SEC is an antiangiogenic virulence factor that promotes Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis independent of superantigen activity.

ABSTRACT: The superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin C (SEC) is critical for Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis (SAIE) in rabbits. Superantigenicity, its hallmark function, was proposed to be a major underlying mechanism driving SAIE but was not directly tested. With the use of S. aureus MW2 expressing SEC toxoids, we show that superantigenicity does not sufficiently account for vegetation growth, myocardial inflammation, and acute kidney injury in the rabbit model of native valve SAIE. These results highlight the critical contribution of an alternative function of superantigens to SAIE. In support of this, we provide evidence that SEC exerts antiangiogenic effects by inhibiting branching microvessel formation in an ex vivo rabbit aortic ring model and by inhibiting endothel

SUBMITTER: Kinney KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9094652 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature