scholarly journals Characterization of a Mouse‐Passaged, Highly Encapsulated Variant of Group A Streptococcus in In Vitro and In Vivo Studies

2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (6) ◽  
pp. 1702-1711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Ravins ◽  
Joseph Jaffe ◽  
Emanuel Hanski ◽  
Ilanit Shetzigovski ◽  
Shira Natanson‐Yaron ◽  
...  
2014 ◽  
Vol 82 (7) ◽  
pp. 2890-2901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilena Gallotta ◽  
Giovanni Gancitano ◽  
Giampiero Pietrocola ◽  
Marirosa Mora ◽  
Alfredo Pezzicoli ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTGroup A streptococcus (GAS) is a human pathogen causing a wide repertoire of mild and severe diseases for which no vaccine is yet available. We recently reported the identification of three protein antigens that in combination conferred wide protection against GAS infection in mice. Here we focused our attention on the characterization of one of these three antigens, Spy0269, a highly conserved, surface-exposed, and immunogenic protein of unknown function. Deletion of thespy0269gene in a GAS M1 isolate resulted in very long bacterial chains, which is indicative of an impaired capacity of the knockout mutant to properly divide. Confocal microscopy and immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that the protein was mainly localized at the cell septum and could interactin vitrowith the cell division protein FtsZ, leading us to hypothesize that Spy0269 is a member of the GAS divisome machinery. Predicted structural domains and sequence homologies with known streptococcal adhesins suggested that this antigen could also play a role in mediating GAS interaction with host cells. This hypothesis was confirmed by showing that recombinant Spy0269 could bind to mammalian epithelial cellsin vitroand thatLactococcus lactisexpressing Spy0269 on its cell surface could adhere to mammalian cellsin vitroand to mice nasal mucosain vivo. On the basis of these data, we believe that Spy0269 is involved both in bacterial cell division and in adhesion to host cells and we propose to rename this multifunctional moonlighting protein as SpyAD (StreptococcuspyogenesAdhesion andDivision protein).


2019 ◽  
Vol 216 (7) ◽  
pp. 1615-1629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Naegeli ◽  
Eleni Bratanis ◽  
Christofer Karlsson ◽  
Oonagh Shannon ◽  
Raja Kalluru ◽  
...  

Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A streptococcus; GAS) is a human pathogen causing diseases from uncomplicated tonsillitis to life-threatening invasive infections. GAS secretes EndoS, an endoglycosidase that specifically cleaves the conserved N-glycan on IgG antibodies. In vitro, removal of this glycan impairs IgG effector functions, but its relevance to GAS infection in vivo is unclear. Using targeted mass spectrometry, we characterized the effects of EndoS on host IgG glycosylation during the course of infections in humans. Substantial IgG glycan hydrolysis occurred at the site of infection and systemically in the severe cases. We demonstrated decreased resistance to phagocytic killing of GAS lacking EndoS in vitro and decreased virulence in a mouse model of invasive infection. This is the first described example of specific bacterial IgG glycan hydrolysis during infection and thereby verifies the hypothesis that EndoS modifies antibodies in vivo. This mechanisms of immune evasion could have implications for treatment of severe GAS infections and for future efforts at vaccine development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nishanth Makthal ◽  
Hackwon Do ◽  
Brian M. Wendel ◽  
Randall J. Olsen ◽  
John D. Helmann ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Colonization by pathogenic bacteria depends on their ability to overcome host nutritional defenses and acquire nutrients. The human pathogen group A streptococcus (GAS) encounters the host defense factor calprotectin (CP) during infection. CP inhibits GAS growth in vitro by imposing zinc (Zn) limitation. However, GAS counterstrategies to combat CP-mediated Zn limitation and the in vivo relevance of CP-GAS interactions to bacterial pathogenesis remain unknown. Here, we report that GAS upregulates the AdcR regulon in response to CP-mediated Zn limitation. The AdcR regulon includes genes encoding Zn import (adcABC), Zn sparing (rpsN.2), and Zn scavenging systems (adcAII, phtD, and phtY). Each gene in the AdcR regulon contributes to GAS Zn acquisition and CP resistance. The ΔadcC and ΔrpsN.2 mutant strains were the most susceptible to CP, whereas the ΔadcA, ΔadcAII, and ΔphtD mutant strains displayed less CP sensitivity during growth in vitro. However, the ΔphtY mutant strain did not display an increased CP sensitivity. The varied sensitivity of the mutant strains to CP-mediated Zn limitation suggests distinct roles for individual AdcR regulon genes in GAS Zn acquisition. GAS upregulates the AdcR regulon during necrotizing fasciitis infection in WT mice but not in S100a9−/− mice lacking CP. This suggests that CP induces Zn deficiency in the host. Finally, consistent with the in vitro results, several of the AdcR regulon genes are critical for GAS virulence in WT mice, whereas they are dispensable for virulence in S100a9−/− mice, indicating the direct competition for Zn between CP and proteins encoded by the GAS AdcR regulon during infection.


