Staphylococcal pathogenesis

National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

In FY 2025, we continued our investigation of virulence factors that contribute to pathogenesis and immune evasion of staphylococcal pathogens. The focus is on understanding which factors define the virulence potential of highly virulent staphylococci. We are also investigating biofilm-associated infection by staphylococci and its molecular basis. Much of our work is currently still focused on phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs), toxins that we discovered in 2007. We collaborate with a series of researchers in different fields, analyzing the contribution of PSMs to different phenotypes. Current efforts in our own lab are aimed at understanding the mechanism of the PSM exporter, the function of PSMs as signals of staphylococcal invasion, and the involvement of PSMs and quorum-sensing in staphylococcal sepsis. Moreover, we are investigating the role of PSMs in non-S. aureus staphylococcal pathogens. We are also investigating the interaction of staphylococci with other members of the human microbiota, much of which is covered in the PMGS's second project ("AI001080-18, Role of the human microbiota and probiotics"). Listed in this project ("Staphylococcal pathogenesis") are subprojects that deal predominantly with staphylococcal molecular products, such as particularly a novel class of bacteriocins that we have found in an isolate of Staphylococcus aureus and investigated in detail in FY2025. Furthermore, we have collaborated in the present FY with several external researches on a variety of aspects of staphylococcal pathogenesis, for example related to the SaeRS regulatory system, genomic methylation, and protein lactylation in S. aureus, and the consequences for S. aureus virulence of those mechanisms.