Novel virulence and exoenzyme regulators

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Bacterial keratitis is a costly and global problem that results in vision loss and blindness, and Serratia marcescens is a leading agent of community-acquired Gram-negative bacterial keratitis. S. marcescens also causes many hospital acquired infections including pneumonia, endocarditis, bacteremia and urinary tract infections that are commonly resistant to current antibiotics and whose outcomes are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. There is a lack of studies that investigate how S. marcescens genes contribute to ocular infections using isogenic mutant strains. The broad long-term objective of this research is to prevent vision loss following corneal infections caused by this organism. A better understanding of the mechanisms by S. marcescens virulence factors are regulated will allow for a novel approach to reduce tissue damage and corneal opacification that results from the expression of these factors. This new knowledge about specific pathways can be used to custom design novel anti-infectives. Establishing new therapeutic targets is becoming ever more important as bacteria continue to develop resistance to existing classes of antibiotics. Our overall specific hypothesis to be tested is that the transcription factor EepR/S is a critical virulence factor that controls expression of tissue damaging metalloprotease and hemolysin activities. Our preliminary data supports that the mutation of EepR/S in S. marcescens severely attenuates the pathogenesis of S. marcescens in an in vivo ocular model of keratitis. Our central hypothesis will be tested by accomplishing the following aims: Aim 1. Test the hypothesis that EepR/S, four metalloproteases and the ShlA hemolysin are required for S. marcescens cytotoxicity in vitro and ocular pathogenesis in vivo. Aim 2. Test the hypothesis that EepR and EepS regulate transcription of metalloprotease and hemolysin genes, and that EepR/S is in a regulatory pathway with other transcription factors (crp, hexS and pigP).