Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34653218›Full record

ArticlePLoS pathogens2021

A previously uncharacterized two-component signaling system in uropathogenic Escherichia coli coordinates protection against host-derived oxidative stress with activation of hemolysin-mediated host cell pyroptosis.

Hongwei Gu, Xuwang Cai, Xinyang Zhang, Jie Luo, Xiaoyang Zhang, Xiao Hu, Wentong Cai, Ganwu Li

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS pathogens, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 10% 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

14 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

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  5. LDL receptor-mediated endocytosis ofProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
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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 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Hongwei GuDepartment of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Xuwang CaiDepartment of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Xinyang ZhangKey Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health of Ministry of Agriculture, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China.
Jie LuoDepartment of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Xiaoyang ZhangCentral Laboratory, Nanjing Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital Affiliated with Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
Xiao HuDepartment of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Wentong CaiKey Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health of Ministry of Agriculture, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China.ORCID 0000-0002-2282-302X
Ganwu LiDepartment of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Iowa State University · USNanjing University of Chinese Medicine · CNChinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) deploy an array of virulence factors to successfully establish urinary tract infections. Hemolysin is a pore-forming toxin, and its expression correlates with the severity of UPEC infection. Two-component signaling systems (TCSs) are a major mechanism by which bacteria sense environmental cues and respond by initiating adaptive responses. Here, we began this study by characterizing a novel TCS (C3564/C3565, herein renamed orhK/orhR for oxidative resistance and hemolysis kinase/regulator) that is encoded on a UPEC pathogenicity island, using bioinformatic and biochemical approaches. A prevalence analysis indicates that orhK/orhR is highly associated with the UPEC pathotype, and it rarely occurs in other E. coli pathotypes tested. We then demonstrated that OrhK/OrhR directly activates the expression of a putative methionine sulfoxide reductase system (C3566/C3567) and hemolysin (HlyA) in response to host-derived hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) exposure. OrhK/OrhR increases UPEC resistance to H2O2 in vitro and survival in macrophages in cell culture via C3566/C3567. Additionally, OrhK/OrhR mediates hemolysin-induced renal epithelial cell and macrophage death via a pyroptosis pathway. Reducing intracellular H2O2 production by a chemical inhibitor impaired OrhK/OrhR-mediated activation of c3566-c3567 and hlyA. We also uncovered that UPEC links the two key virulence traits by cotranscribing the c3566-c3567 and hlyCABD operons. Taken together, our data suggest a paradigm in which a signal transduction system coordinates both bacterial pathogen defensive and offensive traits in the presence of host-derived signals; and this exquisite mechanism likely contributes to hemolysin-induced severe pathological outcomes.

Indexed as

Cell LineEscherichia coli InfectionsHemolysin ProteinsHumansOxidative StressPyroptosisSignal TransductionUrinary Tract InfectionsUropathogenic Escherichia coliVirulenceHemolysin Proteins

Identifiers

PMID34653218
PMCPMC8550376
OpenAlexW3206953101

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.