Journal article
Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Patients with Kawasaki Disease Express High Levels of Protein A
Infection and immunity, Vol.67(9), pp.4737-4743
09/1999
DOI: 10.1128/IAI.67.9.4737-4743.1999
PMCID: PMC96803
PMID: 10456925
Abstract
Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute vasculitis of young children that can be complicated by coronary artery abnormalities. Recent findings suggest that a superantigen(s) may play an important role in stimulating the immune activation associated with the disease, although the origin of this superantigen(s) is unclear.
Staphylococcus aureus
, isolated from the rectum or pharynx of patients with KD, secretes toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1). The KD isolates express low levels of other exoproteins compared to isolates from patients with toxic shock syndrome (TSS). Thus, it was previously suggested that the KD isolates may be defective in the global regulatory locus
agr
(for accessory gene regulator), which positively regulates these factors (D. Y. M. Leung et al., Lancet 342:1385–1388, 1993). Here we describe another characteristic of KD isolates. When considered collectively, the KD isolates were found to express higher levels of staphylococcal protein A than the TSS isolates, another characteristic of an
agr
-defective phenotype. This correlated with a higher level of
spa
mRNA in these isolates. In contrast, the KD and TSS isolates expressed comparable levels of TSST-1, consistent with previous findings (D. Y. M. Leung et al., Lancet 342:1385–1388, 1993). Analysis of RNAIII transcript levels and nucleotide sequence analysis of the RNAIII-coding region suggested that the KD isolates are not defective in RNAIII, the effector molecule of the
agr
regulatory system. However, induction of RNAIII transcription in the KD isolates did not result in a dramatic decrease in the amount of
spa
mRNA, as has been reported for other strains (F. Vandenesch, J. Kornblum, and R. P. Novick, J. Bacteriol. 173:6313–6320, 1991).
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Patients with Kawasaki Disease Express High Levels of Protein A
- Creators
- Elisabeth R Wann - ; and Toxin Technology, Sarasota, Florida 34231Amy P Fehringer - ; and Toxin Technology, Sarasota, Florida 34231Yuri V Ezepchuk - ; and Toxin Technology, Sarasota, Florida 34231Patrick M Schlievert - ; and Toxin Technology, Sarasota, Florida 34231Paul Bina - ; and Toxin Technology, Sarasota, Florida 34231Raoul F Reiser - ; and Toxin Technology, Sarasota, Florida 34231Magnus M Höök - ; and Toxin Technology, Sarasota, Florida 34231Donald Y. M Leung - ; and Toxin Technology, Sarasota, Florida 34231
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Infection and immunity, Vol.67(9), pp.4737-4743
- Publisher
- American Society for Microbiology
- DOI
- 10.1128/IAI.67.9.4737-4743.1999
- PMID
- 10456925
- PMCID
- PMC96803
- ISSN
- 0019-9567
- eISSN
- 1098-5522
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 09/1999
- Academic Unit
- Microbiology and Immunology; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984001128202771
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