title: Wall teichoic acids mediate increased virulence in Staphylococcus aureus.
abstract: Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) are the cause of a severe pandemic consisting primarily of skin and soft tissue infections. The underlying pathomechanisms have not been fully understood and we report here a mechanism that plays an important role for the elevated virulence of CA-MRSA. Surprisingly, skin abscess induction in an animal model was correlated with the amount of a major cell wall component of S. aureus, termed wall teichoic acid (WTA). CA-MRSA exhibited increased cell-wall-associated WTA content (WTAhigh) and thus were more active in inducing abscess formation via a WTA-dependent and T-cell-mediated mechanism than S. aureus strains with a WTAlowphenotype. We show here that WTA is directly involved in S. aureus strain-specific virulence and provide insight into the underlying molecular mechanisms that could guide the development of novel anti-infective strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wanner
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schade
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Keinhörster
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Weller
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Shilpa E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Larissa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kull
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grau
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Winstel
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Henriette
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Dorothee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kretschmer
authors.affiliation: Medical Microbiology, UMC Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584CX Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kolata
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wolz
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University Medicine Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Straße DZ7, 17475 Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Barbara M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Bröker
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Interfacultary Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine (IMIT), University of Tübingen, Elfriede-Aulhorn Straße 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.|German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4107-739X
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weidenmaier
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry*; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D051379:Mice; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D013207:Staphylococcal Skin Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013682:Teichoic Acids / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D013682:Teichoic Acids; D037521:Virulence Factors