Identification of an atypical zinc metalloproteinase, ZmpC, from an epidemic conjunctivitis-causing strain of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a pathogen associated with a range of invasive and noninvasive infections. Despite the identification of the majority of virulence factors expressed by S. pneumoniae, knowledge of the strategies used by this bacterium to trigger infections, especially those originating at wet-surfaced epithelia, remains limited. In this regard, we recently reported a mechanism used by a nonencapsulated, epidemic conjunctivitis-causing strain of S. pneumoniae (strain SP168) to gain access into ocular surface epithelial cells. Mechanistically, strain SP168 secretes a zinc metalloproteinase, encoded by a truncated zmpC gene, to cleave off the ectodomain of a vital defense component - the membrane mucin MUC16 - from the apical glycocalyx barrier of ocular surface epithelial cells an

SUBMITTER: Menon BB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3578082 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature