Ferric quinate (QPLEX) inhibits the interaction of major outer membrane protein (MOMP) with the Lewis b (Leb) antigen and limits Campylobacter colonization in broilers

Jennifer C Okoye; Alexandria Holland; Matthaios Pitoulias; Vasileios Paschalis; Artem Piddubnyi; Osman A Dufailu; Thomas Borén; Neil J Oldfield; Jafar Mahdavi; Panos Soultanas

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1146418

Ferric quinate (QPLEX) inhibits the interaction of major outer membrane protein (MOMP) with the Lewis b (Le^b) antigen and limits Campylobacter colonization in broilers

Front Microbiol. 2023 Mar 10:14:1146418. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1146418. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Biodiscovery Institute, School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
² Department Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
³ SUMEYA, The Ukrainian-Swedish Research Center, Sumy State University, Sumy, Ukraine.
⁴ Faculty of Engineering and Science, School of Science, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom.
⁵ School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Campylobacter jejuni colonizes hosts by interacting with Blood Group Antigens (BgAgs) on the surface of gastrointestinal epithelia. Genetic variations in BgAg expression affects host susceptibility to C. jejuni. Here, we show that the essential major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of C. jejuni NCTC11168 binds to the Lewis b (Le^b) antigen on the gastrointestinal epithelia of host tissues and this interaction can be competitively inhibited by ferric quinate (QPLEX), a ferric chelate structurally similar to bacterial siderophores. We provide evidence that QPLEX competitively inhibits the MOMP-Le^b interaction. Furthermore, we demonstrate that QPLEX can be used as a feed additive in broiler farming to significantly reduce C. jejuni colonization. Our results indicate that QPLEX can be a viable alternative to the preventative use of antibiotics in broiler farming to combat C. jejuni infections.

Keywords: Campylobacter; Lewis b (Leb) antigen; broilers; gastrointestinal; iron chelates; major outer membrane protein (MOMP).

Grants and funding

Research in the P.S. Lab was supported by the BBSRC (Grant Number: BB/R013357/1). JCO was supported 50% by an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training grant in Sustainable Chemistry (EP/L015633/1) and 50% by Akeso Biomedical Inc., The study carried out at the Roslin Institute was funded by Akeso Biomedical Inc., Akeso Biomedical Inc., had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.