Clostridioides difficile  Research Team

​University of South Florida

2017

Publications

2016

2015

​​Check out our publications at PubMedhere

  1. Xue, M.; Chakraborty, S.; Gao, R.; Wang, S.; Gu, M.; Shen, N.; Wei, L.; Cao, C.; Sun, X*.; Cai, J., Antimicrobial Guanidinylate Polycarbonates Show Oral In Vivo Efficacy Against Clostridioides Difficile. Adv Healthc Mater 2024, e2303295. 
  2. Wickramage I, Peng Z, Chakraborty S, Harmanus C, Kuijper EJ, Alrabaa S, Smits WK, Sun X*. The vanR(Cd) Mutation 343A>G, Resulting in a Thr115Ala Substitution, Is Associated with an Elevated Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of Vancomycin in Clostridioides difficile Clinical Isolates from Florida. Microbiol Spectr. 2023:e0377722. PubMed PMID: 37125917. 
  3. Wang S, Ju X, Heuler J, Zhang K, Duan Z, Warnakulasuriya Patabendige HML, Zhao S, Sun X*. Recombinant Fusion Protein Vaccine Containing Clostridioides difficile FliC and FliD Protects Mice against C. difficile Infection. Infect Immun. 2023:e0016922. PubMed PMID: 36939332. 
  4. Chandra H, Sorg JA, Hassett DJ, Sun X*. Regulatory transcription factors of Clostridioides difficile pathogenesis with a focus on toxin regulation. Crit Rev Microbiol. 2023;49(3):334-49. PubMed PMID: 35389761. 
  5. Joshua Heuler, Harish Chandra, Sun X*. Mucosal Vaccination Strategies against Clostridioides difficile Infection. Vaccines. 2023;11(5), 887. 
  6. Chandra H, Kovall RA, Yadav JS, Sun X*. Host Immune Responses to Surface S-Layer Proteins (SLPs) of Clostridioides difficile. Microorganisms. 2023;11(2). PubMed PMID: 36838345. *Corresponding author. 
  7. Wang Y, Xue M, Gao R, Chakraborty S, Wang S, Zhao X, Gu M, Cao C, Sun X, Cai J. Short, Lipidated Dendrimeric gamma-AApeptides as New Antimicrobial Peptidomimetics. Int J Mol Sci. 2023;24(7). PubMed PMID: 37047380.
  8. Xue S, Xu W, Wang L, Wang X, Duan Q, Calcul L, Wang S, Liu W, Sun X, Lu L, Jiang S, Cai J. An HR2- Mimicking Sulfonyl-gamma-AApeptide Is a Potent Pan-coronavirus Fusion Inhibitor with Strong Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability, Long Half-Life, and Promising Oral Bioavailability. ACS Cent Sci. 2023;9(5):1046-58. PubMed PMID: 37252367; PMCID: PMC10184535. 
  9. Wickramage I, Heuler J, Peng Z, Alrabaa S, Sun X*. Draft Genome Sequences and Genome Characterization of Three Toxigenic and Two Nontoxigenic Clostridioides difficile Clinical Isolates from Florida, USA. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2023:e0015123. PubMed PMID: 37067425. 
  10. Sun D*, Sun X*, Hu Y*, Yamaichi Y*. Editorial: Horizontal gene transfer mediated bacterial antibiotic resistance, volume II. Front Microbiol. 2023;14:1221606. PubMed PMID: 37425999; PMCID: PMC10327596. 
  11. Jiang W, Abdulkadir S, Zhao X, Sang P, Tomatsidou A, Zhang X, Chen Y, Calcul L, Sun X, Cheng F, Hu Y, Cai J. Inhibition of Hypoxia-Inducible Transcription Factor (HIF-1alpha) Signaling with Sulfonyl-gamma-AApeptide Helices. J Am Chem Soc. 2023;145(36):20009-20. PubMed PMID: 37665648. 
  12. Sacco MD, Wang S, Adapa SR, Zhang X, Lewandowski EM, Gongora MV, Keramisanou D, Atlas ZD, Townsend JA, Gatdula JR, Morgan RT, Hammond LR, Marty MT, Wang J, Eswara PJ, Gelis I, Jiang RHY, Sun X*, Chen Y*. A unique class of Zn(2+)-binding serine-based PBPs underlies cephalosporin resistance and sporogenesis in Clostridioides difficile. Nat Commun. 2022;13(1):4370. PubMed PMID: 35902581. 
