Group A Streptococcus-Induced Activation of Human Plasminogen Is Required for Keratinocyte Wound Retraction and Rapid Clot Dissolution.

ABSTRACT: Invasive outcomes of Group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections that involve damage to skin and other tissues are initiated when these bacteria colonize and disseminate via an open wound to gain access to blood and deeper tissues. Two critical GAS virulence factors, Plasminogen-Associated M-Protein (PAM) and streptokinase (SK), work in concert to bind and activate host human plasminogen (hPg) in order to create a localized proteolytic environment that alters wound-site architecture. Using a wound scratch assay with immortalized epithelial cells, real-time live imaging (RTLI) was used to examine dynamic effects of hPg activation by a PAM-containing skin-trophic GAS isolate (AP53R⁺S^-) during the course of infection. RTLI of these wound models revealed that ret

SUBMITTER: Vu HM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8230121 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature