Direct and synergistic hemolysis caused by Staphylococcus phenol-soluble modulins: implications for diagnosis and pathogenesis

Phenol-soluble modulins are secreted staphylococcal peptides with an amphipathic α-helical structure. Some PSMs are strongly cytolytic toward human neutrophils and represent major virulence determinants during Staphylococcus aureus skin and blood infection. However, capacities of PSMs to lyse human...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microbes and infection 2012-04, Vol.14 (4), p.380-386
Main Authors: Cheung, Gordon Y.C., Duong, Anthony C., Otto, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacterial Toxins - biosynthesis
Bacterial Toxins - chemistry
Bacterial Toxins - metabolism
Bacteriology
Beta-toxin
Biological and medical sciences
Delta-toxin
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hemolysin Proteins - chemistry
Hemolysin Proteins - metabolism
Hemolysis
Humans
Microbiology
Neutrophils - immunology
Neutrophils - pathology
Pathogenicity, virulence, toxins, bacteriocins, pyrogens, host-bacteria relations, miscellaneous strains
Phenol-soluble modulin
Sphingomyelin Phosphodiesterase - chemistry
Sphingomyelin Phosphodiesterase - metabolism
Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus - chemistry
Staphylococcus aureus - pathogenicity
Staphylococcus epidermidis
Staphylococcus epidermidis - chemistry
Staphylococcus epidermidis - pathogenicity
Virulence
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Summary:Phenol-soluble modulins are secreted staphylococcal peptides with an amphipathic α-helical structure. Some PSMs are strongly cytolytic toward human neutrophils and represent major virulence determinants during Staphylococcus aureus skin and blood infection. However, capacities of PSMs to lyse human erythrocytes have not been investigated. Here, we demonstrate that many S. aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis PSMs lyse human erythrocytes. Furthermore, synergism with S. aureus β-toxin considerably increased the hemolytic capacities of several PSMs. This synergism may be of key importance in PSM and β-toxin-producing S. aureus or in mixed-strain or -species infections with PSM and β-toxin producers. Of specific interest, several PSMs, in particular PSMα peptides, contributed to a considerable extent to synergistic hemolysis with β-toxin or when using the β-toxin-producing strain RN4220 in CAMP assays. Thus, CAMP-type assays should not be used to detect or quantify S. aureus δ-toxin production, but may be used for an overall assessment of Agr functionality. Our study suggests an additional role of PSMs in staphylococcal pathogenesis and demonstrates that the repertoire of staphylococcal hemolysins is not limited to S. aureus and is much larger and diverse than previously thought.
ISSN:1286-4579
1769-714X
DOI:10.1016/j.micinf.2011.11.013