铜绿假单胞菌群体感应抑制物筛选系统的构建及其应用

A novel screening system for Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing inhibitors

针对调控铜绿假单胞菌致病基因表达的群体感应系统,将相关基因lasI和rhlA的启动子域与蔗糖致死基因相融合,构建出一个能通过菌体生长量来检测群体感应系统小分子抑制物的筛选体系。并在特定条件下,对一系列中药提取物进行筛选,同时用荧光筛选系统对结果进行验证。以此筛选出3种中药提取物对铜绿假单胞菌群体感应系统有不同程度的抑制作用。这3种中药分别隶属于爵床科、败酱科和萝藦科植物。本研究所构建的筛选体系能有效地筛选群体感应系统的抑制物,为进一步了解和控制细菌的致病感染过程和新药物的研究提供了一个有用的工具。

Quorum sensing is an important gene regulatory mechanism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and controls the expression of numerous virulence factors. We designed and constructed a screening system for quorum-sensing inhibitors. We developed the system by using the lasl and rhlA promoters fused with promoterless sacB as reporters. Using this system we screened a number of Chinese herb extracts, and identified three herb extracts containing inhibitors to the quorum-sensing system and to its regulated genes The screening system developed was highly efficient and sensitive. It could serve as a useful tool to identify herb compounds that block infections but unlikely render antibiotic resistance in pathogens.