Peptidoglycans, differences in ribosome structure and biochemical pathways missing in humans.
When was the importance of antibiotics in treating disease recognised?
1940s
What do mechanisms of antibiotic resistance include?
Modifying, destroying and pumping out the antibiotic
What tests strain sensitivity to antibiotics?
Kirby-Bauer susceptibility test - disks of antibiotics
What test determines MIC?
E-test, gradient of antibiotic on strep, drug must be above MIC in tissue to be effective.
What is MIC?
Minimal inhibitory concentration
How is MIC determined?
By diluting the antibiotic
What does No living colonies on a agar plate in a MIC test indicate?
Mininal lethal concentration, always higher than MIC
How does drug resistance develop?
Gene duplications/mutatins and HGT
How do bacteria resist antibiotics through target modification?
They can mutate their ribosomal proteins to confer resistance, happens with Streptomycin
How do bacteria resist antibiotics through destroying the antibiotic?
Beta-lactamase enzymes destroy penicillin
How do bacteria resist streptomycin through enzymes?
Adding modifying enzymes inactivates aminoglycoside antibiotics.
How do antibiotics specifically and non-specifically resist antibiotics?
Through pumping the antibiotic out of the cell.
How does drug resistance occur?
Antibiotic overuse, overprescription in agricultural settings
Who discovered streptomycin?
Selman Waksman
Who purified Penicillin?
Florey and Chain
What is a virulence factor?
Allows pathogens to cause disease
Where can virulence factors be found?
Pathogenicity islands in the chromosome, plasmids or even phage genomes
Which pathogen can make proteins to bind antibodies, evading the immune system?
Staphylococcus Aureus Cell Wall protein a
How does Staphylococcus Aureus Cell Wall Protein A work?
By binding Fc fragments of antibodies, which cause them to attach upside down, preventing opsonisation.
How can pathogens evade the immune system?
Alteration of surface antigens.
Causing apoptosis of phagocytes.
Binding of antibodies.
Which pathogens are able to overcome engulfment by phagosomes?
Shigella dysenteriae and Listeria Monocytogenes
How do pathogens overcome phagosome engulfment?
By using hemolysin
Which pathogens secrete proteins to prevent fusion with lysosomes?
Salmonella, Chlamydia, Mycobacterium and Legionella/
Which pathogens use non-pilus adhesins to mediate binding to host tissues?
Streptococcus Pyogenes and Bordetella Pertussis
What is Streptococcus Pyogenes’ non-pilus adhesin?
M protein, binds to fibronectin
What is Bordetella Pertussis’ non-pilus adhesin?
Pertactin, binds t integrin
What are adhesins?
Any microbial factor that promotes attachment
What do most bacterial utilise for attachment to host cells?
Pili
What are the main types of pili ?
Type 1 and Type 4
What do Type 1 pili do?
Adhere to mannose residues, producing static attachment to host cells. Grow from outer membrane
What do Type 4 pili do?
Involved in twitching motility, continually assemble and disassemble, grow from inner membrane
What is quorum sensing used for?
Detection of exotoxins made by other cells. Delays toxin synthesis until many bacteria are present.
How do bacteria recognise host environments?
Two-component signal transduction, recognising magnesium concentration and pH
Biofilms
Specialised, surface-attached communities
What sort of protein secretion pathway is Type 1?
Pilus-like
What sort of protein secretion pathway is Type 2?
Syringe like
What sort of protein secretion pathway is Type 4?
Conjugation system like
What are the 5 categories of protein exotoxins?
- Membrane disrupters
- Protein Synthesis disrupters
- Secondary messenger pathway disrupters
- Superantigens
- Proteases
What type of toxin is only made by Gram negative bacteria?
Endotoxin
What are two types of disease protection and prevention?
Vaccines and Herd Immunity
What is herd immunity?
When a large % of the community is vaccinated
What can vaccines be made from?
Killed/attenuated organisms or purified components of infectious agents
How does Type 4 secretion work??
Similar to conjugation pilus, secretes proteins only or proteins+DNA.
Secretes from cytoplasm or periplasm
Example of a pathogen that uses Type 4 secretion?
Bordetella pertussis
How does Type 3 secretion work?
Molecular syringe, inject proteins from cytoplasm into the host cell.
Genes for proteins are on pathogenicity islands.
Base of the needle complex spans the Inner membrane and outer membrane.
Which pathogens possess Type 3 secretion systems?
Salmonella, Yersinia and Shigella.
How does Type 2 secretion work?
Pilus can extend and retract. Proteins to be secreted from the periplasm are folded then secreted
How do endotoxins get out of bacterial cells?
Protein secretion systems, tend to use mechanisms already present in the bacteria.
How do Endotoxins work?
Present in LPS of outer membrane, Lipid A released as bacteria die, causing massive cytokine release. Triggers fever, shock and death.
What is alpha toxin prodced by?
Staphylococcus aureus
What does hemolytic alpha toxin do?
Breakdown iron components, uses them for survival and metabolism. Forms a transmembrane seven member pore in target cell membrane.
How does S.Aureus damage cellular membranes?
Through its alpha toxin. Causes release of haemoglobin from RBCs.
How does Shigella inhibit protein synthesis?
Shiga toxin attaches to ganglioside Gb3, entering the cell and cleaves 28s rRNA
How does E.coli activate secondary messenger pathways?
E.coli Heat stable toxin activates guanylate cyclase of intestinal epithelial cells; which causes osmotic imbalance.
What is Cholera toxin’s mode of action?
- Toxin complex binds ganglioside GM1 on host membrane lipid rafts.
- Toxin is endocytosed.
- Phagosome migrates to endoplasmic reticulum.
- A1 subunit is removed from the B subunits and exported to the cytoplasm.
- The A1 peptide attaches an ADP ribose to an amino acid which regulates adenylate cyclase.
6.Cyclic AMP rises and activate ion transport, causing electrolyte imbalance. - Water from the cells follows the ions, causing diarrhea.
What are examples of ADP-ribosylating toxins?
Diptheria and Cholera
What produces Diptheria toxin?
Corynebacterium Diptheriae
What produces Cholera toxin?
Vibrio Cholerae