  13. Wang S, Zhu D, Sun X*. Development of an Effective Nontoxigenic Clostridioides difficile-Based Oral Vaccine against C. difficile Infection. Microbiol Spectr. 2022:e0026322. PubMed PMID: 35583336.
  14. Wang S, Heuler J, Wickramage I, Sun X*. Genomic and Phenotypic Characterization of the Nontoxigenic Clostridioides difficile Strain CCUG37785 and Demonstration of Its Therapeutic Potential for the Prevention of C. difficile Infection. Microbiol Spectr. 2022:e0178821. PubMed PMID: 35315695.
  15. El Hadidy N, Uversky VN*, Sun X*. On the Potential Significance of the Intrinsically Disordered Regions in the Clostridiodes difficile Toxins A and B. Curr Protein Pept Sci. 2022;23(3):192-209. PubMed PMID: 35585826. 
  16. Xue S, Wang X, Wang L, Xu W, Xia S, Sun L, Wang S, Shen N, Yang Z, Huang B, Li S, Cao C, Calcul L, Sun X, Lu L, Cai J, Jiang S. A novel cyclic gamma-AApeptide-based long-acting pan-coronavirus fusion inhibitor with potential oral bioavailability by targeting two sites in spike protein. Cell Discov. 2022;8(1):88. PubMed PMID: 36075899. 
  17. Singh Y, Beamer G, Sun X, Shukla P. Recent developments in systems biology and genetic engineering toward design of vaccines for TB. Crit Rev Biotechnol. 2022;42(4):532-47. PubMed PMID: 34641752. 
  18. Limon AD, Patabendige H, Azhari A, Sun X, Kyle DE, Wilson NG, Baker BJ. Chemistry and Bioactivity of the Deep-Water Antarctic Octocoral Alcyonium sp. Mar Drugs. 2022;20(9). PubMed PMID: 36135765.
  19. Zhu D, Wang S, Sun X*. FliW and CsrA Govern Flagellin (FliC) Synthesis and Play Pleiotropic Roles in Virulence and Physiology of Clostridioides difficile R20291. Front Microbiol. 2021;12:735616. PubMed PMID: 34675903. 
  20. Zhu D, Patabendige H, Tomlinson BR, Wang S, Hussain S, Flores D, He Y, Shaw LN, Sun X*. Cwl0971, a novel peptidoglycan hydrolase, plays pleiotropic roles in Clostridioides difficile R20291. Environ Microbiol. 2021;23(9):5222-38. PubMed PMID: 33893759. 
  21. Heuler J, Fortier LC, Sun X*. Clostridioides difficile phage biology and application. FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2021;45(5). PubMed PMID: 33580957. 
  22. Chandra H, Sharma KK, Tuovinen OH, Sun X*, Shukla P*. Pathobionts: mechanisms of survival, expansion, and interaction with host with a focus on Clostridioides difficile. Gut Microbes. 2021;13(1):1979882. PubMed PMID: 34724858. 
  23. Wickramage I, Spigaglia P, Sun X*. Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance of Clostridioides difficile. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2021;76(12):3077-90. PubMed PMID: 34297842. 
  24. Zheng M, Li C, Zhou M, Jia R, Cai G, She F, Wei L, Wang S, Yu J, Wang D, Calcul L, Sun X, Luo X, Cheng F, Li Q, Wang Y, Cai J. Discovery of Cyclic Peptidomimetic Ligands Targeting the Extracellular Domain of EGFR. J Med Chem. 2021;64(15):11219-28. PubMed PMID: 34297567. 
  25. Zhu D, Bullock J, He Y, Sun X*. Cwp22, a novel peptidoglycan cross-linking enzyme, plays pleiotropic roles in Clostridioides difficile. Environ Microbiol. 2019;21(8):3076-90. PubMed PMID: 31173438
  26. Daou N, Wang Y, Levdikov VM, Nandakumar M, Livny J, Bouillaut L, Blagova E, Zhang K, Belitsky BR, Rhee K, Wilkinson AJ, Sun X, Sonenshein AL. Impact of CodY protein on metabolism, sporulation and virulence in Clostridioides difficile ribotype 027. PLoS One. 2019;14(1):e0206896. PubMed PMID: 30699117; PMCID: PMC6353076.
