title: Transcriptional profile of the Shigella flexneri response to an alkaloid: berberine.
abstract: Berberine, a natural isoquinoline alkaloid found in many medicinal herbs, has been shown to be active against a variety of microbial infections. To examine the potential effects of berberine on Shigella flexneri, a whole-genome DNA microarray was constructed and a transcriptome analysis of the cellular responses of S. flexneri when exposed to berberine chloride (BC) was performed. Our data revealed that BC upregulated a group of genes involved in DNA replication, repair and division. Intriguingly, the expression of many genes related to cell envelope biogenesis was increased. In addition, many genes involved in cell secretion, nucleotide metabolism, translation, fatty acid metabolism and the virulence system were also induced by the drug. However, more genes from the functional classes of carbohydrate metabolism, energy production and conversion as well as amino acid metabolism were significantly repressed than were induced. These results provide a comprehensive view of the changes in gene expression when S. flexneri was exposed to BC, and shed light on its complicated effects on this pathogen.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Molecular Virology and Genetic Engineering, Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Li-Guo
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jun-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Wen-Chuan
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Leng
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001599:Berberine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012763:Shigella flexneri / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001599:Berberine