The accessory genes of Staphylococcus aureus, including those involved in pathogenesis, are controlled by a complex regulatory network that includes at least four two-component systems, one of which, agr, is a quorum sensor, an alternative sigma factor and a large set of transcription factors, including at least two of the superantigen genes, tst and seb. These regulatory genes are hypothesized to act in a time- and population density-dependent manner to integrate signals received from the external environment with the internal metabolic machinery of the cell, in order to achieve the production of particular subsets of accessory/virulence factors at the time and in quantities that are appropriate to the needs of the organism at any given location. From the standpoint of pathogenesis, the regulatory agenda is presumably tuned to particular sites in the host organism. To address this hypothesis, it will be necessary to understand in considerable detail the regulatory interactions among the organism's numerous controlling systems. This review is an attempt to integrate a large body of data into the beginnings of a model that will hopefully help to guide research towards a full-scale test.

https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1365-2958.2003.03526.x

Autoinduction and signal transduction in the regulation of staphylococcal virulence

The agr quorum-sensing system of Staphylococcus aureus modulates the expression of virulence factors in response to autoinducing peptides (AIPs). Recent studies have suggested a role for the agr system in S. aureus biofilm development, as agr mutants exhibit a high propensity to form biofilms, and cells dispersing from a biofilm have been observed displaying an active agr system. Here, we report that repression of agr is necessary to form a biofilm and that reactivation of agr in established biofilms through AIP addition or glucose depletion triggers detachment. Inhibitory AIP molecules did not induce detachment and an agr mutant was non-responsive, indicating a dependence on a functional, active agr system for dispersal. Biofilm detachment occurred in multiple S. aureus strains possessing divergent agr systems, suggesting it is a general S. aureus phenomenon. Importantly, detachment also restored sensitivity of the dispersed cells to the antibiotic rifampicin. Proteinase K inhibited biofilm formation and dispersed established biofilms, suggesting agr-mediated detachment occurred in an ica-independent manner. Consistent with a protease-mediated mechanism, increased levels of serine proteases were detected in detaching biofilm effluents, and the serine protease inhibitor PMSF reduced the degree of agr-mediated detachment. Through genetic analysis, a double mutant in the agr-regulated Aur metalloprotease and the SplABCDEF serine proteases displayed minimal extracellular protease activity, improved biofilm formation, and a strongly attenuated detachment phenotype. These findings indicate that induction of the agr system in established S. aureus biofilms detaches cells and demonstrate that the dispersal mechanism requires extracellular protease activity.

agr-Mediated Dispersal of Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms

The Staphylococcus aureus Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a pore-forming toxin secreted by strains epidemiologically associated with the current outbreak of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) and with the often-lethal necrotizing pneumonia. To investigate the role of PVL in pulmonary disease, we tested the pathogenicity of clinical isolates, isogenic PVL-negative and PVL-positive S. aureus strains, as well as purified PVL, in a mouse acute pneumonia model. Here we show that PVL is sufficient to cause pneumonia and that the expression of this leukotoxin induces global changes in transcriptional levels of genes encoding secreted and cell wall-anchored staphylococcal proteins, including the lung inflammatory factor staphylococcal protein A (Spa).

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/315/5815/1130.full.pdf

Staphylococcus aureus Panton-Valentine Leukocidin Causes Necrotizing Pneumonia

Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of skin and soft tissue infections, and rapidly emerging antibiotic-resistant strains are creating a serious public health concern. If immune-based therapies are to be an alternative to antibiotics, greater understanding is needed of the protective immune response against S. aureus infection in the skin. Although neutrophil recruitment is required for immunity against S. aureus, a role for T cells has been suggested. Here, we used a mouse model of S. aureus cutaneous infection to investigate the contribution of T cells to host defense. We found that mice deficient in γδ but not αβ T cells had substantially larger skin lesions with higher bacterial counts and impaired neutrophil recruitment compared with WT mice. This neutrophil recruitment was dependent upon epidermal Vγ5+ γδ T cell production of IL-17, but not IL-21 and IL-22. Furthermore, IL-17 induction required IL-1, TLR2, and IL-23 and was critical for host defense, since IL-17R–deficient mice had a phenotype similar to that of γδ T cell–deficient mice. Importantly, γδ T cell–deficient mice inoculated with S. aureus and treated with a single dose of recombinant IL-17 had lesion sizes and bacterial counts resembling those of WT mice, demonstrating that IL-17 could restore the impaired immunity in these mice. Our study defines what we believe to be a novel role for IL-17–producing epidermal γδ T cells in innate immunity against S. aureus cutaneous infection.

