@article{49f758bd83304b60b33cfb074c18ac27,
title = "Thioredoxin-A is a virulence factor and mediator of the type IV pilus system in Acinetobacter baumannii",
abstract = "The Gram-negative pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as a global nosocomial health threat affecting the majority of hospitals in the U.S. and abroad. The redox protein thioredoxin has been shown to play several roles in modulation of cellular functions affecting various virulence factors in Gram-negative pathogens. This study aims to explore the role of thioredoxin-A protein (TrxA) in A. baumannii virulence. We determined that deletion of the TrxA gene did not significantly affect resistance to environmental stressors such as temperature, salt, and pH. However, TrxA was critical for survival in the presence of elevated levels of hydrogen peroxide. Lack of TrxA was associated with decreased expression of type IV pili related genes and an inability to undergo normal twitching motility. Interestingly, the TrxA-null mutant was able to form biofilms better than the wildtype (WT) and was observed to be significantly less virulent than the WT in a pulmonary infection model. These results are supportive of thioredoxin playing a key role in A. baumannii virulence.",
author = "May, {Holly C.} and Yu, {Jieh Juen} and Hao Zhang and Yufeng Wang and Cap, {Andrew P.} and Chambers, {James P.} and {Neal Guentzel}, M. and Arulanandam, {Bernard P.}",
note = "Funding Information: The study was supported by US Department of Defense W911NF-11-1-0136 (BPA) and US National Institutes of Health 1R21AI124021 (BPA), and the Jane and Roland Blumberg endowment awarded (BPA).The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Special thanks for Dr. Katrin Mende, Brooke Army Medical Center for her assistance with the antimicrobial susceptibility testing and Dr. Hong Cai for his assistance with the bioinformatics. RNA-seq data were generated in the Genome Sequencing Facility, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, NIH-NCI P30 CA054174 (Cancer Center at University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio), NIH Shared Instrument grant 1S10OD021805-01 (S10 grant), and CPRIT Core Facility Award (RP160732). Publisher Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.",
year = "2019",
month = jun,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1371/journal.pone.0218505",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "14",
journal = "PLoS One",
issn = "1932-6203",
publisher = "Public Library of Science",
number = "7",
}