Abstract
Gram-positive bacterial pathogens have an array of proteins on their cell surface that mediate interactions with the host environment. In particular, bacterial cell wall-associated (CWA) proteins play key roles in both colonization and pathogenesis. Furthermore, some CWA proteins promote specialization for host-species or mediate colonization of specific anatomical niches within a host. In this mini review, we provide examples of the many ways by which major pathogens, such as Staphylococci, Streptococci and Listeria monocytogenes, utilize CWA proteins for both host- and niche-specialization. We describe different biological mechanisms mediated by CWA proteins including: the acquisition of iron from hemoglobin in the bloodstream, adherence to and invasion of host cells, and innate immune evasion through binding to the plasma proteins fibrinogen, immunoglobulin G, and complement. We also discuss the limitations of using animal models for understanding the role of specific CWA proteins in host-specialization and how transformative technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas, offer tremendous potential for developing transgenic models that simulate the host environment of interest. Improved understanding of the role of CWA proteins in niche- or host-specificity will allow the design of new therapeutic approaches which target key host–pathogen interactions underpinning Gram-positive bacterial infections.
Highlights
Bacteria have typically evolved to occupy particular niches within host-species or the environment
Streptococcus uberis and some clones of Staphylococcus aureus are specialized for infection of the bovine mammary gland and Listeria monocytogenes has a tropism for transcytosis of the placenta and intestinal epithelia (Lecuit et al, 2004)
These data highlighted the key importance of DltB in host–pathogen interactions, a discovery reinforced by a subsequent study that identified DltB as a novel druggable target (Pasquina et al, 2016)
Summary
Bacteria have typically evolved to occupy particular niches within host-species or the environment. Adaptation to Specialization of Bacterial Surface Proteins a novel niche or host-species involves multiple evolutionary mechanisms including mutation, recombination and horizontal gene transfer.
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