Insight into the molecular basis of pathogen abundance: group A Streptococcus inhibitor of complement inhibits bacterial adherence and internalization into human cells.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcal inhibitor of complement (Sic) is a secreted protein made predominantly by serotype M1 Group A Streptococcus (GAS), which contributes to persistence in the mammalian upper respiratory tract and epidemics of human disease. Unexpectedly, an isogenic sic-negative mutant adhered to human epithelial cells significantly better than the wild-type parental strain. Purified Sic inhibited the adherence of a sic negative serotype M1 mutant and of non-Sic-producing GAS strains to human epithelial cells. Sic was rapidly internalized by human epithelial cells, inducing cell flattening and loss of microvilli. Ezrin and moesin, human proteins that functionally link the cytoskeleton to the plasma membrane, were identified as Sic-binding proteins by affinity chromatography and matrix-assisted l

SUBMITTER: Hoe NP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC124310 | biostudies-literature | 2002 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature