The serine and cysteine proteases SspA and SspB of Staphylococcus aureus are secreted as inactive zymogens, zSspA and zSspB. Mature SspA is a trypsin-like glutamyl endopeptidase and is required to activate zSspB. Although a metalloprotease Aureolysin (Aur) is in turn thought to contribute to activation of zSspA, a specific role has not been demonstrated. We found that pre-zSspA is processed by signal peptidase at ANA 29 Binding of glutamate within the active site of zSspA is energetically unfavorable, but glutamine fits into the primary specificity pocket and is predicted to hydrogen bond to Thr 232 proximal to Ser 237 , permitting autocatalytic cleavage of the glutamine-rich propeptide segment. These and other observations suggest that zSspA is activated through a trypsinogen-like mechanism where supplementary features of the propeptide must be sequentially processed in the correct order to allow efficient activation.Staphylococcus aureus can colonize and infect virtually every tissue and organ system of the body (1, 2). A key factor in these defining traits is its ability to sustain bacteremia and adhere to tissues. Consequently it has adapted to growth in blood by subversion of plasma proteins (3) and the tissue extracellular matrix (4). Members of the MSCRAMM (microbial extracellular matrix-binding protein) family of adhesion proteins bind extracellular matrix ligands such as collagen, fibronectin, and fibrinogen (4) of which the latter two are also abundant in plasma. Manipulation of other plasma proteins such as IgG and von Willebrand factor is facilitated by staphylococcal Protein A (5), whereas coagulase promotes fibrin clot formation by activation of prothrombin (6), and staphylokinase activates plasminogen (7) to facilitate fibrin clot dissolution. Our studies on secreted proteases are also supportive of S. aureus as a paradigm for the manipulation of plasma and coagulation proteins.The SspA 4 glutamyl endopeptidase, also known as V8 protease, moderates adhesion of S. aureus to fibronectin by degrading cell surface fibronectin-binding proteins in which there is a high glutamic acid content, including a conserved motif that is essential for ligand binding (8, 9). SspA is expressed in an operon with a cysteine protease, SspB, and activates the zSspB zymogen by removing its N-terminal propeptide (10). Mature 20-kDa SspB mimics plasma serine proteases as noted by its ability to (i) convert high molecular weight kininogen into heavy and light chains, (ii) hydrolyze the Bz-Pro-Phe-Arg substrate of kallikrein, a serine protease that processes single chain kininogen by excision of the vasoactive peptide bradykinin (RPPGFSPFR), (iii) process the N terminus of the fibrinogen ␤-chain at the same site as plasmin, and (iv) remove the N-terminal domain of fibronectin with a specificity equivalent to plasminogen activator (10). We have also found that antibodies to SspB are produced when mice are challenged with hypervirulent strains of community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus and that SspA and SspB are r...

Borderline oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (BORSA) exhibit oxacillin MIC values of 1-8 mg ml "1 , but lack mecA, which encodes the low-affinity penicillin-binding protein (PBP)2a. The relationship of the BORSA phenotype with specific genetic backgrounds was assessed, as well as amino acid sequence variation in the normal PBP2. Among 38 BORSA, 26 had a common PFGE profile of genomic DNA, and were multilocus sequence type (ST)25. The other isolates were genetically diverse. Complete pbp2 sequences were determined for three BORSA, corresponding to ST25, ST1 and ST47, which were selected on the basis of lacking blaZ-encoded b-lactamase. The essential transpeptidase-domain-encoding segment of pbp2 was also sequenced from seven additional ST25 isolates. Amino acid substitutions occurred in the transpeptidase domain of all BORSA, irrespective of clonal type. A Gln 629 RPro substitution was common to all ST25 BORSA, but most could be distinguished from one another by additional unique substitutions in the transpeptidase domain. The ST1 and ST47 isolates also possessed unique substitutions in the transpeptidase domain. Plasmid-mediated expression of pbp2 from an ST25 or ST1 isolate in S. aureus RN6390 increased its oxacillin MIC from 0?25 to 4 mg ml "1 , while pbp2 from a susceptible strain, ATCC 25923, had no effect. Therefore, different amino acid substitutions in PBP2 of diverse BORSA lineages contribute to borderline resistance. The predominant ST25 lineage was not related to any of the five clonal complexes that contain meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), suggesting that ST25 cannot readily acquire mecA-mediated resistance. INTRODUCTIONStaphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of nosocomial infections, and is distinguished by its ability to cause infection in virtually every tissue and organ system of the body (Archer, 1998). Therefore, rapid eradication of S. aureus is of paramount importance in the treatment and control of nosocomial infections. However, the introduction of penicillin into clinical practice was quickly followed by the appearance of b-lactamase-mediated resistance. The introduction of b-lactamase-resistant semi-synthetic forms of penicillin was also quickly followed by the acquisition of an alternative penicillin-binding protein (PBP), PBP2a, encoded by mecA on the staphylococcal cassette chromosome SCCmec Ito et al., 2001). Meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) are resistant to all members of the b-lactam family, due to the low affinity of PBP2a for b-lactams (Hartman & Tomasz, 1984 Massidda et al., 1996;McMurray et al., 1990). This last feature has been proposed as a factor that contributes to the BORSA phenotype (Barg et al., 1991;McDougal & Thornsberry, 1986), as well as a novel meticillinase (Keseru et al., 2005;Massidda et al., 1992). Others have noted that spontaneous amino acid substitutions in PBP2 of S. aureus can be induced by selection for growth in the presence of ceftizoxime (Leski & Tomasz, 2005), and different substitutions in PBP2 have been noted in one study conducted ...