Pneumococcal resistance has become a global issue during the past three decades. One of the major foci of pneumococcal resistance worldwide is the Asian region including Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong. Korea had not been recognized as a focus of pneumococcal resistance until 1995, when serial reports documented the alarmingly high prevalence of penicillin resistance among clinical isolates. Serial reports on penicillin resistance among pneumococcal isolates in Korea ranged from 68% to 77% as of 1995. Multidrug resistance was also noted in 34% of Korean isolates. Penicillin-binding protein profile analysis, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, ribotyping, and fingerprinting analysis of pbp genes showed that antibiotic-resistant pneumococci isolated in Korea were genetically related. Data documented the extensive spread of a resistant clone within Korea and between different countries. Besides the injudicious use of antimicrobial agents or the high prevalence of serotypes 23 and 19, the spread of a resistant clone may play an important role in the rapid increase of penicillin resistance in Korea.
Asia ; Drug Resistance, Microbial/physiology* ; Drug Resistance, Multiple/physiology ; Epidemiologic Methods ; Human ; Korea ; Streptococcus pneumoniae/physiology*

Similar to multicellular animals, single-cell organisms, such as bacteria show the phenomenon of programmed cell death (PCD). The PCD not only can play an important role in various physiological procedures, but also can eliminate bacteria with irreversible injuries. The PCD of single cell in a colony is for the benefits of other bacteria in the same colony to achieve the development and reproduction of the whole colony. Disturbing or destroying such PCD may provide a new way for antibiotic drug research and development.
Autophagy ; physiology ; Bacteria ; cytology ; Staphylococcus aureus ; cytology ; physiology ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; cytology ; physiology

In order to confirm whether the migrating larvae of parasites could carry pathogenic organisms into liver and cause hepatitis, a series of experiments has been carried out. The summary of the results is as follows: 1. Clonorchis sinensis A few of the excysted larvae of Clonorchis sinensis penetrated into the peritoneal cavity, but they could not penetrate the liver tissues. The artificially introduced Clonorchis sinensis in the tissues were all destroyed within 3-5 days. There was no manifestation of diffuse inflammatory changes due to the inoculation of the parasites, though the sampled micro-organisms, Staphylococcus aureus, were confirmed from the surrounding area. 2. Hookworm The larvae carried pathogenic organisms to liver tissues either by cutaneous or oral infection, but there was no manifestation of hepatitis due to the micro-organisms: In conclusion, it is indicated that liverfluke and hookworm may transmit pathogenic organisms to the liver during their migration.
Ancylostoma/*physiology ; Animals ; Larva/physiology ; Liver Diseases, Parasitic/*etiology ; Male ; Mice ; Opisthorchis/*physiology ; Rabbits ; Staphylococcus/*growth & development ; Streptococcus pneumoniae/growth & development

OBJECTIVETo investigate the host-defense role of short palate, lung, and nasal epithelium clone 1 (SPLUNC1) in Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) infection and the effect of resveratrol (Res) on SPLUNC1 expression, and to provide new thoughts for the treatment of diseases caused by SP infection.

METHODSAccording to the multiplicity of infection (MOI), BEAS-2B cells with SP infection were divided into control group, MOI20 SP group, and MOI50 SP group. According to the different concentrations of Res, the BEAS-2B cells with MOI20 SP infection pretreated by Res were divided into 12.5Res+SP group, 25Res+SP group, and 50Res+SP group (the final concentrations of Res were 12.5, 25, and 50 μmol/L, respectively). Cell Counting Kit-8 was used to measure cell activity and determine the optimal concentration and action time of SP and Res. In the formal experiment, the cells were divided into control group, Res group, SP group, and Res+SP group. Real-time PCR and ELISA were used to measure the mRNA and protein expression of SPLUNC1.

RESULTSOver the time of SP infection, cell activity tended to decrease. Compared with the control group and the MOI20 SP group, the MOI50 SP group had a reduction in cell activity. Compared with the MOI20 SP group, the 25Res+SP group had increased cell activity and the 50Res+SP group had reduced cell activity (P<0.05). MOI20 SP bacterial suspension and 25 μmol/L Res were used for the formal experiment. Over the time of SP infection, the mRNA expression of SPLUNC1 in BEAS-2B cells firstly increased and then decreased in the SP group and the Res+SP group (P<0.05). Compared with the SP group, the Res+SP group had significant increases in the mRNA and protein expression of SPLUNC1 at all time points (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the Res group had no significant changes in the mRNA and protein expression of SPLUNC1 (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSSP infection can induce SPLUNC1 expression and the host-defense role of SPLUNC1. Res can upregulate SPLUNC1 expression during the development of infection and enhance cell protection in a concentration- and time-dependent manner.

Bronchi ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Cytoprotection ; Epithelial Cells ; metabolism ; Glycoproteins ; analysis ; genetics ; physiology ; Humans ; Phosphoproteins ; analysis ; genetics ; physiology ; RNA, Messenger ; analysis ; Stilbenes ; pharmacology ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; pathogenicity

OBJECTIVETo understand the molecular basis for a potential reaction mechanism and develop novel antibiotics with homology modeling for 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) synthase (HMGS).

METHODSThe genetic engineering technology and the composer module of SYBYL7.0 program were used, while the HMGS three-dimensional structure was analyzed by homology modeling.

RESULTSThe mvaS gene was cloned from Streptococcus pneumoniae and overexpressed in Escherichia coli from a pET28 vector. The expressed enzyme (about 46 kDa) was purified by affinity chromatography with a specific activity of 3.24 micromol/min/mg. Optimal conditions were pH 9.75 and 10 mmol/L MgCl2 at 37 degrees C. The V(max) and K(m) were 4.69 micromol/min/mg and 213 micromol/L respectively. The 3D model of S. pneumoniae HMGS was established based on structure template of HMGS of Enterococcus faecalis.

CONCLUSIONThe structure of HMGS will facilitate the structure-based design of alternative drugs to cholesterol-lowering therapies or to novel antibiotics to the Gram-positive cocci, whereas the recombinant HMGS will prove useful for drug development against a different enzyme in the mevalonate pathway.

Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial ; physiology ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Synthase ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; Protein Conformation ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; enzymology ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of ClpE on the protein expression profiles of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

METHODSclpE-deficient Streptococcus pneumoniae strain was constructed by long flanking homology-polymerase chain reaction (LFH-PCR) and identified by PCR and sequencing. The total bacterial proteins were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and imaging analysis, and the differentially expressed protein spots were excised by dot-gel digestion with trypsin. Peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) was obtained by analysis of the fragment length by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). The PMF was analyzed using software to identify the proteins.

RESULTSThe number of matched protein spots of the two gels was 61%. By sequence database searching, 4 out of the 17 differential protein spots were identified, namely hypoxanthine-guanine, pyrrolidone-carboxylate peptidase1, formate-tetrahydrofolate ligase, and bifunctional protein pyrR.

CONCLUSIONclpE gene-deficient Streptococcus pneumoniae expresses fewer kinds of proteins at also lower levels than the wild-type bacteria, suggesting that ClpE allows the bacteria to adapt to different host environments by inducing the expression of special proteins.

Adenosine Triphosphatases ; deficiency ; genetics ; Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; deficiency ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; genetics ; growth & development ; physiology