Binding host proteins to the M protein contributes to the mortality associated with influenza-Streptococcus pyogenes superinfections.

ABSTRACT: The mortality associated with influenza A virus (IAV) is often due to the development of secondary bacterial infections known as superinfections. The group A streptococcus (GAS) is a relatively uncommon cause of IAV superinfections, but the mortality of these infections is high. We used a murine model to determine whether the surface-localized GAS M protein contributes to the outcome of IAV-GAS superinfections. A comparison between wild-type GAS and an M protein mutant strain (emm3) showed that the M3 protein was essential to virulence. To determine whether the binding, or recruitment, of host proteins to the bacterial surface contributed to virulence, GAS was suspended with BALF collected from mice that had recovered from a sub-lethal infection with IAV. Following intranasal inoculation o

SUBMITTER: Herrera AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5845574 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature