Staphylococcus aureus Panton-Valentine leukocidin causes necrotizing pneumonia.
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).
Labandeira-Rey
Maria
M
Center for Extracellular Matrix Biology, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Couzon
Florence
F
Boisset
Sandrine
S
Brown
Eric L
EL
Bes
Michele
M
Benito
Yvonne
Y
Barbu
Elena M
EM
Vazquez
Vanessa
V
Höök
Magnus
M
Etienne
Jerome
J
Vandenesch
François
F
Bowden
M Gabriela
MG
D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005098:Exotoxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006470:Hemorrhage; D007956:Leukocidins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009336:Necrosis; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011023:Pneumonia, Staphylococcal / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D005098:Exotoxins; D007956:Leukocidins; C078284:Panton-Valentine leukocidin; C115915:SdrD protein, Staphylococcus aureus; D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A; D037521:Virulence Factors