Endopeptidase O promotes Streptococcus suis immune evasion by cleaving the host- defence peptide cathelicidins.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus suis is a zoonotic Gram-positive bacterium that causes invasive infections such as sepsis and meningitis, threatening public health worldwide. For successful establishment of infection, the bacterium should subvert the innate effectors of immune defence, including the cathelicidin family of host-defence peptides that combat pathogenic bacteria by directly disrupting cell membranes and coordinating immune responses. Here, our study shows that an extracellular endopeptidase O (PepO) of S. suis contributes to assisting the bacterium to resist cathelicidin-mediated killing, as the deletion of the pepO gene makes S. suis more sensitive to the human cathelicidin LL-37, as well as its mouse equivalent, mCRAMP. This protease targets and cleaves both LL-37

SUBMITTER: Jin M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10732652 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature