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Activation of band 3 mediates group A Streptococcus streptolysin S-based beta-haemolysis

Nature Microbiology volume 1, Article number: 15004 (2016) Cite this article

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Abstract

Streptococcus pyogenes, or group A Streptococcus (GAS), is a human bacterial pathogen that can manifest as a range of diseases from pharyngitis and impetigo to severe outcomes such as necrotizing fasciitis and toxic shock syndrome. GAS disease remains a global health burden with cases estimated at over 700 million annually and over half a million deaths due to severe infections1. For over 100 years, a clinical hallmark of diagnosis has been the appearance of complete (beta) haemolysis when grown in the presence of blood. This activity is due to the production of a small peptide toxin by GAS known as streptolysin S. Although it has been widely held that streptolysin S exerts its lytic activity through membrane disruption, its exact mode of action has remained unknown. Here, we show, using high-resolution live cell imaging, that streptolysin S induces a dramatic osmotic change in red blood cells, leading to cell lysis. This osmotic change was characterized by the rapid influx of Cl− ions into the red blood cells through SLS-mediated disruption of the major erythrocyte anion exchange protein, band 3. Chemical inhibition of band 3 function significantly reduced the haemolytic activity of streptolysin S, and dramatically reduced the pathology in an in vivo skin model of GAS infection. These results provide key insights into the mechanism of streptolysin S-mediated haemolysis and have implications for the development of treatments against GAS.

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Figure 1: Live microscopy of RBC haemolysis using differential contrast interference microscopy (DIC) or the fluorescence of haemoglobin (Hb).
Figure 2: Analysis of RBCs.
Figure 3: Haemolytic activity of SLS preparations.
Figure 4: Inhibition of SLS in necrotizing soft tissue infection of C57BL/6[hPg(Tg)] mice.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank R. Stahelin and S. Soni for discussions on this project and I. Spielman and C. Thomas for technical assistance. The authors also thank T. Orlova and W. Archer in the Integrated Imaging Facility at the University of Notre Dame for support with imaging. Finally, the authors thank members of the S. Lee laboratory for comments on this manuscript. This work was supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Innovator Grant (DP2OD008468-01) awarded to S.W.L.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Shaun W. Lee

    Present address: †Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 100 Galvin Life Sciences Center, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.,

  2. shaun.w.lee.310@nd.edu

  3. lee.310@nd.edu

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 100 Galvin Life Sciences Center, Notre Dame, 46556, Indiana, USA

    Dustin L. Higashi, Jeffrey Luchetti & Shaun W. Lee

  2. Biology Department, Brooklyn College CUNY, 11210, New York, USA

    Nicolas Biais

  3. W.M. Keck Center for Transgene Research, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, 46556, Indiana, USA

    Deborah L. Donahue, Jeffrey A. Mayfield, Victoria A. Ploplis, Francis J. Castellino & Shaun W. Lee

  4. Indiana University School of Medicine, South Bend, 46617, Indiana, USA

    Charles R. Tessier

  5. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA

    Kevin Rodriguez, Brandon L. Ashfeld, Victoria A. Ploplis & Francis J. Castellino

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Contributions

D.L.H., N.B., V.A.P., F.J.C. and S.W.L. designed the overall project and experimental aims. D.L.H., N.B., D.L.D., J.A.M., C.R.T., K.R., B.L.A. and J.L. performed experimental work and analysed the results. D.L.H. and S.W.L. wrote the paper. All authors contributed to the proofreading and editing of the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shaun W. Lee.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figures 1–4 (PDF 616 kb)

Supplementary Video 1

Live cell imaging of RBC infected with wt GAS. Differential interference contrast (DIC) images (left panel) and haemoglobin fluorescence (right panel) were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 1 hour and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 22 μm. (MOV 16360 kb)

Supplementary Video 2

Live cell imaging of RBC infected with sagAΔcat. DIC images (left panel) and haemoglobin fluorescence (right panel) were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 1 hour and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 22μm. (MOV 23531 kb)

Supplementary Video 3

Live cell imaging of RBC in PBS control. DIC images (left panel) and haemoglobin fluorescence (right panel) were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 1 hour and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 22 μm. (MOV 19502 kb)

Supplementary Video 4

Live cell imaging of RBC infected with complemented strain (sagAΔcat + sagA). DIC images (left panel) and haemoglobin fluorescence (right panel) were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 1 hour and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 22 μm. (MOV 17261 kb)

Supplementary Video 5

Live cell imaging of RBC in hPBS treated with a SLS preparation from wt GAS. DIC images were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 1 hour and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 22 μm. (MOV 26354 kb)

Supplementary Video 6

Live cell imaging of RBC in hPBS treated with a SLS preparation from the complemented strain (sagAΔcat + sagA). DIC images were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 1 hour and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 22 μm. (MOV 31876 kb)

Supplementary Video 7

Live cell imaging of RBC in hPBS treated with a SLS preparation from the sagAΔcat. DIC images were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 1 hour and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 22 μm. (MOV 35140 kb)

Supplementary Video 8

Live cell imaging of RBC in hPBS treated with PBS. DIC images were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 1 hour and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 22 μm. (MOV 34302 kb)

Supplementary Video 9

Live cell imaging of MEQ-loaded RBCs treated with a SLS preparation from wt GAS. DIC images (left panel) and MEQ fluorescence (right panel) were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 30 minutes and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 6 μm. (MOV 1500 kb)

Supplementary Video 10

Live cell imaging of MEQ-loaded RBCs treated with a SLS preparation from the complemented strain (sagAΔcat + sagA). DIC images (left panel) and MEQ fluorescence (right panel) were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 30 minutes and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 6 μm. (MOV 1303 kb)

Supplementary Video 11

Live cell imaging of MEQ-loaded RBCs treated with a SLS preparation from the sagAΔcat. DIC images (left panel) and MEQ fluorescence (right panel) were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 30 minutes and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 6 μm. (MOV 1468 kb)

Supplementary Video 12

Live cell imaging of MEQ-loaded RBCs treated with PBS. DIC images (left panel) and MEQ fluorescence (right panel) were acquired from the same field every 10 seconds for 30 minutes and assembled into a video using ImageJ. Scale bar: 6 μm. (MOV 1318 kb)

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Higashi, D., Biais, N., Donahue, D. et al. Activation of band 3 mediates group A Streptococcus streptolysin S-based beta-haemolysis. Nat Microbiol 1, 15004 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2015.4

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