Discovery of a pigment produced by Streptococcus pyogenes

化脓性链球菌产生色素的发现 摘要 这项提案旨在推进一项新的观察，即人类病原体化脓性链球菌（组 一种链球菌（GAS）产生一种色素，这种色素尚未报道。我们假设色素可以保护 来自宿主来源和/或环境应激源（如活性氧）的GAS，并可能增强 它的适应性和潜在的增强其毒性。80年来，文献中没有提到一种颜料 在此之前，只有两个引用提到了这样一个因素。我们 我怀疑这种性质被忽视了，因为它的存在只有在实验室中才变得明显， 在化学成分确定的培养基中培养，生长至高细胞密度，并在暴露于氧气之后。 了解色素的产生是否以及如何促进GAS的适应性可以提供一个新的 治疗剂或疫苗可以瞄准目标。本提案的目的是阐明 GAS色素的组成和结构，以鉴定与其产生和调节相关的基因， 并描述其保护GAS免受应激源和免疫细胞杀伤的能力，同时探索任何 细胞毒性性质。

Discovery of a pigment produced by Streptococcus pyogenes Abstract This proposal seeks to advance a new observation that the human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus, GAS) produces a pigment that has gone unreported. We hypothesize the pigment protects GAS from host-derived and/or environmental stressors (such as reactive oxygen species) and likely enhances its fitness and potentially augments its virulence. For 80 years, no reference in the literature exists of a pigment being produced by this important organism, and prior to that, only two citations allude to such a factor. We suspect this property has been overlooked because its presence only becomes apparent in the laboratory after culturing in a chemically defined medium, grown to high cell densities, and after exposure to oxygen. Understanding if and how the production of a pigment could boost the fitness of GAS could provide a new target that therapeutics or vaccines could take aim upon. The objectives of this proposal are to elucidate the composition and structure of the GAS pigment, to identify genes associated with its production and regulation, and to characterize its ability to protect GAS from stressors and immune cell killing while exploring any cytotoxic properties.