Identification of a staphylococcal complement inhibitor with broad host specificity in equid <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> strains.

ABSTRACT: Staphylococcus aureus is a versatile pathogen capable of causing a broad range of diseases in many different hosts. S. aureus can adapt to its host through modification of its genome (e.g. by acquisition and exchange of mobile genetic elements that encode host-specific virulence factors). Recently, the prophage φSaeq1 was discovered in S. aureus strains from six different clonal lineages almost exclusively isolated from equids. Within this phage, we discovered a novel variant of staphylococcal complement inhibitor (SCIN), a secreted protein that interferes with activation of the human complement system, an important line of host defense. We here show that this equine variant of SCIN, eqSCIN, is a potent blocker of equine complement system activation and subseque

SUBMITTER: de Jong NWM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5868266 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature