Abstract
Glycosylation of proteins, previously thought to be absent in prokaryotes, is increasingly recognized as important for both bacterial colonization and pathogenesis. For mucosal pathobionts, glycoproteins that function as cell wall-associated adhesins facilitate interactions with mucosal surfaces, permitting persistent adherence, invasion of deeper tissues and transition to disease. This is exemplified by Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus agalactiae, which can switch from being relatively harmless members of the mucosal tract microbiota to bona fide pathogens that cause life-threatening diseases. As part of their armamentarium of virulence factors, streptococci encode a family of large, glycosylated serine-rich repeat proteins (SRRPs) that facilitate binding to various tissue types and extracellular matrix proteins. This minireview focuses on the roles of S. pneumoniae and S. agalactiae SRRPs in persistent colonization and the transition to disease. The potential of utilizing SRRPs as vaccine targets will also be discussed.
Highlights
It is well-established that glycosylation of eukaryotic proteins is important for regulating cellular processes, including receptor signaling and inflammation (Reily et al, 2019)
PsrP promotes persistent colonization and pneumonia through biofilm formation but is largely dispensable during systemic infections caused by S. pneumoniae
Given their association with colonization and pathogenesis, serine-rich repeat proteins (SRRPs) have emerged as potential vaccine targets
Summary
It is well-established that glycosylation of eukaryotic proteins is important for regulating cellular processes, including receptor signaling and inflammation (Reily et al, 2019). Studies estimate that pneumococci and GBS were respectively responsible for the death of around 300,000 and 90,000 children under 5 in 2015 (Seale et al, 2017; Wahl et al, 2018) Despite their notoriety as deadly pathogens, they are commonly found as asymptomatic colonizers of human mucosal surfaces, and may cause milder diseases such as otitis media (S. pneumoniae) or urinary tract infections (S. agalactiae) (Feldman and Anderson, 2019; McLaughlin et al, 2020). Both S. pneumoniae and S. agalactiae have large accessory genomes, leading to considerable variation in pathogenic potential between serotypes and sequence types (Hiller and Sá-Leão, 2018; Chen, 2019). We will discuss the potential of using SRRPs as vaccine targets for S. pneumoniae and S. agalactiae
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