Letter abstract
Nature Medicine 13, 1510 - 1514 (2007)
Published online: 11 November 2007 | Corrected online: 27 November 2007 | doi:10.1038/nm1656
Identification of novel cytolytic peptides as key virulence determinants for community-associated MRSA
Rong Wang1, Kevin R Braughton1, Dorothee Kretschmer2, Thanh-Huy L Bach1, Shu Y Queck1, Min Li1, Adam D Kennedy1, David W Dorward3, Seymour J Klebanoff4, Andreas Peschel2, Frank R DeLeo1 & Michael Otto1
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains a major human pathogen. Traditionally, MRSA infections occurred exclusively in hospitals and were limited to immunocompromised patients or individuals with predisposing risk factors. However, recently there has been an alarming epidemic caused by community-associated (CA)-MRSA strains, which can cause severe infections that can result in necrotizing fasciitis or even death in otherwise healthy adults outside of healthcare settings1, 2. In the US, CA-MRSA is now the cause of the majority of infections that result in trips to the emergency room3. It is unclear what makes CA-MRSA strains more successful in causing human disease compared with their hospital-associated counterparts. Here we describe a class of secreted staphylococcal peptides that have a remarkable ability to recruit, activate and subsequently lyse human neutrophils, thus eliminating the main cellular defense against S. aureus infection. These peptides are produced at high concentrations by standard CA-MRSA strains and contribute significantly to the strains' ability to cause disease in animal models of infection. Our study reveals a previously uncharacterized set of S. aureus virulence factors that account at least in part for the enhanced virulence of CA-MRSA.
- Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, US National Institutes of Health, 903 South 4th Street, Hamilton, Montana 59840, USA.
- Cellular and Molecular Microbiology Unit, Medical Microbiology and Hygiene Department, University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Auhorn-Str. 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
- Microscopy Unit, Research Technologies Section, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, US National Institutes of Health, 903 South 4th Street, Hamilton, Montana 59840, USA.
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, 1959 Northeast Pacific Street, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
Correspondence to: Michael Otto1 e-mail: motto@niaid.nih.gov
peptide presented as a helical wheel in Figure 4e is PSM4, not PSM3 as stated in the figure and in the legend. The error has been corrected for all versions of the article.MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
RESEARCH
Poring over pores: α-hemolysin and Panton-Valentine leukocidin in Staphylococcus aureus pneumoniaNature Medicine Correspondence (01 Dec 2007)
Staphylococcus aureus in Dermatology Outpatients with Special Emphasis on Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant StrainsJournal of Investigative Dermatology Original Article
Staphylococcus aureus in Dermatology Outpatients with Special Emphasis on Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant StrainsJournal of Investigative Dermatology Original Article
See all 45 matches for Research
