title: Antimicrobial Mechanisms of Macrophages and the Immune Evasion Strategies of Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Habitually professional phagocytes, including macrophages, eradicate microbial invaders from the human body without overt signs of infection. Despite this, there exist select bacteria that are professional pathogens, causing significant morbidity and mortality across the globe and Staphylococcus aureus is no exception. S. aureus is a highly successful pathogen that can infect virtually every tissue that comprises the human body causing a broad spectrum of diseases. The profound pathogenic capacity of S. aureus can be attributed, in part, to its ability to elaborate a profusion of bacterial effectors that circumvent host immunity. Macrophages are important professional phagocytes that contribute to both the innate and adaptive immune response, however from in vitro and in vivo studies, it is evident that they fail to eradicate S. aureus. This review provides an overview of the antimicrobial mechanisms employed by macrophages to combat bacteria and describes the immune evasion strategies and some representative effectors that enable S. aureus to evade macrophage-mediated killing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, the University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada. rflanna2@uwo.ca.
authors.forename: Ronald S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Flannagan
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, the University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada. bheit@uwo.ca.|Centre for Human Immunology, the University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada. bheit@uwo.ca.
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Heit
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, the University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada. deh@uwo.ca.|Centre for Human Immunology, the University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada. deh@uwo.ca.
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Heinrichs
keywords: Staphylococcus; anti-phagocytic; immune evasion; immunity; macrophage; nutritional immunity; phagocytosis