boron and Pseudomonas-Infections

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen, capable of surviving in a broad range of natural environments and quickly acquiring resistance. It is associated with hospital-acquired infections, particularly in patients with compromised immunity, and is the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. P. aeruginosa is also of nosocomial importance on dairy farms and veterinary hospitals, where it is a key morbidity factor in bovine mastitis. P. aeruginosa uses a cell-cell communication system consisting of signalling molecules to coordinate bacterial secondary metabolites, biofilm formation, and virulence. Simple and sensitive methods for the detection of biomolecules as indicators of P. aeruginosa infection would be of great clinical importance. Here, we report the synthesis of the P. aeruginosa natural product, barakacin, which was recently isolated from the bovine ruminal strain ZIO. A simple and sensitive electrochemical method was used for barakacin detection using a boron-doped diamond (BDD) and glassy carbon (GC) electrodes, based on cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The influence of electrolyte pH on the peak potential and peak currents was also investigated. At pH 2.0, the peak current was linearly dependent on barakacin concentration (in the range used, 1-10 μM), with correlation coefficients greater than 0.98 on both electrodes. The detection limit (S/N = 3) on the BDD electrode was 100-fold lower than that obtained on the GC electrode. The optimized method using the BDD electrode was extended to bovine (cow feces) and human (sputum of a CF patient) samples. Spiked barakacin was easily detected in these matrices at a limit of 0.5 and 0.05 μM, respectively. Graphical abstract Electrochemical detection of barakacin.

Topics: Animals; Boron; Carbon; Cattle; Cystic Fibrosis; Diamond; Electrochemical Techniques; Electrodes; Feces; Humans; Indoles; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas Infections; Thiazoles

Coated capillary electrophoresis equipped with a boron doped diamond (BDD) electrode was developed for analysis of chemically synthesised 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4-quinolone (HHQ), 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4-quinolone (PQS), and 2-methyl analogues. Detection was then extended to biological samples. PQS and its biological precursor, HHQ, are two key regulators of bacterial cooperative behaviour known as quorum sensing in the nosocomial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The fused silica capillary was coated with a thin layer of poly (diallyldimethylammonium) chloride to reverse the electroosmosis, allowing fast migration of PQS and HHQ with improved selectivity. The four model compounds were baseline resolved using a 50 mM H(3)PO(4)-Tris, pH 2.0 buffer with 20% (v/v) acetonitrile as buffer additive. With an injection time of 3 s, the detection limits of four analytes ranging from 60 to 100 nM (S/N=3) were observed when the BDD electrode was poised at +1.5 V vs. 3 M Ag/AgCl. As expected, no PQS or HHQ was detected from the supernatant of the P. aeruginosa (pqsA) mutant. A concentration of HHQ of 247 μM was detected from the supernatant of the pqsH mutant, which catalyses the conversion of HHQ to PQS in the presence of molecular oxygen by monooxygenase. The separation and detection scheme was applicable to follow the conversion of HHQ to PQS in P. aeruginosa when entering the stationary phase of growth. The results obtained by coated capillary electrophoresis with BDD detection were validated and compared well with LC-MS data.

Topics: Biomarkers; Boron; Burns; Diamond; Electrodes; Electrophoresis, Capillary; Humans; Limit of Detection; Polyethylenes; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas Infections; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; Quinolones; Quorum Sensing; Reproducibility of Results; Silver Compounds