Staphylococcal Biology and Pathogenesis

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 3426

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
Interests: persistent infection; antibiotic resistance; immune response to S. aureus; impact metabolism on pathogenesis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will focus upon the recent advances in staphylococcal biology, aiming to elucidate its complex mechanisms of pathogenesis. New data on cell wall and surface structures (teichoic acids, lipids, protein A, TcaA, polysaccharide intercellular adhesin) and extra-cellular enzymes (DNases, hemolysins) have demonstrated the wide array of mechanisms utilized by staphylococci to cause persistent infections. Data on how the metabolism impacts antibiotic resistance and macrophage activation (host–bacterial interactions) reveal an extremely dynamic interplay between the host and pathogen.  A prophage that enhances persistent bacteremia via novel mechanisms has been identified. Finally, the complex immunological responses to S. aureus (allergic response; persistence due to IL-10; hyper-responsiveness in humanized mice; non-protective imprinting) enable a deeper understanding of the host–pathogen interactions.  All of this complexity helps to clarify why the development of a staphylococcal vaccine is so challenging.

Prof. Dr. Richard Proctor
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 1310 KiB  
Article
Prevalence of Selected Immune Evasion Genes and Clonal Diversity in Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Nasal Carriers and Outpatients with Cut Wound Infections
by Gabriela Jura, Helena Masiuk, Agata Pruss, Mateusz Kurzawski, Monika Sienkiewicz, Iwona Wojciechowska-Koszko and Paweł Kwiatkowski
Antibiotics 2024, 13(8), 730; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics13080730 - 3 Aug 2024
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Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus, being one of the most common human pathogens, is responsible for infections in both hospital and community settings. Its virulence is attributed to its ability to evade the immune system by producing immune evasion (IE) proteins. The aim of this [...] Read more.
Staphylococcus aureus, being one of the most common human pathogens, is responsible for infections in both hospital and community settings. Its virulence is attributed to its ability to evade the immune system by producing immune evasion (IE) proteins. The aim of this study was to detect the frequency of selected IE genes (spin, sbi, sea, sak, chp, scin, sep, ecb), belonging to the immune evasion cluster (IEC), and IEC types in 86 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) strains isolated from unrelated outpatients. In order to determine the diversity of analyzed strains, the phylogenetic relatedness was also determined. All strains were examined for the presence of IE genes using polymerase chain reaction assay. To analyze the clonal relatedness of S. aureus, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed. All analyzed strains harbored the scn gene, followed by sbi (95.4%), ecb (91.7%), spin (89.5%), sak (83.7%), chp (67.4%), sep (67.4%) and sea (5.8%). Seventy-three (84.9%) S. aureus strains were classified into IEC types, of which, IEC type F was most commonly observed. IEC type A was not detected. PFGE results showed no association between clonal relatedness and the presence of IE genes/IEC types. In conclusion, the abundant and so diverse repertoire of genes determining invasion in analyzed strains may prove the fact that these strains are highly advanced and adapted to evade the host immune response. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Staphylococcal Biology and Pathogenesis)
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Review

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16 pages, 4452 KiB  
Review
Humanized Mouse Models of Bacterial Infections
by Katya McDonald, Adryiana Rodriguez and Gowrishankar Muthukrishnan
Antibiotics 2024, 13(7), 640; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics13070640 - 11 Jul 2024
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Abstract
Bacterial infections continue to represent a significant healthcare burden worldwide, causing considerable mortality and morbidity every year. The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains continues to rise, posing serious risks to controlling global disease outbreaks. To develop novel and more effective treatment and vaccination [...] Read more.
Bacterial infections continue to represent a significant healthcare burden worldwide, causing considerable mortality and morbidity every year. The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains continues to rise, posing serious risks to controlling global disease outbreaks. To develop novel and more effective treatment and vaccination programs, there is a need for clinically relevant small animal models. Since multiple bacterial species have human-specific tropism for numerous virulence factors and toxins, conventional mouse models do not fully represent human disease. Several human disease characteristic phenotypes, such as lung granulomas in the case of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections, are absent in standard mouse models. Alternatively, certain pathogens, such as Salmonella enterica serovar typhi and Staphylococcus aureus, can be well tolerated in mice and cleared quickly. To address this, multiple groups have developed humanized mouse models and observed enhanced susceptibility to infection and a more faithful recapitulation of human disease. In the last two decades, multiple humanized mouse models have been developed to attempt to recapitulate the human immune system in a small animal model. In this review, we first discuss the history of immunodeficient mice that has enabled the engraftment of human tissue and the engraftment methods currently used in the field. We then highlight how humanized mouse models successfully uncovered critical human immune responses to various bacterial infections, including Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Staphylococcus aureus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Staphylococcal Biology and Pathogenesis)
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13 pages, 964 KiB  
Review
Linking S. aureus Immune Evasion Mechanisms to Staphylococcal Vaccine Failures
by Irshad Ahmed Hajam and George Y. Liu
Antibiotics 2024, 13(5), 410; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics13050410 - 30 Apr 2024
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Abstract
Vaccination arguably remains the only long-term strategy to limit the spread of S. aureus infections and its related antibiotic resistance. To date, however, all staphylococcal vaccines tested in clinical trials have failed. In this review, we propose that the failure of S. aureus [...] Read more.
Vaccination arguably remains the only long-term strategy to limit the spread of S. aureus infections and its related antibiotic resistance. To date, however, all staphylococcal vaccines tested in clinical trials have failed. In this review, we propose that the failure of S. aureus vaccines is intricately linked to prior host exposure to S. aureus and the pathogen’s capacity to evade adaptive immune defenses. We suggest that non-protective immune imprints created by previous exposure to S. aureus are preferentially recalled by SA vaccines, and IL-10 induced by S. aureus plays a unique role in shaping these non-protective anti-staphylococcal immune responses. We discuss how S. aureus modifies the host immune landscape, which thereby necessitates alternative approaches to develop successful staphylococcal vaccines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Staphylococcal Biology and Pathogenesis)
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