Intracellular Staphylococcus aureus employs the cysteine protease staphopain A to induce host cell death in epithelial cells.

ABSTRACT: Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen, which can invade and survive in non-professional and professional phagocytes. Uptake by host cells is thought to contribute to pathogenicity and persistence of the bacterium. Upon internalization by epithelial cells, cytotoxic S. aureus strains can escape from the phagosome, replicate in the cytosol and induce host cell death. Here, we identified a staphylococcal cysteine protease to induce cell death after translocation of intracellular S. aureus into the host cell cytoplasm. We demonstrated that loss of staphopain A function leads to delayed onset of host cell death and prolonged intracellular replication of S. aureus in epithelial cells. Overexpression of staphopain A in a non-cytotoxic strain facilitated intracellular killing of the host

SUBMITTER: Stelzner K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8443034 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature