Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34332149›Full record

ArticleThe ocular surface2021

Human tear fluid modulates the Pseudomonas aeruginosa transcriptome to alter antibiotic susceptibility.

Lauren M Tabor, Melinda R Grosser, Matteo M M E Metruccio, Naren G Kumar, Yvonne T Wu, Vincent Nieto, David J Evans, Suzanne M J Fleiszig

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The ocular surface, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Distinctive Lacritin Cleavage-Potentiated Bactericidal Alteration of thebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
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  3. ThemBio · 2025
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  5. Contact Lens Wear Alters Transcriptional Responses tobioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024
    Article
  6. Exploring interspecies differences inJournal of medical microbiology · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Lauren M TaborSchool of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Melinda R GrosserSchool of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Matteo M M E MetruccioSchool of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Naren G KumarSchool of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Yvonne T WuSchool of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Vincent NietoSchool of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
David J EvansSchool of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA; College of Pharmacy, Touro University California, Vallejo, CA, USA.
Suzanne M J FleiszigSchool of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA; Graduate Groups in Vision Science, Microbiology, and Infectious Diseases & Immunity, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Electronic address: fleiszig@berkeley.edu.
University of California, Berkeley · USTouro University California · US

Funding

Corneal Infection: Role of Bacterial AdaptationR01EY024060 · NEI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI FLEISZIG, SUZANNE MJ · 2014 to 2018
$2.0M
American Heart Association-American Stroke Association 18POST34080074 - MELINDA GROSSERNEI NIH HHS R01 EY024060
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePreviously, we showed that tear fluid protects corneal epithelial cells against Pseudomonas aeruginosa without suppressing bacterial viability. Here, we studied how tear fluid affects bacterial gene expression.

methodsRNA-sequencing was used to study the P. aeruginosa transcriptome after tear fluid exposure (5 h, 37

resultsTear fluid deregulated ~180 P. aeruginosa genes ≥8 fold versus PBS including downregulating lasI, rhlI, qscR (quorum sensing/virulence), oprH, phoP, phoQ (antimicrobial resistance) and arnBCADTEF (polymyxin B resistance). Upregulated genes included algF (biofilm formation) and hemO (iron acquisition). qPCR confirmed tear down-regulation of oprH, phoP and phoQ. Tear fluid pre-treatment increased P. aeruginosa resistance to meropenem ~5-fold (4 μg/ml), but enhanced polymyxin B susceptibility ~180-fold (1 μg/ml), the latter activity reduced by dilution in PBS. Media containing a subset of tear components (TLF) also sensitized bacteria to polymyxin B, but only ~22.5-fold, correlating with TLF/tear fluid Ca

conclusionP. aeruginosa responds to human tear fluid by upregulating genes associated with bacterial survival and adaptation. Meanwhile, tear fluid down-regulates multiple virulence-associated genes. Tears also utilize divalent cations and heat resistant/proteinase K sensitive component(s) to enhance P. aeruginosa sensitivity to polymyxin B.

Indexed as

Pseudomonas aeruginosaTranscriptomeAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacterial ProteinsGene Expression Regulation, BacterialHumansAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacterial ProteinsAntimicrobial susceptibilityarn operonoprH-phoP/phoQPolymyxin BPseudomonas aeruginosaRNA-SequencingTear fluidTear-like fluid

Identifiers

PMID34332149
PMCPMC10139757
OpenAlexW3185231875

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.