ArticlePloS one2013
A family of indoles regulate virulence and Shiga toxin production in pathogenic E. coli.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 96 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dual screen for gut metabolites suppressing enterobacterial growth and invasiveness reveals structure-activity relationships among anti-infective indoles.Gut microbes · 2026Article
- Integrating host-microbiota metabolic networks: how aromatic amino acids shape immune homeostasis and affect disease progression.Cellular & molecular immunology · 2026Review
- Indole sensing in host, microbiota, and pathogen interactions.Current opinion in immunology · 2026Review
- Intersections between proteostasis and immunity: insights from Caenorhabditis elegans.Disease models & mechanisms · 2026Review
- Gut microbiome-derived indoles differentially suppress type III secretion system-associated virulence inFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal analysis of fecal tryptophan metabolites and microbiome composition in very preterm infants: impact of birth mode and feeding type.Gut microbes · 2025Article
- Indole signaling inGut microbes · 2025Review
- Bacterial metabolism of tryptophan causes toxicity inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Aromatic Amino Acid Metabolites: Molecular Messengers Bridging Immune-Microbiota Communication.Immune network · 2025Review
- The nematicidal potential ofFrontiers in plant science · 2025Article
- Article
- 3,3'-Diindolylmethane (DIM): A Potential Therapeutic Agent against CariogenicAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- A microbiota and dietary metabolite integrates DNA repair and cell death to regulate embryo viability and aneuploidy during aging.Science advances · 2023Article
- Gut microbiota functional profiling in autism spectrum disorders: bacterial VOCs and related metabolic pathways acting as disease biomarkers and predictors.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Indole analogues decreasing the virulence of Vibrio campbellii towards brine shrimp larvae.Microbial biotechnology · 2022Article
- Observations on the interaction between plant growth-promoting bacteria and the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica.MicrobiologyOpen · 2022Article
- Halogenated Indoles Decrease the Virulence of Vibrio campbellii in a Gnotobiotic Brine Shrimp Model.Microbiology spectrum · 2022Article
- Detection of Bioactive Metabolites inApplied spectroscopy · 2022Article
- Bacterial Indole as a Multifunctional Regulator of Klebsiella oxytoca Complex Enterotoxicity.mBio · 2022Article
- Investigation of indole biodegradation by Cupriavidus sp. strain IDO with emphases on downstream biotransformation and indigo production.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) and enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) are intestinal pathogens that cause food and water-borne disease in humans. Using biochemical methods and NMR-based comparative metabolomics in conjunction with the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, we developed a bioassay to identify secreted small molecules produced by these pathogens. We identified indole, indole-3-carboxaldehyde (ICA), and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), as factors that only in combination are sufficient to kill C. elegans. Importantly, although lethal to C. elegans, these molecules downregulate several bacterial processes important for pathogenesis in mammals. These include motility, biofilm formation and production of Shiga toxins. Some pathogenic E. coli strains are known to contain a Locus of Enterocyte Effacement (LEE), which encodes virulence factors that cause "attaching and effacing" (A/E) lesions in mammals, including formation of actin pedestals. We found that these indole derivatives also downregulate production of LEE virulence factors and inhibit pedestal formation on mammalian cells. Finally, upon oral administration, ICA inhibited virulence and promoted survival in a lethal mouse infection model. In summary, the C. elegans model in conjunction with metabolomics has facilitated identification of a family of indole derivatives that broadly regulate physiology in E. coli, and virulence in pathogenic strains. These molecules may enable development of new therapeutics that interfere with bacterial small-molecule signaling.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.