title: Murine models of Streptococcus pyogenes infection.
abstract: This unit describes procedures for testing virulence of Streptococcus pyogenes in mice. S. pyogenes is an important human pathogen and causes one of the most common childhood diseases. The syndromes that result from S. pyogenes infection are diverse, ranging from mild, superficial throat or skin infection to severe, invasive disea/se that is often lethal. Thus, a greater understanding of the virulence factors of this bacterium and development of modalities to prevent or relieve the infections it causes are important. Since S. pyogenes is a strictly human pathogen (with the exception of a single strain), the value of all animal models is limited. This unit describes a model for long-term throat colonization following the natural route of infection (inhalation), one for pneumonia and systemic dissemination following intratracheal inoculation, and one for systemic dissemination following the more natural route of skin infection. In addition, methods are presented for culturing S. pyogenes from tissues of the infected animal.
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: June R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Linda K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Husmann
authors.forename: Christine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Zurawski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence