Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Sai̊d-Salim, Battouli
• Mathema, Barun
• Braughton, Kevin
• Davis, Stacy
• Sinsimer, Daniel
• Eisner, William
• Likhoshvay, Yekaterina
• DeLeo, Frank R
• Kreiswirth, Barry N

Titel

Differential Distribution and Expression of Panton-Valentine Leucocidin among Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains

Ist Teil von

• Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2005-07, Vol.43 (7), p.3373-3379

Ort / Verlag

Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology

Erscheinungsjahr

2005

Quelle

Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek - Frei zugängliche E-Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is an emerging threat worldwide. CA-MRSA strains differ from hospital-acquired MRSA strains in their antibiotic susceptibilities and genetic backgrounds. Using several genotyping methods, we clearly define CA-MRSA at the genetic level and demonstrate that the prototypic CA-MRSA strain, MW2, has spread as a homogeneous clonal strain family that is distinct from other CA-MRSA strains. The Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL)-encoding genes, lukF and lukS, are prevalent among CA-MRSA strains and have previously been associated with CA-MRSA infections. To better elucidate the role of PVL in the pathogenesis of CA-MRSA, we first analyzed the distribution and expression of PVL among different CA-MRSA strains. Our data demonstrate that PVL genes are differentially distributed among CA-MRSA strains and, when they are present, are always transcribed, albeit with strain-to-strain variability of transcript levels. To directly test whether PVL is critical for the pathogenesis of CA-MRSA, we evaluated the lysis of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) during phagocytic interaction with PVL-positive and PVL-negative CA-MRSA strains. Unexpectedly, there was no correlation between PVL expression and PMN lysis, suggesting that additional virulence factors underlie leukotoxicity and, thus, the pathogenesis of CA-MRSA.