Fucoidans, fucose-enriched sulfated polysaccharides isolated from brown algae and marine invertebrates, have been shown to exert anticancer activity in several types of human cancer, including leukemia and breast cancer and in lung adenocarcinoma cells. In the present study, the anticancer activity of the fucoidan extracted from the brown seaweed Undaria pinnatifida was investigated in human hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC-7721 cells, and the underlying mechanisms of action were investigated. SMMC-7721 cells exposed to fucoidan displayed growth inhibition and several typical features of apoptotic cells, such as chromatin condensation and marginalization, a decrease in the number of mitochondria, and in mitochondrial swelling and vacuolation. Fucoidan-induced cell death was associated with depletion of reduced glutathione (GSH), accumulation of high intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and accompanied by damage to the mitochondrial ultrastructure, depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP, Δψm) and caspase activation. Moreover, fucoidan led to altered expression of factors related to apoptosis, including downregulating Livin and XIAP mRNA, which are members of the inhibitor of apoptotic protein (IAP) family, and increased the Bax-to-Bcl-2 ratio. These findings suggest that fucoidan isolated from U. pinnatifida induced apoptosis in SMMC-7721 cells via the ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway.
Salmonella Typhimurium establishes systemic infection by replicating in host macrophages. Here we show that macrophages infected with S. Typhimurium exhibit upregulated glycolysis and decreased serine synthesis, leading to accumulation of glycolytic intermediates. The effects on serine synthesis are mediated by bacterial protein SopE2, a type III secretion system (T3SS) effector encoded in pathogenicity island SPI-1. The changes in host metabolism promote intracellular replication of S. Typhimurium via two mechanisms: decreased glucose levels lead to upregulated bacterial uptake of 2- and 3-phosphoglycerate and phosphoenolpyruvate (carbon sources), while increased pyruvate and lactate levels induce upregulation of another pathogenicity island, SPI-2, known to encode virulence factors. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of host glycolysis, activation of host serine synthesis, or deletion of either the bacterial transport or signal sensor systems for those host glycolytic intermediates impairs S. Typhimurium replication or virulence.
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) is a major intestinal pathogen of both humans and animals. Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1)-encoded virulence genes are required for S. Typhimurium invasion. While oxygen (O2) limitation is an important signal for SPI-1 induction under host conditions, how the signal is received and integrated to the central SPI-1 regulatory system in S. Typhimurium is not clear. Here, we report a signal transduction pathway that activates SPI-1 expression in response to low O2. A novel regulator encoded within SPI-14 (STM14_1008), named LoiA (low oxygen induced factor A), directly binds to the promoter and activates transcription of hilD, leading to the activation of hilA (the master activator of SPI-1). Deletion of loiA significantly decreased the transcription of hilA, hilD and other representative SPI-1 genes (sipB, spaO, invH, prgH and invF) under low O2 conditions. The response of LoiA to the low O2 signal is mediated by the ArcB/ArcA two-component system. Deletion of either arcA or arcB significantly decreased transcription of loiA under low O2 conditions. We also confirmed that SPI-14 contributes to S. Typhimurium virulence by affecting invasion, and that loiA is the virulence determinant of SPI-14. Mice infection assays showed that S. Typhimurium virulence was severely attenuated by deletion of either the entire SPI-14 region or the single loiA gene after oral infection, while the virulence was not affected by either deletion after intraperitoneal infection. The signal transduction pathway described represents an important mechanism for S. Typhimurium to sense and respond to low O2 conditions of the host intestinal tract for invasion. SPI-14-encoded loiA is an essential element of this pathway that integrates the low O2 signal into the SPI-1 regulatory system. Acquisition of SPI-14 is therefore crucial for the evolution of S. Typhimurium as an intestinal pathogen.
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