Characterization of an extracelluar structure produced by Staphylococcus aureus

描述(申请人提供)：金黄色葡萄球菌是一种医学上重要的人类病原体，在大约三分之一的人类人口的鼻道中发现。鼻子是这种病原体传播的蓄水池，使宿主容易受到潜在感染。尽管金黄色葡萄球菌对人类健康很重要，但影响鼻腔定植的分子机制和宿主因素尚不清楚。我们最近发现了一种由金黄色葡萄球菌在鼻腔定植过程中产生的胞外淀粉样纤维。这一发现非常新颖和令人兴奋，因为金黄色葡萄球菌从未被证明能产生细胞外结构。我们推测这种细胞外纤维对金黄色葡萄球菌的鼻腔定植和鼻腔内的持久性很重要。我们的初步结果表明，这些纤维有助于生物膜的发育，并由多种毒素组成，这些毒素正在折叠成 丰富的β片层确认自组装成淀粉样纤维。这项提案的目的将决定金黄色葡萄球菌纤维的组成、形成、降解和在鼻部定植和生物膜发育过程中的作用。在这些研究的结论中，我们将扩大我们对金黄色葡萄球菌鼻部定植的了解，并表征由这种重要的共生和病原体产生的一种新的细胞外结构。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Staphylococcus aureus is a medically important human pathogen that is found in the nasal passages of approximately 1/3 of the human population. The nose serves as a reservoir for spread of this pathogen and predisposes the host to potential infection. Despite the importance of S. aureus to human health, molecular mechanisms and host factors influencing nasal colonization are not well understood. We have recently discovered an extracellular amyloid fiber produced by S. aureus during nasal colonization. This finding is extremely novel and exciting as S. aureus has never been shown to produce extracellular structures. We hypothesize that this extracellular fiber is important for S. aureus nasal colonization and persistence within the nose. Our preliminary results suggest that the fibers contribute to biofilm development and consist of multiple toxins, which are folding into beta sheet rich confirmations to self-assemble into amyloid fibers. The aims of this proposal will determine the composition, formation, degradation and role of S. aureus fibers during nasal colonization and biofilm development. At the conclusion of these studies, we will have expanded our knowledge of S. aureus nasal colonization and characterized a novel extracellular structure produced by this important commensal and pathogen.