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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Nicholas JakubovicsORCiD
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Adhesion of bacterial cells to fibronectin (FN) is thought to be a pivotal step in the pathogenesis of invasive infectious diseases. Viridans group streptococci such as Streptococcus gordonii are considered commensal members of the oral microflora, but are important pathogens in infective endocarditis. S. gordonii expresses a battery of cell-surface adhesins that act alone or in concert to bind host receptors. Here, we employed molecular genetic approaches to determine the relative contributions of five known S. gordonii surface proteins to adherence to human FN. Binding levels to FN by isogenic mutants lacking Hsa glycoprotein were reduced by 70%, while mutants lacking CshA and CshB fibrillar proteins showed approximately 30% reduced binding. By contrast, disruption of antigen I/II adhesin genes sspA and sspB in a wild-type background did not result in reduced FIN binding. Enzymic removal of sialic acids from FIN led to reduced S. gordonii DL1 adhesion (>50%), but did not affect binding by the hsa mutant, indicating that Hsa interacts with sialic acid moieties on FN. Conversely, desialylation of FIN did not affect adherence levels of Lactococcus lactis cells expressing SspA or SspB polypeptides. Complementation of the hsa mutant partially restored adhesion to FN. A model is proposed for FN binding by S. gordonii in which Hsa and CshA/CshB are primary adhesins, and SspA or SspB play secondary roles. Understanding the basis of oral streptococcal interactions with FN will provide a foundation for development of new strategies to control infective endocarditis.
Author(s): Jakubovics NS, Brittan JL, Dutton LC, Jenkinson HF
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Microbiology
Year: 2009
Volume: 155
Issue: 11
Pages: 3572-3580
ISSN (print): 1350-0872
ISSN (electronic): 1465-2080
Publisher: Society for General Microbiology
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.032078-0
DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.032078-0
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