Characterization of an extracelluar structure produced by Staphylococcus aureus

描述（由申请人提供）：金黄色葡萄球菌是一种医学上重要的人类病原体，存在于大约1/3的人口的鼻道中。鼻子是这种病原体传播的储存库，使宿主容易受到潜在的感染。尽管金黄色葡萄球菌对人类健康很重要，但影响其鼻腔定植的分子机制和宿主因素尚不清楚。我们最近发现了金黄色葡萄球菌在鼻腔定植过程中产生的细胞外淀粉样纤维。这一发现是非常新颖和令人兴奋的，因为金黄色葡萄球菌从未被证明产生细胞外结构。我们假设这种细胞外纤维对金黄色葡萄球菌在鼻腔内的定植和持续存在很重要。我们的初步结果表明，纤维有助于生物膜的发育，并由多种毒素组成，这些毒素折叠成

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.