Vertebrate odorant binding proteins as antimicrobial humoral components of innate immunity for pathogenic microorganisms

PLoS One. 2019 Mar 22;14(3):e0213545. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213545. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) and the yeast Candida albicans (CA) are pathogens that cohabit the mucosa of the respiratory tracts of animals and humans. Their virulence is largely determined by chemical communication driven by quorum sensing systems (QS), and the cross perception of their quorum sensing molecules (QSM) can modulate the prevalence of one microorganism over the other. Aiming to investigate whether some of the protein components dissolved in the mucus layering the respiratory mucosa might interfere with virulence and cross-communication of these, and eventually other microorganisms, ligand binding assays were carried out to test the scavenging potential of the bovine and porcine forms of the Lipocalin odorant binding protein (OBP) for several QSMs (farnesol, and acylhomoserine lactones), and for pyocyanin, a toxin produced by PA. In addition, the direct antimicrobial activity of the OBPs was tested by time kill assay (TKA) against CA, PA and other bacteria and yeasts. The positivity of all the ligand binding assays and the antimicrobial activity determined for CA, and for some of the other microorganisms tested, let hypothesize that vertebrate OBPs might behave as humoral components of innate immunity, active against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. In addition, TKAs with mutants of bovine OBP with structural properties different from those of the native form, and with OBP forms tagged with histidines at the amino terminal, provided information about the mechanisms responsible of their antimicrobial activity and suggested possible applications of the OBPs as alternative or co-adjuvants to antibiotic therapeutic treatments.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Infective Agents / immunology*
  • Anti-Infective Agents / metabolism
  • Candida albicans* / growth & development
  • Candida albicans* / immunology
  • Cattle
  • Immunity, Innate*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa* / growth & development
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa* / immunology
  • Receptors, Odorant / immunology*
  • Receptors, Odorant / metabolism
  • Swine

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents
  • Receptors, Odorant
  • odorant-binding protein

Grants and funding

This research was supported by a grant of the Università degli Studi di Parma (FIL 2017) and by a grant of Dipartimento di Scienze Medico-Veterinarie of the Università degli Studi di Parma (Ramoni - Ric. dipartimentale 2014-70%) awarded to Roberto Ramoni. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.