Drug Delivery ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 791-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhuvaneshwar Vaidya ◽  
Manasa K. Nayak ◽  
Debabrata Dash ◽  
Govind P. Agrawal ◽  
Suresh P. Vyas

2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 6026-6038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kowthar Y. Salim ◽  
Dennis G. Cvitkovitch ◽  
Peter Chang ◽  
Darrin J. Bast ◽  
Martin Handfield ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Group A Streptococcus (GAS) causes a range of diseases in humans, from mild noninvasive infections to severe invasive infections. The molecular basis for the varying severity of disease remains unclear. We identified genes expressed during invasive disease using in vivo-induced antigen technology (IVIAT), applied for the first time in a gram-positive organism. Convalescent-phase sera from patients with invasive disease were pooled, adsorbed against antigens derived from in vitro-grown GAS, and used to screen a GAS genomic expression library. A murine model of invasive GAS disease was included as an additional source of sera for screening. Sequencing DNA inserts from clones reactive with both human and mouse sera indicated 16 open reading frames with homology to genes involved in metabolic activity to genes of unknown function. Of these, seven genes were assessed for their differential expression by quantitative real-time PCR both in vivo, utilizing a murine model of invasive GAS disease, and in vitro at different time points of growth. Three gene products—a putative penicillin-binding protein 1A, a putative lipoprotein, and a conserved hypothetical protein homologous to a putative translation initiation inhibitor in Vibrio vulnificus—were upregulated in vivo, suggesting that these genes play a role during invasive disease.


1999 ◽  
Vol 359 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaella Bigoni ◽  
Sandro Giuliani ◽  
G. Calo’ ◽  
Anna Rizzi ◽  
Remo Guerrini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2006 ◽  
Vol 189 (4) ◽  
pp. 1407-1416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asiya A. Gusa ◽  
Barbara J. Froehlich ◽  
Devak Desai ◽  
Virginia Stringer ◽  
June R. Scott

ABSTRACT CovR, the two-component response regulator of Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus [GAS]) directly or indirectly represses about 15% of the genome, including genes encoding many virulence factors and itself. Transcriptome analyses also showed that some genes are activated by CovR. We asked whether the regulation by CovR of one of these genes, dppA, the first gene in an operon encoding a dipeptide permease, is direct or indirect. Direct regulation by CovR was suggested by the presence of five CovR consensus binding sequences (CBs) near the putative promoter. In this study, we identified the 5′ end of the dppA transcript synthesized in vivo and showed that the start of dppA transcription in vitro is the same. We found that CovR binds specifically to the dppA promoter region (PdppA) in vitro with an affinity similar to that at which it binds to other CovR-regulated promoters. Disruption of any of the five CBs by a substitution of GG for TT inhibited CovR binding to that site in vitro, and binding at two of the CBs appeared cooperative. In vivo, CovR activation of transcription was not affected by individual mutations of any of the four CBs that we could study. This suggests that the binding sites are redundant in vivo. In vitro, CovR did not activate transcription from PdppA in experiments using purified GAS RNA polymerase and either linear or supercoiled DNA template. Therefore, we propose that in vivo, CovR may interfere with the binding of a repressor of PdppA.


2010 ◽  
Vol 03 (03) ◽  
pp. 153-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
SANJEEV KARMA ◽  
JAMES HOMAN ◽  
CHARLES STOIANOVICI ◽  
BERNARD CHOI

Recent studies have demonstrated that topical application of glycerol on intact skin does not affect its optical scattering properties. Investigators from our research group recently revisited the use of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as an agent with optical clearing potential. We address the use of optical clearing to enhance quantitation of subsurface fluorescence emission. We employed both in vitro and in vivo model systems to study the effect of topical DMSO application on fluorescence emission. Our in vitro experiments performed on a tissue-simulating phantom suggest that DMSO-mediated optical clearing enables enhanced characterization of subsurface fluorophores. With topical DMSO application, a marked increase in fluorescence emission was observed. After 30 min, the fluorescence signal at the DMSO-treated site was 9× greater than the contralateral saline-treated site. This ratio increased to 13× at 105 min after agent application. In summary, DMSO is an effective optical clearing agent for improved fluorescence emission quantitation and warrants further study in preclinical in vivo studies. Based on outcomes from previous clinical studies on the toxicity profile of DMSO, we postulate that clinical application of DMSO as an optical clearing agent, can be performed safely, although further study is warranted.


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