Identification of proteins related to the stress response in Enterococcus faecalis V583 caused by bovine bile

The proteomes of cells challenged with 1% bile were analyzed after 20 - 120 minutes exposure, using 2D gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. Among the approximately 500 observed proteins, 53 unique proteins were found to be regulated in response to bile and were identified with mass spectrometry. The identified proteins belonged to nine different functional classes, including fatty acid- and phospholipid-biosynthesis, energy metabolism, and transport and binding. Proteins involved in fatty acid and phospholipid biosynthesis pathways were clearly overrepresented among the identified proteins and all were down-regulated upon exposure to bile. The proteome data correlated reasonably well with data from previous transcriptome experiments done under the same conditions, but several differences were observed.The results provide an overview of potentially important proteins that E. faecalis V583 needs to regulate in order to survive and adapt to a bile-rich environment, among which are several proteins involved in fatty acid and phospholipid biosynthesis pathways. In addition, this study reveals several hypothetical proteins, which are both abundant and clearly regulated and thus stand out as targets for future studies on bile stress.Enterococcus faecalis is a wide-spread Gram-positive lactic acid bacterium, and is a natural inhabitant of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of humans and animals. The bacterium is also commonly found in soil, sewage, water and food. E. faecalis V583 is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause diseases like urinary tract infections, bacteremia, and infective endocarditis in immunocompromised patients. These infections may be problematic because E. faecalis strains tend to be resistant toward many antibiotics, including vancomycin [1,2]. Vancomycin-resistant enterococci were first found among clinical isolates in the late 1980s, and antibiotic resistance has increased since. Infections by enterococci have become a major problem in the hospi