Propionic and valproic acids have an impact on bacteria viability, proton flux and ATPase activity

Heghine Gevorgyan; Tamara Abaghyan; Margarita Mirumyan; Konstantin Yenkoyan; Karen Trchounian

doi:10.1007/s10863-023-09983-6

Propionic and valproic acids have an impact on bacteria viability, proton flux and ATPase activity

J Bioenerg Biomembr. 2023 Oct;55(5):397-408. doi: 10.1007/s10863-023-09983-6. Epub 2023 Sep 13.

Authors

Heghine Gevorgyan^{1

2

3}, Tamara Abaghyan^{1

3

4}, Margarita Mirumyan^{4

5}, Konstantin Yenkoyan^{6

7}, Karen Trchounian^{8

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Yerevan State University, 1 A. Manoogian Str, Yerevan, 0025, Armenia.
² Scientific-Research Institute of Biology, Faculty of Biology, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, 0025, Armenia.
³ Microbial Biotechnologies and Biofuel Innovation Center, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, 0025, Armenia.
⁴ Neuroscience Laboratory, Cobrain Center, Yerevan State Medical University named after M. Heratsi, Yerevan, 0025, Armenia.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry, Yerevan State Medical University named after M. Heratsi, Yerevan, 0025, Armenia.
⁶ Neuroscience Laboratory, Cobrain Center, Yerevan State Medical University named after M. Heratsi, Yerevan, 0025, Armenia. konstantin.yenkoyan@meduni.am.
⁷ Department of Biochemistry, Yerevan State Medical University named after M. Heratsi, Yerevan, 0025, Armenia. konstantin.yenkoyan@meduni.am.
⁸ Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Yerevan State University, 1 A. Manoogian Str, Yerevan, 0025, Armenia. k.trchounian@ysu.am.
⁹ Scientific-Research Institute of Biology, Faculty of Biology, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, 0025, Armenia. k.trchounian@ysu.am.
¹⁰ Microbial Biotechnologies and Biofuel Innovation Center, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, 0025, Armenia. k.trchounian@ysu.am.

PMID: 37700074
DOI: 10.1007/s10863-023-09983-6

Abstract

Short-chain fatty acids like propionic (PPA) and valproic acids (VP) can alter gut microbiota, which is suggested to play a role in development of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this study we investigated the role of various concentrations of PPA and VP in gut enteric gram-negative Escherichia coli K12 and gram-positive Enterococcus hirae ATCC 9790 bacteria growth properties, ATPase activity and proton flux. The specific growth rate (µ) was 0.24 h^-1 and 0.82 h^-1 in E. coli and E. hirae, respectively. Different concentrations of PPA reduced the value of µ similarly in both strains. PPA affects membrane permeability only in E. hirae. PPA decreased DCCD-sensitive ATPase activity in the presence of K⁺ ions by 20% in E. coli and 40% in E. hirae suggesting the importance of the F_OF₁-K⁺ transport system in the regulation of PPA-disrupted homeostasis. Moreover, the H⁺ flux during PPA consumption could be the protective mechanism for enteric bacteria. VP has a selective effect on the µ depending on bacteria. The overwhelming effect of VP was detected on the K⁺-promoted ATPase activity in E. hirae. Taken together it can be suggested that PPA and VP have a disruptive effect on E. coli and E. hirae growth, viability, bioenergetic and biochemical properties, which are connected with the alteration of F_OF₁-ATPase activity and H⁺ flux rate or direction.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorders; Bacterial growth; Propionic acid; Proton ATPase; Valproic acid.

Abstract

Grants and funding