Hugonnet Lab

SpoIIIL is a forespore factor required for efficient cell-cell signalling during Bacillus subtilis sporulation Author summary Bacterial endospores allow bacteria to survive stress, persist in the environment and seed new and recurring infections. Cell-cell signalling is a cornerstone of how bacteria develop in...

Checkout the latest paper from our lab in PLOS Genetics: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Thanks to our wonderful collaborators, @sgribaldo.bsky.social, @cavalab.bsky.social, @perbullough.bsky.social and Cecile Morlot.

Peptidoglycan–outer membrane attachment generates periplasmic pressure to prevent lysis in Gram-negative bacteria - Nature Microbiology Outer membrane attachment to peptidoglycan enables periplasmic pressure to build up and counter cytoplasmic turgor pressure, preventing lysis during osmotic challenges in Escherichia coli.

#microsky
We challenge the long-standing view that peptidoglycan alone protects cells from bursting.

Our study shows that the periplasm — enclosed by OM–PG connections — acts as a pressure buffer essential for osmoprotection in Gram-negative bacteria.

📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Optimization of Prodrug Activation by Enzymatic Cleavage of the β‐lactam Ring of Carbapenems We report synthetic routes that yield prodrugs consisting of two carbapenems connected by benzyl carbonate linkers. A mass spectrometry assay was elaborated to monitor, in a single kinetic experiment...

Thrilled to announce our new paper with M. Ethève-Quelquejeu's lab @upcite.bsky.social published @chemistryeurope.bsky.social! We report on the synthesis, and testing by HRMS, of new β-lactam prodrugs, a proof of concept for designing drugs targetting specifically β-lactamase-producing pathogens.

An inner membrane protein is covalently attached to peptidoglycan in the γ-proteobacterium Dickeya dadantii Communications Biology - In Gram-negative bacterium Dickeya dadantii, an inner membrane protein OutB is covalently attached to peptidoglycan by the same catalytic mechanism as Braun’s...

Happy to have had the opportunity to participate to the study of an OM lipoprotein anchoring peptidoglycan in D. dadantii. @commsbio.nature.com

Congrats to Y. Liang @inserm.fr @sorbonne-universite.fr @cpcv.bsky.social and a big thank you to C. Morlot's team @IBS_Grenoble

Mechanism of lateral cell-wall expansion at a constant diameter in Bacillus subtilis Nature Communications - In Escherichia coli, lateral cell-wall expansion during growth occurs by crosslinking of new glycan chains to the existing peptidoglycan network. Here, Liang et al. show a...

Excited to present our new study on the mechanism of lateral peptidoglycan expansion in B. subtilis. We combined microscopy visualisation with clickable D-Ala-D-Ala analogues and stable-isotope peptidoglycan labelling to describe an inside-to-outside expansion model @natcomms.nature.com.

The addition of amoxicillin improves the efficacy of the imipenem-avibactam combination against Mycobacterium abscessus in a mouse model of infection | Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Mycobacterium abscessus is a rapidly growing mycobacteria responsible for pulmonary diseases in patients suffering either from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases or cystic fibrosis (1, 2). Smooth ...

Happy to share our new study on the combination of amoxicillin-imipenem-avibactam against M. abscessus infection, published @asm.org in collaboration with J-L Hermann's team @univparissaclay.bsky.social. @cpcv.bsky.social @sorbonne-universite.fr @vaincrelamuco.bsky.social

In vitro, intracellular and in vivo synergy between amoxicillin, imipenem and relebactam against Mycobacterium abscessus AbstractObjectives. Mycobacterium abscessus is the most frequent of the rapidly growing mycobacteria responsible for lung infections in patients suffering

Check out our study on combination of amox, imi and relebactam to treat M. abscessus!

Our findings constitute the basis for a clinical consideration of this treatment. This could be consequential for treating infections in cystic fibrosis patients
@vaincrelamuco.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/jac/...

Please repost!!!!!
Abstraction submission for the next Great Wall Symposium is now open!
Come to Sicily in September and learn the latest on bacterial cell wall biology.
thegreatwall-symposium.org/abstract-sub...

Peptidoglycan-tethered and free forms of the Braun lipoprotein are in dynamic equilibrium in Escherichia coli The Braun lipoprotein is tethered to peptidoglycan independently from the insertion of newly-synthesized peptidoglycan subunits into the expanding cell wall generating a dynamic equilibrium between fr...

Check out our new study published in eLife!

We studied the kinetics of peptidoglycan tethering to the Braun lipoprotein, using pulse labelling of PG and HRMS. We show a dynamic equilibrium between tethered and free Lpp guided by LDTs. Congrats Yucheng Liang!

elifesciences.org/articles/91598

(p)ppGpp modifies RNAP function to confer β-lactam resistance in a peptidoglycan-independent manner - Nature Microbiology The bacterial alarmone (p)ppGpp induces β-lactam resistance through modification of RNA polymerase and ribosome function rather than regulation of peptidoglycan metabolism in Escherichia coli.

Very excited to share our work on (p)ppGpp-mediated resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics published in Nature Microbiology!! A great outcome for a project we started working on 5 years ago. A big thank you to all authors that participated in this study!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In vitro and intracellular activity of vaborbactam combined with β-lactams against Mycobacterium abscessus AbstractObjectives. Mycobacterium abscessus has emerged as an opportunistic pathogen responsible for lung infections, especially in cystic fibrosis patient

Check out our new study on the combined action of vaborbactam and β-lactams against M. abscessus published in Oxford Journals!!

academic.oup.com/jac/advance-...

Monitoring Drug–Protein Interactions in the Bacterial Periplasm by Solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy The rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance across bacterial pathogens poses a serious risk to the efficacy and sustainability of available treatments. This puts pressure on research concerning the d...

Check out this great study by the J-P Simorre group
at IBS Grenoble providing a method for drug-protein interaction analysis with in-cell NMR. A promising tool for investigating potential new drugs that target periplasm. Happy to have had the opportunity to participate!
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...