title: Essentiality of FASII pathway for Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Recently, Brinster et al. suggested that type II fatty-acid biosynthesis (FASII) is not a suitable antibacterial target for Gram-positive pathogens because they use fatty acids directly from host serum rather than de novo synthesis. Their findings, if confirmed, are relevant for further scientific and financial investments in the development of new drugs targeting FASII. We present here in vitro and in vivo data demonstrating that their observations do not hold for Staphylococcus aureus, a major Gram-positive pathogen causing several human infections. The observed differences among Gram-positive pathogens in FASII reflects heterogeneity either in fatty-acid synthesis or in the capacity for fatty-acid uptake from the environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Antimicrobial Research, Tibotec BVBA, Johnson & Johnson, Turnhoutseweg 30, B-2340 Beerse, Belgium.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Balemans
authors.forename: Nacer
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lounis
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gilissen
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guillemont
authors.forename: Kenny
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Simmen
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Andries
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koul
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014260:Triclosan / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D005227:Fatty Acids; D014260:Triclosan