title: High prevalence of edin-C encoding RhoA-targeting toxin in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Staphylococcus aureus, a major causative agent of human infection, produces a large array of virulence factors, including various toxins. Among them, the host RhoA GTPase ADP-ribosylating EDIN toxins are considered as potential virulence factors. Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, we analyzed the virulence profile of 256 S. aureus isolates from various clinical sites of infections. We developed specific primers to detect the three isoforms of edin-encoding genes. We found a prevalence of 14% (36 bacteria) of edin-encoding genes among these clinical isolates. Strikingly, we found that 90% of all edin-bearing S. aureus isolates carried the type-C allele. Both the spa types and the profile of virulence factors of these edin-positive isolates are highly variable. Notably, we show for the first time that edin-C-positive isolates were more frequently recovered from deep-seated infections than other types of infections. Our present work, thus, strongly suggests that the presence of edin-C is a risk factor of S. aureus dissemination in tissues and, thus, represents a predictive marker for a pejorative evolution of staphylococcal infections.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U895, C3M, Toxines Microbiennes dans la Relation Hôte Pathogènes, Université de Nice-Sophia-Antipolis, UFR Médecine, IFR50, Nice, 06204, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Munro
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Clément
authors.forename: J-P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lavigne
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pulcini
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lemichez
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Landraud
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D037521:Virulence Factors; C066737:RHOA protein, human; C067120:epidermal cell differentiation inhibitor, Staphylococcus aureus; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein