Understanding Beta-Lactam-Induced Lysis at the Single-Cell Level
Name
fmicb-12-712007.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.56 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
2a3edffefe8a08537b14d7abde4ae2da
Author(s)
Wong, Felix
Wilson, Sean
Helbig, Ralf
Hegde, Smitha
Aftenieva, Olha
Zheng, Hai
Liu, Chenli
Pilizota, Teuta
Garner, Ethan C
Amir, Ariel
Date Issued
2021
Journal
Frontiers in Microbiology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Mechanical rupture, or lysis, of the cytoplasmic membrane is a common cell death pathway in bacteria occurring in response to β-lactam antibiotics. A better understanding of the cellular design principles governing the susceptibility and response of individual cells to lysis could indicate methods of potentiating β-lactam antibiotics and clarify relevant aspects of cellular physiology. Here, we take a single-cell approach to bacterial cell lysis to examine three cellular features—turgor pressure, mechanosensitive channels, and cell shape changes—that are expected to modulate lysis. We develop a mechanical model of bacterial cell lysis and experimentally analyze the dynamics of lysis in hundreds of single Escherichia coli cells. We find that turgor pressure is the only factor, of these three cellular features, which robustly modulates lysis. We show that mechanosensitive channels do not modulate lysis due to insufficiently fast solute outflow, and that cell shape changes result in more severe cellular lesions but do not influence the dynamics of lysis. These results inform a single-cell view of bacterial cell lysis and underscore approaches of combatting antibiotic tolerance to β-lactams aimed at targeting cellular turgor.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Medical Engineering & Science
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.712007