  27. Zhu D, Sorg JA, Sun X*. Clostridioides difficile Biology: Sporulation, Germination, and Corresponding Therapies for C. difficile Infection. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2018;8:29. PubMed PMID: 29473021; PMCID: PMC5809512. 
  28. Xu D, Han L, Li C, Cao Q, Zhu D, Barrett NH, Harmody D, Chen J, Zhu H, McCarthy PJ, Sun X*, Wang G*. Bioprospecting Deep-Sea Actinobacteria for Novel Anti-infective Natural Products. Front Microbiol. 2018;9:787. PubMed PMID: 29760684; PMCID: PMC5936781.
  29. Wang Y, Wang S, Kelly CP, Feng H, Greenberg A, Sun X*. TPL2 Is a Key Regulator of Intestinal Inflammation in Clostridium difficile Infection. Infect Immun. 2018;86(8). PubMed PMID: 29844241; PMCID: PMC6056850. 
  30. Wang Y, Wang S, Bouillaut L, Li C, Duan Z, Zhang K, Ju X, Tzipori S, Sonenshein AL, Sun X*. Oral Immunization with Nontoxigenic Clostridium difficile Strains Expressing Chimeric Fragments of TcdA and TcdB Elicits Protective Immunity against C. difficile Infection in Both Mice and Hamsters. Infect Immun. 2018;86(11). PubMed PMID: 30150259; PMCID: PMC6204701.
  31. Wang S, Wang Y, Cai Y, Kelly CP, Sun X*. Novel Chimeric Protein Vaccines against Clostridium difficile Infection.  Front Immunol.  2018;9:2440.  PubMed PMID: 30405630; PMCID: PMC6204379.
  32. Teng P, Li C, Peng Z, Anne Marie V, Nimmagadda A, Su M, Li Y, Sun X*, Cai J*. Facilely accessible quinoline derivatives as potent antibacterial agents. Bioorg Med Chem. 2018;26(12):3573-9. PubMed PMID: 29858158; PMCID: PMC6084461. 
  33. Peng Z, Wang S, Gide M, Zhu D, Lamabadu Warnakulasuriya Patabendige HM, Li C, Cai J, Sun X*. A Novel Bacteriophage Lysin-Human Defensin Fusion Protein Is Effective in Treatment of Clostridioides difficile Infection in Mice. Front Microbiol. 2018;9:3234. PubMed PMID: 30687250; PMCID: PMC6336692.
  34. Li C, Teng P, Peng Z, Sang P, Sun X*, Cai J*. Bis-Cyclic Guanidines as a Novel Class of Compounds Potent against Clostridium difficile. ChemMedChem. 2018;13(14):1414-20. PubMed PMID: 29768720; PMCID: PMC6121702.
  35. Li C, Harmanus C, Zhu D, Meng X, Wang S, Duan J, Liu S, Fu C, Zhou P, Liu R, Wu A, Kuijper EJ, Smits WK, Fu L, Sun X*. Characterization of the virulence of a non-RT027, non-RT078 and binary toxin-positive Clostridium difficile strain associated with severe diarrhea. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2018;7(1):211. PubMed PMID: 30542069; PMCID: PMC6291415. 
  36. Peng Z, Jin D, Kim HB, Stratton CW, Wu B, Tang YW, Sun X*. Update on Antimicrobial Resistance in Clostridium difficile: Resistance Mechanisms and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. J Clin Microbiol. 2017;55(7):1998-2008. PubMed PMID: 28404671; PMCID: PMC5483901. 
  37. Peng Z, Addisu A, Alrabaa S*, Sun X*. Antibiotic Resistance and Toxin Production of Clostridium difficile Isolates from the Hospitalized Patients in a Large Hospital in Florida. Front Microbiol. 2017;8:2584. PubMed PMID: 29312258; PMCID: PMC5744170. 
