scholarly journals Streptococcal collagen‐like protein A and general stress protein 24 are immunomodulating virulence factors of group A Streptococcus

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 2633-2643 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Tsatsaronis ◽  
Andrew Hollands ◽  
Jason N. Cole ◽  
Peter G. Maamary ◽  
Christine M. Gillen ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-201
Author(s):  
Victoria A. Ploplis ◽  
Francis J. Castellino

A hallmark feature of severe Group A Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS) infection is dysregulated hemostasis. Hemostasis is the primary pathway for regulating blood flow through events that contribute towards clot formation and its dissolution. However, a number of studies have identified components of hemostasis in regulating survival and dissemination of GAS. Several proteins have been identified on the surface of GAS and they serve to either facilitate invasion to host distal sites or regulate inflammatory responses to the pathogen. GAS M-protein, a surface-exposed virulence factor, appears to be a major target for interactions with host hemostasis proteins. These interactions mediate biochemical events both on the surface of GAS and in the solution when M-protein is released into the surrounding environment through shedding or regulated proteolytic processes that dictate the fate of this pathogen. A thorough understanding of the mechanisms associated with these interactions could lead to novel approaches for altering the course of GAS pathogenicity.


2003 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramy K. Aziz ◽  
Michael J. Pabst ◽  
Arthur Jeng ◽  
Rita Kansal ◽  
Donald. E. Low ◽  
...  

PLoS ONE ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. e3455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manabu Ato ◽  
Tadayoshi Ikebe ◽  
Hiroki Kawabata ◽  
Toshitada Takemori ◽  
Haruo Watanabe

mBio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuai Bi ◽  
Meiyi Xu ◽  
Ya Zhou ◽  
Xinxin Xing ◽  
Adong Shen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Group A streptococcus (GAS) species are responsible for a broad spectrum of human diseases, ranging from superficial to invasive infections, and are associated with autoimmune disorders. There is no commercial vaccine against GAS. The clinical manifestations of GAS infection may be attributable to the large repertoire of virulence factors used selectively in different types of GAS disease. Here, we selected five molecules, highly conserved among GAS serotypes, and involved in different pathogenic mechanisms, as a multicomponent vaccine, 5CP. Intranasal (i.n.) immunization with 5CP protected mice against both mucosal and systemic GAS infection across serotypes; the protection lasted at least 6 months. Immunization of mice with 5CP constrained skin lesion development and accelerated lesion recovery. Flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analyses revealed that 5CP induced Th17 and antibody responses locally and systemically; however, the Th17 response induced by 5CP resolved more quickly than that to GAS when challenge bacteria were cleared, suggesting that 5CP is less likely to cause autoimmune responses. These findings support that immunization through the i.n. route targeting multiple nonredundant virulence factors can induce immunity against different types of GAS disease and represents an alternative strategy for GAS vaccine development, with favorable efficacy, coverage, duration, and safety. IMPORTANCE GAS is among the most common human pathogens and causes a wide variety of diseases, likely more than any other microorganism. The diverse clinical manifestations of GAS may be attributable to its large repertoire of virulence factors that are selectively and synergistically involved in streptococcal pathogenesis. To date, GAS vaccines have not been successful due to multiple serotypes and postinfection sequelae associated with autoimmunity. In this study, five conserved virulence factors that are involved in GAS pathogenesis were used as a combined vaccine. Intranasal immunization with this vaccine induced humoral and cellular immune responses across GAS serotypes and protected against mucosal, systemic, and skin infections. The significance of this work is to demonstrate that the efficacy of GAS vaccines can be achieved by including multiple nonredundant critical virulence factors and inducing local and systemic immunity. The strategy also provides valuable insights for vaccine development against other pathogens.


2015 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 1122-1129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony R. Flores ◽  
Brittany E. Jewell ◽  
Erika M. Versalovic ◽  
Randall J. Olsen ◽  
Beth A. Bachert ◽  
...  

Group AStreptococcus(GAS) predominantly exists as a colonizer of the human oropharynx that occasionally breaches epithelial barriers to cause invasive diseases. Despite the frequency of GAS carriage, few investigations into the contributory molecular mechanisms exist. To this end, we identified a naturally occurring polymorphism in the gene encoding the streptococcal collagen-like protein A (SclA) in GAS carrier strains. All previously sequenced invasive serotype M3 GAS possess a premature stop codon in thesclAgene truncating the protein. The carrier polymorphism is predicted to restore SclA function and was infrequently identified by targeted DNA sequencing in invasive strains of the same serotype. We demonstrate that a strain with the carriersclAallele expressed a full-length SclA protein, while the strain with the invasivesclAallele expressed a truncated variant. An isoallelic mutant invasive strain with the carriersclAallele exhibited decreased virulence in a mouse model of invasive disease and decreased multiplication in human blood. Further, the isoallelic invasive strain with the carriersclAallele persisted in the mouse nasopharynx and had increased adherence to cultured epithelial cells. Repair of the premature stop codon in the invasivesclAallele restored the ability to bind the extracellular matrix proteins laminin and cellular fibronectin. These data demonstrate that a mutation in GAS carrier strains increases adherence and decreases virulence and suggest selection against increased adherence in GAS invasive isolates.


