Genetic characterization of staphopain genes in Staphylococcus aureus
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Ewa Golonka
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus, a leading cause of bacterial infections in humans, is endowed with a wealth of virulence factors that contribute to the disease process. Several extracellular proteolytic enzymes, including cysteine proteinases referred to as the staphopains (staphopain A, encoded by the scpA gene, and staphopain B, encoded by sspB), have proposed roles for staphylococcal virulence. Here we present data regarding the distribution, copy number and genetic variability of the genes encoding the staphopains in a large number of S. aureus strains. The polymorphism of the scpA and sspB genes in three laboratory strains and 126 clinical isolates was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Both genes were detected in all isolates by PCR amplification and, based on the PCR-RFLP patterns, classified as four types for scpA and six types for sspB. Those with the most divergent patterns were subjected to DNA sequencing and compared with genomic sequence data for the seven available strains of S. aureus. Southern blot analysis of the scpA and sspB sequences indicates that they are strongly conserved as single-copy genes in the genome of each S. aureus strain investigated. Taken together, these data suggest that the staphopains have important housekeeping and/or virulence functions, and therefore may constitute an interesting target for the development of therapeutic inhibitors for the treatment of staphylococcal diseases.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Hiroshi Maeda – 40 years of research
- Activation of the kallikrein-kinin system and release of new kinins through alternative cleavage of kininogens by microbial and human cell proteinases
- Molecular mechanism for activation and regulation of matrix metalloproteinases during bacterial infections and respiratory inflammation
- Role of bacterial proteases in pseudomonal and serratial keratitis
- Cysteine cathepsins in human cancer
- Secretory leukoprotease inhibitor and pulmonary surfactant serve as principal defenses against influenza A virus infection in the airway and chemical agents up-regulating their levels may have therapeutic potential
- Design of inhibitors against HIV, HTLV-I, and Plasmodium falciparum aspartic proteases
- Roles of Arg- and Lys-gingipains in coaggregation of Porphyromonas gingivalis: identification of its responsible molecules in translation products of rgpA, kgp, and hagA genes
- Coordinate expression of the Porphyromonas gingivalis lysine-specific gingipain proteinase, Kgp, arginine-specific gingipain proteinase, RgpA, and the heme/hemoglobin receptor, HmuR
- Genetic characterization of staphopain genes in Staphylococcus aureus
- Visualisation of tissue kallikrein, kininogen and kinin receptors in human skin following trauma and in dermal diseases
- Reduction of myocardial infarction by calpain inhibitors A-705239 and A-705253 in isolated perfused rabbit hearts
- A proteinase inhibitor from Caesalpinia echinata (pau-brasil) seeds for plasma kallikrein, plasmin and factor XIIa
- Plasma prekallikrein/kallikrein processing by lysosomal cysteine proteases
- Characteristics of the caspase-like catalytic domain of human paracaspase
- mRNA expression analysis of a variety of apoptosis-related genes, including the novel gene of the BCL2-family, BCL2L12, in HL-60 leukemia cells after treatment with carboplatin and doxorubicin
- Thermoplasma acidophilum TAA43 is an archaeal member of the eukaryotic meiotic branch of AAA ATPases
- Lipopolysaccharide binding of an exchangeable apolipoprotein, apolipophorin III, from Galleria mellonella
Articles in the same Issue
- Hiroshi Maeda – 40 years of research
- Activation of the kallikrein-kinin system and release of new kinins through alternative cleavage of kininogens by microbial and human cell proteinases
- Molecular mechanism for activation and regulation of matrix metalloproteinases during bacterial infections and respiratory inflammation
- Role of bacterial proteases in pseudomonal and serratial keratitis
- Cysteine cathepsins in human cancer
- Secretory leukoprotease inhibitor and pulmonary surfactant serve as principal defenses against influenza A virus infection in the airway and chemical agents up-regulating their levels may have therapeutic potential
- Design of inhibitors against HIV, HTLV-I, and Plasmodium falciparum aspartic proteases
- Roles of Arg- and Lys-gingipains in coaggregation of Porphyromonas gingivalis: identification of its responsible molecules in translation products of rgpA, kgp, and hagA genes
- Coordinate expression of the Porphyromonas gingivalis lysine-specific gingipain proteinase, Kgp, arginine-specific gingipain proteinase, RgpA, and the heme/hemoglobin receptor, HmuR
- Genetic characterization of staphopain genes in Staphylococcus aureus
- Visualisation of tissue kallikrein, kininogen and kinin receptors in human skin following trauma and in dermal diseases
- Reduction of myocardial infarction by calpain inhibitors A-705239 and A-705253 in isolated perfused rabbit hearts
- A proteinase inhibitor from Caesalpinia echinata (pau-brasil) seeds for plasma kallikrein, plasmin and factor XIIa
- Plasma prekallikrein/kallikrein processing by lysosomal cysteine proteases
- Characteristics of the caspase-like catalytic domain of human paracaspase
- mRNA expression analysis of a variety of apoptosis-related genes, including the novel gene of the BCL2-family, BCL2L12, in HL-60 leukemia cells after treatment with carboplatin and doxorubicin
- Thermoplasma acidophilum TAA43 is an archaeal member of the eukaryotic meiotic branch of AAA ATPases
- Lipopolysaccharide binding of an exchangeable apolipoprotein, apolipophorin III, from Galleria mellonella
