Benn, G. orcid.org/0000-0001-5885-5288, Bortolini, C. orcid.org/0000-0002-7256-6076, Roberts, D.M. orcid.org/0000-0002-8019-9966 et al. (3 more authors) (2024) Complement-mediated killing of Escherichia coli by mechanical destabilization of the cell envelope. The EMBO Journal, 43 (23). pp. 6152-6160. ISSN 0261-4189
Abstract
Complement proteins eliminate Gram-negative bacteria in the blood via the formation of membrane attack complex (MAC) pores in the outer membrane. However, it remains unclear how outer membrane poration leads to inner membrane permeation and cell lysis. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM) on living Escherichia coli (E. coli), we probed MAC-induced changes in the cell envelope and correlated these with subsequent cell death. Initially, bacteria survived despite the formation of hundreds of MACs that were randomly distributed over the cell surface. This was followed by larger-scale disruption of the outer membrane, including propagating defects and fractures, and by an overall swelling and stiffening of the bacterial surface, which precede inner membrane permeation. We conclude that bacterial cell lysis is only an indirect effect of MAC formation; outer membrane poration leads to mechanical destabilization of the cell envelope, reducing its ability to contain the turgor pressure, leading to inner membrane permeation and cell death.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ applies to the data associated with this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data, but does not extend to the graphical or creative elements of illustrations, charts, or figures. This waiver removes legal barriers to the re-use and mining of research data. According to standard scholarly practice, it is recommended to provide appropriate citation and attribution whenever technically possible. |
Keywords: | Escherichia coli; Atomic Force Microscopy; Bacterial Membranes; Complement; Membrane Attack Complex |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL MR/R024871/2 UK RESEARCH AND INNOVATION MR/W00738X/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 31 Oct 2024 17:05 |
Last Modified: | 09 Dec 2024 09:31 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s44318-024-00266-3 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:219069 |