GSE100091 Unexpected bactericidal activity of caspofungin against Enterococcus faecium

Contributors : Christophe Isnard ; Sara Hernandez ; Fanny Joalland ; Didier Goux ; Fran çois Guérin ; François Gravey ; Michel Auzou ; David Enot ; Pierrick Meignen ; Felipe Cava ; Vincent CattoirSeries Type : Expression profiling by high throughput sequencingOrganism : Enterococcus faeciumEnterococcus faecium has become a major opportunistic pathogen with the emergence of multidrug-resistant clones that are well-adapted to the hospital environment. As part of the vast diversity of gut microbiota, they are faced with different environmental stress, including antimicrobial pressure. By contrast, little is known about the effect of non-antibiotic molecules on bacterial physiology while numerous drugs are used in inpatients, especially those hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs). The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the most prescribed xenobiotics in ICUs on fitness, pathogenicity and antimicrobial resistance of E. faecium. Several phenotypic analysis was carried out and we rapidly brought to light that caspofungin, an antifungal agent belonging to the echinocandin family, seemed to have an important impact on E. faecium growth. Since the fungal target of caspofungin [beta-(1,3)-glucan synthase] is absent in enterococci, the mechanism of caspofungin action was investigated by several approaches. First, we decided to confirm this result by electronic microscopy and a peptidoglycan analysis by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled wi...
Source: GEO: Gene Expression Omnibus - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Tags: Expression profiling by high throughput sequencing Enterococcus faecium Source Type: research