Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common hospital acquired infections. It colonizes immunocompromised patients and with the number of antibiotic resistant strains increasing, medicine needs new treatment options. Understanding more about the proteins this organism uses would further this goal. Hypothetical proteins are sequences thought to encode a functional protein but for which little to no evidence of that function exists. About half of the genomic proteins in reference strain S. aureus NCTC 8325 are hypothetical. Since annotation of these proteins can lead to new therapeutic targets, a high demand to characterize hypothetical proteins is present. This work examines 35 hypothetical proteins from the chromosome of S. aureus NCTC 8325. Examination includes physiochemical characterization; sequence homology; structural homology; domain recognition; structure modeling; active site depiction; predicted protein-protein interactions; protein-chemical interactions; protein localization; protein stability; and protein solubility. The examination revealed some hypothetical proteins related to virulent domains and protein-protein interactions including superoxide dismutase, O-antigen, bacterial ferric iron reductase and siderophore synthesis. Yet other hypothetical proteins appear to be metabolic or transport proteins including ABC transporters, major facilitator superfamily, S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase, and GTPases. Progress evaluating some hypothetical proteins, particularly the smaller ones, was incomplete due to limited homology and structural information in public repositories. These data characterizing hypothetical proteins will contribute to the scientific understanding of S. aureus by identifying potential drug targets and aiding in future drug discovery.
Highlights
While Staphylococcus aureus is a natural bacterial inhabitant of nasal passages, it is a major cause of nosocomial infections of surgical wounds involving indwelling medical devices [1]
The examination revealed some hypothetical proteins with potentially virulent domains and protein-protein interactions including Oantigen, superoxide dismutase, siderophore synthesis, and bacterial ferric iron reductase
Other hypothetical proteins appear to metabolic or transport proteins including major facilitator superfamily, ABC transporters, GTPases, and Sadenosylmethionine decarboxylase
Summary
While Staphylococcus aureus is a natural bacterial inhabitant of nasal passages, it is a major cause of nosocomial infections of surgical wounds involving indwelling medical devices [1]. It can present as superficial skin lesions or localized abscesses turning into deep-seated infections such as furunculosis if left untreated. In 2011, the Center for Disease Control estimate 80,000 invasive MRSA infections and 11,285 related deaths in the United States annually [3] Most of these are nosocomial infections, though there are increases in community acquired (CA) MRSA infections, among immunocompromised patients. There is no significant data showing a link between race
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