Pathogenicity and virulence of Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most frequent worldwide causes of morbidity and mortality due to an infectious agent. This pathogen can cause a wide variety of diseases, ranging from moderately severe skin infections to fatal pneumonia and sepsis. Treatment of S. aureus infections is complicated by antibiotic resistance and a working vaccine is not available. There has been ongoing and increasing interest in the extraordinarily high number of toxins and other virulence determinants that S. aureus produces and how they impact disease. In this review, we will give an overview of how S. aureus initiates and maintains infection and discuss the main determinants involved. A more in-depth understanding of the function and contribution of S. aureus virulence determinants to S. aureus infection will enable us to develop anti-virulence strategies to counteract the lack of an anti-S. aureus vaccine and the ever-increasing shortage of working antibiotics against this important pathogen.

Ecology and Genetic Lineages of Nasal Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA Carriage in Healthy Persons with or without Animal-Related Occupational Risks of Colonization: A Review of Global Reports

“…Staphylococcal virulence factors have been shown to contribute to the increased severity of associated infections. Particularly, the virulence factors that have been described in nasal S. aureus are the Panton–Valentine Leucocidin (PVL), staphylococcal enterotoxins, and toxic shock syndrome toxin [ 199 , 200 , 201 , 202 , 203 ].…”

Monoclonal Antibodies Targeting Surface-Exposed and Secreted Proteins from Staphylococci

“…In each agr group, the AgrC receptor recognizes a specific AIP structure (i.e., AIP-1 through AIP-4). Blockage of quorum sensing has been shown to attenuate the expression of virulence factors in Gram-positive bacteria [ 10 ].…”

“…Biofilms are multicellular microbial communities encased within a self-produced extracellular polymeric substance comprising polysaccharides such as PNAG, proteins and extracellular DNA (eDNA). Biofilm infections are clinically important because bacteria in biofilms afford increased resistance to antimicrobial compounds and host immunity [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Treatment of biofilm infection is complicated by the fact that often it occurs in areas of the body that are poorly accessible for therapeutic treatment.…”

“…It can express CWA proteins that interact with extracellular matrix proteins but lacks cytolytic toxins that are produced in abundance by S. aureus [ 2 ]. Both species use several CWA proteins and the polysaccharide poly-N-acetyl glucosamine (PNAG) for promoting biofilm formation [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Due to the pivotal role they play in bacteria pathogenesis and their prompt accessibility, surface-exposed proteins and secreted virulence factors represent the ideal target for the host immune system.…”

The Co-Culture of Staphylococcal Biofilm and Fibroblast Cell Line: The Correlation of Biological Phenomena with Metabolic NMR1 Footprint

“…Although S. aureus is equipped with numerous toxins and tissue-degrading enzymes, it seems to be able to downregulate their expression (most people are considered asymptomatic carriers of this pathogen, especially in nostrils) [ 11 ]. However, a compromission of the human immune system and transgression of S. aureus to normally sterile niches of the organism (such as the blood system or the subcutaneous tissue forming the wound bed) activate S. aureus to release its virulence factors and to damage the eukaryotic cells [ 12 ]. Additionally, the methicillin resistance (MR) pattern which is more and more common among staphylococci and which leads to resistance against basically all β-lactam antibiotics has become a global threat.…”