title: Staphylococcus aureus Survives in Cystic Fibrosis Macrophages, Forming a Reservoir for Chronic Pneumonia.
abstract: Staphylococcus aureusplays an important role in sepsis, pneumonia, wound infections, and cystic fibrosis (CF), which is caused by mutations of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (Cftr). PulmonaryS. aureusinfections in CF often occur very early and prior to colonization with other pathogens, in particularPseudomonas aeruginosaHere, we demonstrate that CF mice are highly susceptible to pulmonary infections withS. aureusand fail to clear the pathogen during infection.S. aureusis internalized byCftr-deficient macrophages in the lung, but these macrophages are unable to kill intracellular bacteria. This failure might be caused by a defect in the fusion of phagosomes with lysosomes, while this process occurs rapidly in wild-type macrophages and serves to kill intracellular pathogens. Transplantation of infectedCftr-deficient alveolar macrophages into the lungs of noninfected CF mice is sufficient to induce pneumonia. This suggests that intracellular survival ofS. aureusin macrophages may allow the pathogen to chronically infect CF lungs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, University Hospital, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Cao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, University Hospital, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, University Hospital, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riehle
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, University Hospital, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Heartcenter, Essen-Huttrop GmbH, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kamler
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, University Hospital, Essen, Germany.|Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gulbins
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, University Hospital, Essen, Germany heike.grassme@uni-due.de.
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grassmé
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000150:complications*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D016676:Macrophages, Alveolar / Q000382:microbiology*; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D050296:Microbial Viability; D008875:Middle Aged; D011023:Pneumonia, Staphylococcal / Q000473:pathology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000502:physiology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cftr deficiency; Staphylococcus aureus; cystic fibrosis; intracellular survival; lung; macrophages; pneumonia