Browsing by Author "Brocchi, Marcelo"

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    Antimicrobial resistance and genetic background of non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica strains isolated from human infections in São Paulo, Brazil (2000–2019)
    (Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, 2022-09) Calarga, Aline Parolin; Gontijo, Marco Tulio Pardini; de Almeida, Luiz Gonzaga Paula; de Vasconcelos, Ana Tereza Ribeiro; Nascimento, Leandro Costa; de Moraes Barbosa, Taíse Marongio Cotrim; de Carvalho Perri, Thalita Mara; Dos Santos, Silvia Regina; Tiba-Casas, Monique Ribeiro; Marques, Eneida Gonçalves Lemes; Ferreira, Cleide Marques; Brocchi, Marcelo
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    Bacteriophages that infect Gram-negative bacteria as source of signal-arrest-release motif lysins
    (Research in Microbiology, 2021-03) Gontijo, Marco Túlio Pardini; Vidigal, Pedro Marcus Pereira; Lopez, Maryoris Elisa Soto; Brocchi, Marcelo
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    Current Status of Endolysin-Based Treatments against Gram-Negative Bacteria
    (Antibiotics) Gontijo, Marco Túlio Pardini; Jorge, Genesy Perez; Brocchi, Marcelo
    The prevalence of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria is a public health concern. Bacteriophages and bacteriophage-derived lytic enzymes have been studied in response to the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria. The availability of tRNAs and endolysin toxicity during recombinant protein expression is circumvented by codon optimization and lower expression levels using inducible pET-type plasmids and controlled cultivation conditions, respectively. The use of polyhistidine tags facilitates endolysin purification and alters antimicrobial activity. Outer membrane permeabilizers, such as organic acids, act synergistically with endolysins, but some endolysins permeate the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria per se. However, the outer membrane permeation mechanisms of endolysins remain unclear. Other strategies, such as the co-administration of endolysins with polymyxins, silver nanoparticles, and liposomes confer additional outer membrane permeation. Engineered endolysins comprising domains for outer membrane permeation is also a strategy used to overcome the current challenges on the control of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Metagenomics is a new strategy for screening endolysins with interesting antimicrobial properties from uncultured phage genomes. Here, we review the current state of the art on the heterologous expression of endolysin, showing the potential of bacteriophage endolysins in controlling bacterial infections.
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    EbfC/YbaB: A Widely Distributed Nucleoid-Associated Protein in Prokaryotes
    (Microorganisms) Cordeiro, Tamires Fernanda Vilas Boas; Gontijo, Marco Túlio Pardini; Jorge, Genesy Perez; Brocchi, Marcelo
    Genomic compaction is an essential characteristic of living organisms. Nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) are a group of small proteins that play crucial roles in chromosome architecture and affect DNA replication, transcription, and recombination by imposing topological alterations in genomic DNA, thereby modulating global gene expression. EbfC/YbaB was first described as a DNA-binding protein of Borrelia burgdorferi that regulates the expression of surface lipoproteins with roles in virulence. Further studies indicated that this protein binds specifically and non-specifically to DNA and colocalises with nucleoids in this bacterium. The data showed that this protein binds to DNA as a homodimer, although it can form other organised structures. Crystallography analysis indicated that the protein possesses domains responsible for protein–protein interactions and forms a “tweezer” structure probably involved in DNA binding. Moreover, sequence analysis revealed conserved motifs that may be associated with dimerisation. Structural analysis also showed that the tridimensional structure of EbfC/YbaB is highly conserved within the bacterial domain. The DNA-binding activity was observed in different bacterial species, suggesting that this protein can protect DNA during stress conditions. These findings indicate that EbfC/YbaB is a broadly distributed NAP. Here, we present a review of the existing data on this NAP.
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    Expanding the Database of Signal-Anchor-Release Domain Endolysins Through Metagenomics
    (Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins, 2022-08) Gontijo, Marco Túlio Pardini; Teles, Mateus Pereira; Vidigal, Pedro Marcus Pereira; Brocchi, Marcelo
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    Virulence and DNA sequence analysis of Cronobacter spp. isolated from infant cereals
    (International Journal of Food Microbiology, 2022-09) Carvalho, Gabriela Guimarães; Calarga, Aline Parolin; Zorgi, Nahiara Esteves; Astudillo-Trujillo, Carlos A; Gontijo, Marco Túlio Pardini; Brocchi, Marcelo; Giorgio, Selma; Kabuki, Dirce Yorika