/pdf/il-17-is-essential-for-host-defense-against-cutaneous-4c19tqc18o.pdf

IL-17 is essential for host defense against cutaneous Staphylococcus aureus infection in mice

Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis are major human pathogens of increasing importance due to the dissemination of antibiotic-resistant strains. Evidence suggests that the ability to form matrix-encased biofilms contributes to the pathogenesis of S. aureus and S. epidermidis. In this study, we investigated the functions of two staphylococcal biofilm matrix polymers: poly-N-acetylglucosamine surface polysaccharide (PNAG) and extracellular DNA (ecDNA). We measured the ability of a PNAG-degrading enzyme (dispersin B) and DNase I to inhibit biofilm formation, detach preformed biofilms, and sensitize biofilms to killing by the cationic detergent cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) in a 96-well microtiter plate assay. When added to growth medium, both dispersin B and DNase I inhibited biofilm formation by both S. aureus and S. epidermidis. Dispersin B detached preformed S. epidermidis biofilms but not S. aureus biofilms, whereas DNase I detached S. aureus biofilms but not S. epidermidis biofilms. Similarly, dispersin B sensitized S. epidermidis biofilms to CPC killing, whereas DNase I sensitized S. aureus biofilms to CPC killing. We concluded that PNAG and ecDNA play fundamentally different structural roles in S. aureus and S. epidermidis biofilms.

Differential roles of poly-N-acetylglucosamine surface polysaccharide and extracellular DNA in Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms.

The accessory sigma factor σB controls a general stress response that is thought to be important for Staphylococcus aureus survival and may contribute to virulence. The strain of choice for genetic studies, 8325-4, carries a small deletion in rsbU, which encodes a positive regulator of σB activity. Consequently, to enable the role of σB in virulence to be addressed, we constructed an rsbU+ derivative, SH1000, using a method that does not leave behind an antibiotic resistance marker. The phenotypic properties of SH1000 (8325-4 rsbU+) were characterized and compared to those of 8325-4, the rsbU mutant, parent strain. A recognition site for σB was located in the promoter region of katA, the gene encoding the sole catalase of S. aureus, by primer extension analysis. However, catalase expression and activity were similar in SH1000 (8325-4 rsbU+), suggesting that this promoter may have a minor role in catalase expression under normal conditions. Restoration of σB activity in SH1000 (8325-4 rsbU+) resulted in a marked decrease in the levels of the exoproteins SspA and Hla, and this is likely to be mediated by reduced expression of agr in this strain. By using Western blotting and a sarA-lacZ reporter assay, the levels of SarA were found to be similar in strains 8325-4 and SH1000 (8325-4 rsbU+) and sigB mutant derivatives of these strains. This finding contrasts with previous reports that suggested that SarA expression levels are altered when they are measured transcriptionally. Inactivation of sarA in each of these strains resulted in an expected decrease in agr expression; however, the relative level of agr in SH1000 (8325-4 rsbU+) remained less than the relative levels in 8325-4 and the sigB mutant derivatives. We suggest that SarA is not likely to be the effector in the overall σB-mediated effect on agr expression.

sigmaB modulates virulence determinant expression and stress resistance: characterization of a functional rsbU strain derived from Staphylococcus aureus 8325-4.

Les Shaw

Papers

sigmaB modulates virulence determinant expression and stress resistance: characterization of a functional rsbU strain derived from Staphylococcus aureus 8325-4.