<p><i>Mycobacterium abscessus </i>is a
nontuberculous mycobacterium found in the environment that is becoming an emerging
infectious pathogen capable of causing numerous types of infections. It is more
antibiotic resistant than <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> and is becoming
more prevalent in developed nations. Current treatments are not standardized
and have poor success records and there is no definitive method in properly
treating these infections. We tested an <i>in
vitro </i>model that mimics the reducing environment that <i>M. abscessus</i>
experiences during an infection by subjecting it to thiol-reductive stress. We
observed that thiol reductive stress stabilized biofilms formed by <i>M.
abscessus</i>. We found that <i>M. abscessus
</i>in biofilms became tolerant to the antibiotics: clarithromycin, amikacin,
and streptomycin. We postulated that efflux pumps might be involved in
transport of the precursors of lipids associated with biofilm formation.
Therefore, we investigated whether the efflux pump inhibitors affected biofilm
formation and found that verapamil, CCCP and reserpine inhibited the formation
of biofilms. We investigated the biosynthesis of lipids during biofilm
formation by metabolic radiolabeling with <sup>14</sup>C-acetate, the building
block of fatty acids. We found that the biosynthesis of several phospholipids
were elevated during biofilm formation and that the efflux pump inhibitor
verapamil and exogenous fatty acids inhibited their biosynthesis. Further
studies are needed to understand the roles of these lipids in biofilm formation.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/14502285 |
| Date | 06 May 2021 |
| Creators | Matthew R Hathaway (10716510) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/MICROBIOLOGICAL_AND_BIOCHEMICAL_INVESTIGATIONS_OF_EFFLUX_AND_LIPID_BIOSYNTHESIS_IN_MYCOBACTERIUM_ABSCESSUS_BIOFILMS/14502285 |
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