  38. Schmidt DJ, Beamer G, Tremblay JM, Steele JA, Kim HB, Wang Y, Debatis M, Sun X, Kashentseva EA, Dmitriev IP, Curiel DT, Shoemaker CB, Tzipori S. A Tetraspecific VHH-Based Neutralizing Antibody Modifies Disease Outcome in Three Animal Models of Clostridium difficile Infection. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2016;23(9):774-84. PubMed PMID: 27413067; PMCID: PMC5014919.
  39. Kim HB, Wang Y, Sun X*. A Detrimental Role of Immunosuppressive Drug, Dexamethasone, During Clostridium difficile Infection in Association with a Gastrointestinal Microbial Shift. J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2016;26(3):567-71. PubMed PMID: 26809802; PMCID: PMC4832933. 
  40. Ghose C, Eugenis I, Sun X, Edwards AN, McBride SM, Pride DT, Kelly CP, Ho DD. Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of recombinant Clostridium difficile flagellar protein FliC. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2016;5:e8. PubMed PMID: 26839147; PMCID: PMC4777929.
  41. Ghose C, Eugenis I, Edwards AN, Sun X, McBride SM, Ho DD. Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of Clostridium difficile spore proteins. Anaerobe. 2016;37:85-95. PubMed PMID: 26688279; PMCID: PMC4770901.
  42. Steele J, Chen K, Sun X, Zhang Y, Wang H, Tzipori S, Feng H. Systemic dissemination of Clostridium difficile toxins A and B is associated with severe, fatal disease in animal models. J Infect Dis. 2012;205(3):384-91. PubMed PMID: 22147798; PMCID: PMC3256947.
  43. Zhang K, Zhao S, Wang Y, Zhu X, Shen H, Chen Y, Sun X*. The non-toxigenic Clostridium difficile CD37 protects mice against infection with a BI/NAP1/027 type of C. difficile strain. Anaerobe. 2015;36:49-52. PubMed PMID: 26461425; PMCID: PMC4663165. 
  44. Yong Y, Liu S, Hua G, Jia R, Zhao Y, Sun X, Liao M, Ju X. Identification and functional characterization of Toll-like receptor 2-1 in geese. BMC Vet Res. 2015;11:108. PubMed PMID: 25967535; PMCID: PMC4449522.
  45. Wang YK, Zou Q, Sun JH, Wang HA, Sun X, Chen ZF, Yan YX. Screening of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) aptamers against a zearalenone monoclonal antibody and development of a ssDNA-based enzyme-linked oligonucleotide assay for determination of zearalenone in corn. J Agric Food Chem. 2015;63(1):136-41. PubMed PMID: 25485848.
  46. Wang YK, Yan YX, Kim HB, Ju X, Zhao S, Zhang K, Tzipori S, Sun X*. A chimeric protein comprising the glucosyltransferase and cysteine proteinase domains of toxin B and the receptor binding domain of toxin A induces protective immunity against Clostridium difficile infection in mice and hamsters. Hum Vaccin Immunother.  2015;11(9):2215-22.  PubMed PMID: 26036797; PMCID: PMC4635733.
  47. Sun X*, Hirota SA. The roles of host and pathogen factors and the innate immune response in the pathogenesis of Clostridium difficile infection. Mol Immunol. 2015;63(2):193-202. PubMed PMID: 25242213; PMCID: PMC4254213. 
  48. Sponseller JK, Steele JA, Schmidt DJ, Kim HB, Beamer G, Sun X, Tzipori S. Hyperimmune bovine colostrum as a novel therapy to combat Clostridium difficile infection. J Infect Dis. 2015;211(8):1334-41. PubMed PMID: 25381448; PMCID: PMC4447838.
  49. Huang T, Perez-Cordon G, Shi L, Li G, Sun X, Wang X, Wang J, Feng H. Clostridium difficile toxin B intoxicated mouse colonic epithelial CT26 cells stimulate the activation of dendritic cells. Pathog Dis. 2015;73(3). PubMed PMID: 25743476; PMCID: PMC4435672.
  50. Zhao S, Ghose-Paul C, Zhang K, Tzipori S, Sun X*. Immune-based treatment and prevention of Clostridium difficile infection. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2014;10(12):3522-30. PubMed PMID: 25668664; PMCID: PMC4514135. 
