The 94th Annual Meeting of Japanese Society for Bacteriology

Presentation information

On-demand Presentation

7 Antimicrobials and Drug Resistance

[ODP7A] a. Antimicrobial Agents

[ODP-203] Enhanced bacterial killing by polysulfide donor in macrophages and neutrophils

○Tianli Zhang1, Azizur Rahman1, Hiroyasu Tsutsuki1, Katsuhiko Ono1, Kei Miyano2, Akira Yamauchi2, Takaaki Akaike3, Tomohiro Sawa1 (1Dept. Microbiol., Sch. Med Sci., Kumamoto Univ., 2Dept. Biochem., Kawasaki Med Sch., 3Dept. Environ Med and Mol Toxi., Tohoku Univ., Sch. Med)

Background: Cysteine persulfide and polysulfides are cysteine derivatives having sulfane sulfur atoms bound to cysteine thiol. Accumulating evidence has suggested that cysteine persulfides/polysulfides are abundant in prokaryotes and eukaryotes and play important roles in diverse biological processes. Here, we examined the effects of chemically synthesized polysulfide donors on antibacterial activity of macrophages and neutrophils.
Methods: N-Acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) connecting with polysulfur chains were synthesized as novel polysulfide donors, called NAC polysulfides. Macrophages or neutrophils were infected with Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2, or Staphylococcus aureus. Gentamycin was applied to kill extracellular bacteria for overnight culture. NAC polysulfides were added into infected-cells during gentamycin protection assay.
Results: Treatment of cells with NAC polysulfides remarkably decreased intracellular bacterial numbers. NAC polysulfides-enhanced bacterial killing in macrophages was not due to nitric oxide and cytokine production, as well, reactive oxygen species generation.
Conclusion: Precise understanding of mechanisms by which NAC polysulfides-mediated bacterial killing in macrophages and neutrophils may be helpful to develop therapeutic strategies for bacterial infectious diseases.