2006 ◽  
Vol 188 (13) ◽  
pp. 4620-4626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asiya A. Gusa ◽  
Jinxin Gao ◽  
Virginia Stringer ◽  
Gordon Churchward ◽  
June R. Scott

ABSTRACT The group A streptococcus (GAS), Streptococcus pyogenes, is an important human pathogen that causes infections ranging in severity from self-limiting pharyngitis to severe invasive diseases that are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The pathogenic effects of GAS are mediated by the expression of virulence factors, one of which is the hyaluronic acid capsule (encoded by genes in the has operon). The expression of these virulence factors is controlled by the CovR/S (CsrR/S) two-component regulatory system of GAS which regulates, directly or indirectly, the expression of about 15% of the genome. CovR is a member of the OmpR/PhoB family of transcriptional regulators. Here we show that phosphorylation by acetyl phosphate results in dimerization of CovR. Dimerization was not observed using a D53A mutant of CovR, indicating that D53 is the site of phosphorylation in CovR. Phosphorylation stimulated binding of CovR to a DNA fragment containing the promoter of the has operon (Phas) approximately twofold. Binding of CovR D53A mutant protein to Phas was indistinguishable from the binding of wild-type unphosphorylated CovR. In vitro transcription, using purified GAS RNA polymerase, showed that wild-type CovR repressed transcription, and repression was stimulated more than sixfold by phosphorylation. In the presence of RNA polymerase, binding at Phas of phosphorylated, but not unphosphorylated, CovR was stimulated about fourfold, which accounts for the difference in the effect of phosphorylation on repression versus DNA binding. Thus, regulation of Phas by CovR is direct, and the degree of repression of Phas is controlled by the phosphorylation of CovR.


1996 ◽  
Vol 270 (4) ◽  
pp. L677-L688 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Tino ◽  
J. R. Wright

Surfactant protein A (SP-A) regulates alveolar macrophage function and has been implicated in the mediation of pulmonary host defense. Our goals were to characterize the interaction of SP-A with various pulmonary pathogens, to investigate the mechanism of SP-A-mediated phagocytosis using an assay that distinguishes bound from internalized bacteria by quenching the fluorescence of extracellular bacteria, and to examine further the interactions of SP-A and the structurally homologous protein complement component 1q (C1q) with alveolar macrophages and peripheral blood monocytes. We found that SP-A binds to and increases the phagocytosis of Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Group A Streptococcus; SP-A aggregates only H. influenzae. SP-A neither binds to, aggregates, nor stimulates the phagocytosis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We have also found that bronchoalveolar lavage stimulates phagocytosis and that this stimulation is reduced by an anti-SP-A antibody. While the enhancement of phagocytosis by SP-A is inhibited in blood monocytes adhered to C1q-coated surfaces, which presumably clusters the C1q receptor on the basal surface of the cell, alveolar macrophages on C1q-coated slides show no significant change in their response to SP-A. In summary, SP-A stimulates the phagocytosis by alveolar macrophages of specific pulmonary pathogens to which it binds, but aggregation is not required for the effect. Additionally, the role of the C1q receptor in the response to SP-A may differ between monocytes and alveolar macrophages.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (39) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aude Rochefort ◽  
Sarrah Boukthir ◽  
Séverine Moullec ◽  
Alexandra Meygret ◽  
Yahia Adnani ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT While the incidence and invasiveness of type emm75 group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections increased in French Brittany during 2013, we sequenced and analyzed the genomes of three independent strains isolated in 2009, 2012, and 2014, respectively. In this short-term evolution, genomic analysis evidenced mainly the integration of new phages encoding virulence factors.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sruti DebRoy ◽  
Victor Aliaga Tobar ◽  
Gabriel Galvez ◽  
Srishtee Arora ◽  
Xiaowen Liang ◽  
...  

SummaryCatabolite control protein A (CcpA) is a master regulator of carbon source utilization and contributes to the virulence of numerous medically important Gram-positive bacteria. Most functional assessments of CcpA, including interaction with its key co-factor HPr, have been performed in non-pathogenic bacteria. In this study we aimed to identify the in vivo DNA binding profile of CcpA and assess the extent to which HPr is required for CcpA-mediated regulation and DNA binding in the major human pathogen group A Streptococcus (GAS). Using a combination RNAseq/ChIPseq approach, we found that CcpA affects transcript levels of 514 of 1667 GAS genes (31%) whereas direct DNA binding was identified for 105 GAS genes. Three of the directly regulated genes encode the key GAS virulence factors Streptolysin S, PrtS (IL-8 degrading proteinase), and SpeB (cysteine protease). Mutating CcpA Val301 to Ala (strain 2221-CcpA-V301A) abolished interaction between CcpA and HPr and impacted the transcript levels of 205 genes (40%) in the total CcpA regulon. By ChIPseq analysis, CcpAV301A bound to DNA from 74% of genes bound by wild-type CcpA, but generally with lower affinity. These data delineate the direct CcpA regulon and clarify the HPr-dependent and independent activities of CcpA in a key pathogenic bacterium.Data sharing and data availabilityThe data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.


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