Exogenous proline promotes serum killing of Klebsiella pneumoniae

Klebsiella pneumoniae, a common pathogen responsible for bloodstream infections, can evade clearance by the complement-dependent killing in serum, known as serum resistance. However, strategy in managing K. pneumoniae serum resistance is still lacking. In this study, we employed metabolomics to identify the metabolic features of K. pneumoniae. We found that the pyruvate/TCA cycle and alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolic pathways were significantly downregulated. Proline, identified as a key biomarker, effectively increased the serum sensitivity to multiple K. pneumoniae clinical isolates and restored the bactericidal activity of complement. The in vivo synergistic effect of proline was validated in a murine infection model. Furthermore, we demonstrated that proline activates the pyruvate/TCA cycle, increases proton motive force, and enhances complement proteins binding to bacterial surface, forming membrane attack complex to kill serum-resistant K. pneumoniae. Our findings provide new insights for the development of metabolism-based approach to manage K. pneumoniae serum resistance and offer potential targets and strategies for host immunity-based anti-infection therapies.