Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis: distinct mechanisms of bacterial adhesion to damaged and inflamed heart valves.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

The pathogenesis of endocarditis is not well understood resulting in unsuccessful attempts at prevention. Clinical observations suggest that Staphylococcus aureus infects either damaged or inflamed heart valves. Using a newly developed endocarditis mouse model, we therefore studied the initial adhesion of S. aureus in both risk states.

Methods and results

Using 3D confocal microscopy, we examined the adhesion of fluorescent S. aureus to murine aortic valves. To mimic different risk states we either damaged the valves with a surgically placed catheter or simulated valve inflammation by local endothelium activation. We used von Willebrand factor (VWF) gene-deficient mice, induced platelet and fibrinogen depletion and used several S. aureus mutant strains to investigate th

SUBMITTER: Liesenborghs L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7963134 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature