Project description:Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) is a Staphylococcus aureus toxin that binds to and kills human neutrophils resulting in the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps. A subset of individuals colonized with PVL expressing S. aureus suffer from recurring infections. We found that neutrophils from affected individuals display increased spontaneous NET formation after isolation, and increased sensitivity to killing by PVL. Compared to healthy controls, the expression of the target receptors for PVL, CD45 and C5L2, but not CD88, was increased in these patients, and the expression correlated to the amount of PVL-induced NETs produced. NADPH-oxidase activity was not important for PVL induced NETosis as neutrophils from CGD patients produced NETs in response to PVL. Through NET proteome analysis we identified that the protein content of PVL induced NETs is different from mitogen induced NETs. The abundance of the antimicrobial proteins LL37, myeloperoxidase, azurocidin, and proteinase 3 was lower on PVL NETs and PVL-induced NETs were deficient in killing Staphylococcus aureus. Neutrophils from patients that suffer from recurring PVL-positive infections may be more sensitive to PVL-induced NETosis, impairing their ability to combat the infection.
Project description:The Staphylococcus aureus Panton Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a pore-forming toxin secreted by strains epidemiologically associated with the current outbreak of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) and with the often lethal necrotizing pneumonia. To investigate the role of PVL in pulmonary disease, we tested the pathogenicity of clinical isolates, isogenic PVL-negative and PVL-positive S. aureus strains, as well as purified PVL, in a mouse acute pneumonia model. Here we show that PVL is sufficient to cause pneumonia and that the expression of this leukotoxin induces global changes in transcriptional levels of genes encoding secreted and cell-wall-anchored staphylococcal proteins, including the lung inflammatory factor staphylococcal protein A (Spa). Keywords: comparative transcription profile in the presence or absence of PVL toxin
Project description:The heterogeneity in symptomatology and phenotypic profile attributable to COVID-19 is widely unknown. For the first time, our study provides the unique advantage of obtaining samples from the Middle Eastern population, an underrepresented region in genetic studies, and explore new genotypes in this population that will yield to novel genetic association. Specifically, we studied 646 patients in the United Arab Emirates. We describe strong association signals from genes on chromosomes 2, 3, 5, 11 and 13, which carry genes that are expressed in the lung, have been associated with tumour progression, emphysema, airway obstruction, and surface tension within the lung. Identifying genetic variants associated to COVID-19 susceptibility and severity may uncover novel biological insights into disease pathogenesis and identify mechanistic targets for therapeutic and vaccine development.