  51. Kim HB, Zhang Q, Sun X, Beamer G, Wang Y, Tzipori S. Beneficial effect of oral tigecycline treatment on Clostridium difficile infection in gnotobiotic piglets. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2014;58(12):7560- PubMed PMID: 25267665; PMCID: PMC4249528.
  52. Ali Y, Koberg S, Hessner S, Sun X, Rabe B, Back A, Neve H, Heller KJ. Temperate Streptococcus thermophilus phages expressing superinfection exclusion proteins of the Ltp type. Front Microbiol. 2014;5:98. PubMed PMID: 24659988; PMCID: PMC3952083.
  53. Zhang J, Rui X, Wang L, Guan Y, Sun X, Dong M. Polyphenolic extract from Rosa rugosa tea inhibits bacterial quorum sensing and biofilm formation. Food Control. 2014;42:125-131.
  54. Chen X, Dong M, and Sun X* (2013). Mechanisms of action and applications of probiotics for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection. (a chapter in “Microbial pathogens and strategies for combating them: science, technology and education”, Formatex Research Center, Zurbaran, Spain).
  55. Zhang H, Li W, Rui X, Sun X, Dong M. Lactobacillus plantarum 70810 from Chinese paocai as a potential source of β-galactosidase for prebiotic galactooligosaccharides synthesis. Eur Food Res Technol. 2013; 236:817-826.
  56.  Wu J, Lu Z, Nie M, Zhou H, Sun X, Xue X, Bi J, Fang G. Optimization of cryopreservation procedures for porcine endothelial progenitor cells. J Biosci Bioeng. 2012;113(1):117-23. PubMed PMID: 22036230.
  57. Wang H, Sun X, Zhang Y, Li S, Chen K, Shi L, Nie W, Kumar R, Tzipori S, Wang J, Savidge T, Feng H. A chimeric toxin vaccine protects against primary and recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. Infect Immun. 2012;80(8):2678-88. PubMed PMID: 22615245; PMCID: PMC3434558.
  58. Sun X, Wang H, Zhang Y, Chen K, Davis B, Feng H. Mouse relapse model of Clostridium difficile infection. Infect Immun. 2011;79(7):2856-64. PubMed PMID: 21576341; PMCID: PMC3191975.
  59. Sun X, Savidge T, Feng H. The enterotoxicity of Clostridium difficile toxins. Toxins (Basel). 2010;2(7):1848-80. PubMed PMID: 22069662; PMCID: PMC3153265.
  60. Sun X, He X, Tzipori S, Gerhard R, Feng H. Essential role of the glucosyltransferase activity in Clostridium difficile toxin-induced secretion of TNF-alpha by macrophages. Microb Pathog. 2009;46(6):298-305. PubMed PMID: 19324080; PMCID: PMC2692465.
  61. He X, Wang J, Steele J, Sun X, Nie W, Tzipori S, Feng H. An ultrasensitive rapid immunocytotoxicity assay for detecting Clostridium difficile toxins. J Microbiol Methods. 2009;78(1):97-100. PubMed PMID: 19393695; PMCID: PMC2740367.
  62. He X, Sun X, Wang J, Wang X, Zhang Q, Tzipori S, Feng H. Antibody-enhanced, Fc gamma receptor- mediated endocytosis of Clostridium difficile toxin A. Infect Immun. 2009;77(6):2294-303. PubMed PMID: 19307220; PMCID: PMC2687358. Co-first
  63. Yang G, Zhou B, Wang J, He X, Sun X, Nie W, Tzipori S, Feng H. Expression of recombinant Clostridium difficile toxin A and B in Bacillus megaterium. BMC Microbiol. 2008;8:192. PubMed PMID: 18990232; PMCID: PMC2586027.
  64. Sun X, Mierke DF, Biswas T, Lee SY, Landy A, Radman-Livaja M. Architecture of the 99 bp DNA-six- protein regulatory complex of the lambda att site. Mol Cell. 2006;24(4):569-80. PubMed PMID: 17114059; PMCID: PMC1866956.
  65. Sun X, Gohler A, Heller KJ, Neve H. The ltp gene of temperate Streptococcus thermophilus phage TP-J34 confers superinfection exclusion to Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactococcus lactis. Virology. 2006;350(1):146-57. PubMed PMID: 16643978.​