Anjuli M. Timmer

The IL-8 Protease SpyCEP/ScpC of Group A Streptococcus Promotes Resistance to Neutrophil Killing

Interleukin-8 (IL-8) promotes neutrophil-mediated host defense through its chemoattractant and immunostimulatory activities. The Group A Streptococcus (GAS) protease SpyCEP (also called ScpC) cleaves IL-8, and SpyCEP expression is strongly upregulated in vivo in the M1T1 GAS strains associated with life-threatening systemic disease including necrotizing fasciitis. Coupling allelic replacement with heterologous gene expression, we show that SpyCEP is necessary and sufficient for IL-8 degradation. SpyCEP decreased IL-8-dependent neutrophil endothelial transmigration and bacterial killing, the latter by reducing neutrophil extracellular trap formation. The knockout mutant lacking SpyCEP was attenuated for virulence in murine infection models, and SpyCEP expression conferred protection to coinfecting bacteria. We also show that the zoonotic pathogen Streptococcus iniae possesses a functional homolog of SpyCEP (CepI) that cleaves IL-8, promotes neutrophil resistance, and contributes to virulence. By inactivating the multifunctional host defense peptide IL-8, the SpyCEP protease impairs neutrophil clearance mechanisms, contributing to the pathogenesis of invasive streptococcal infection.

Streptolysin O Promotes Group A Streptococcus Immune Evasion by Accelerated Macrophage Apoptosis

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a leading human bacterial pathogen capable of producing invasive infections even in previously healthy individuals. As frontline components of host innate defense, macrophages play a key role in control and clearance of GAS infections. We find GAS induces rapid, dose-dependent apoptosis of primary and cultured macrophages and neutrophils. The cell death pathway involves apoptotic caspases, is partly dependent on caspase-1, and requires GAS internalization by the phagocyte. Analysis of GAS virulence factor mutants, heterologous expression, and purified toxin studies identified the pore-forming cytolysin streptolysin O (SLO) as necessary and sufficient for the apoptosis-inducing phenotype. SLO-deficient GAS mutants induced less macrophage apoptosis in vitro and in vivo, allowed macrophage cytokine secretion, and were less virulent in a murine systemic infection model. Ultrastructural evidence of mitochondrial membrane remodeling, coupled with loss of mitochondrial depolarization and cytochrome c release, suggests a direct attack of the toxin initiates the intrinsic apoptosis pathway. A general caspase inhibitor blocked SLO-induced apoptosis and enhanced macrophage killing of GAS. We conclude that accelerated, caspase-dependent macrophage apoptosis induced by the pore-forming cytolysin SLO contributes to GAS immune evasion and virulence.

Genetic switch to hypervirulence reduces colonization phenotypes of the globally disseminated group A Streptococcus M1T1 clone

BACKGROUND The recent resurgence of invasive group A streptococcal disease has been paralleled by the emergence of the M1T1 clone. Recently, invasive disease initiation has been linked to mutations in the covR/S 2-component regulator. We investigated whether a fitness cost is associated with the covS mutation that counterbalances hypervirulence. METHODS Wild-type M1T1 group A Streptococcus and an isogenic covS-mutant strain derived from animal passage were compared for adherence to human laryngeal epithelial cells, human keratinocytes, or fibronectin; biofilm formation; and binding to intact mouse skin. Targeted mutagenesis of capsule expression of both strains was performed for analysis of its unique contribution to the observed phenotypes. RESULTS The covS-mutant bacteria showed reduced capacity to bind to epithelial cell layers as a consequence of increased capsule expression. The covS-mutant strain also had reduced capacity to bind fibronectin and to form biofilms on plastic and epithelial cell layers. A defect in skin adherence of the covS-mutant strain was demonstrated in a murine model. CONCLUSION Reduced colonization capacity provides a potential explanation for why the covS mutation, which confers hypervirulence, has not become fixed in the globally disseminated M1T1 group A Streptococcus clone, but rather may arise anew under innate immune selection in individual patients.

IL-1β-driven neutrophilia preserves antibacterial defense in the absence of the kinase IKKβ

Transcription factor NF-κB and its activating kinase IKKβ are associated with inflammation and are believed to be critical for innate immunity. Despite the likelihood of immune suppression, pharmacological blockade of IKKβ–NF-κB has been considered as a therapeutic strategy. However, we found neutrophilia in mice with inducible deletion of IKKβ (IkkβΔ mice). These mice had hyperproliferative granulocyte-macrophage progenitors and pregranulocytes and a prolonged lifespan of mature neutrophils that correlated with the induction of genes encoding prosurvival molecules. Deletion of interleukin 1 receptor 1 (IL-1R1) in IkkβΔ mice normalized blood cellularity and prevented neutrophil-driven inflammation. However, IkkβΔIl1r1−/− mice, unlike IkkβΔ mice, were highly susceptible to bacterial infection, which indicated that signaling via IKKβ–NF-κB or IL-1R1 can maintain antimicrobial defenses in each others absence, whereas inactivation of both pathways severely compromises innate immunity.

M1T1 group A streptococcal pili promote epithelial colonization but diminish systemic virulence through neutrophil extracellular entrapment.

Group A Streptococcus is a leading human pathogen associated with a diverse array of mucosal and systemic infections. Cell wall anchored pili were recently described in several species of pathogenic streptococci, and in the case of GAS, these surface appendages were demonstrated to facilitate epithelial cell adherence. Here we use targeted mutagenesis to evaluate the contribution of pilus expression to virulence of the globally disseminated M1T1 GAS clone, the leading agent of both GAS pharyngitis and severe invasive infections. We confirm that pilus expression promotes GAS adherence to pharyngeal cells, keratinocytes, and skin. However, in contrast to findings reported for group B streptococcal and pneumococcal pili, we observe that pilus expression reduces GAS virulence in murine models of necrotizing fasciitis, pneumonia and sepsis, while decreasing GAS survival in human blood. Further analysis indicated the systemic virulence attenuation associated with pilus expression was not related to differences in phagocytic uptake, complement deposition or cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide sensitivity. Rather, GAS pili were found to induce neutrophil IL-8 production, promote neutrophil transcytosis of endothelial cells, and increase neutrophil release of DNA-based extracellular traps, ultimately promoting GAS entrapment and killing within these structures.

Serum opacity factor promotes group A streptococcal epithelial cell invasion and virulence

Serum opacity factor (SOF) is a bifunctional cell surface protein expressed by 40–50% of group A streptococcal (GAS) strains comprised of a C‐terminal domain that binds fibronectin and an N‐terminal domain that mediates opacification of mammalian sera. The sof gene was recently discovered to be cotranscribed in a two‐gene operon with a gene encoding another fibronectin‐binding protein, sfbX. We compared the ability of a SOF(+) wild‐type serotype M49 GAS strain and isogenic mutants lacking SOF or SfbX to invade cultured HEp‐2 human pharyngeal epithelial cells. Elimination of SOF led to a significant decrease in HEp‐2 intracellular invasion while loss of SfbX had minimal effect. The hypoinvasive phenotype of the SOF(–) mutant could be restored upon complementation with the sof gene on a plasmid vector, and heterologous expression of sof49 in M1 GAS or Lactococcus lactis conferred marked increases in HEp‐2 cell invasion. Studies using a mutant sof49 gene lacking the fibronectin‐binding domain indicated that the N‐terminal opacification domain of SOF contributes to HEp‐2 invasion independent of the C‐terminal fibronectin binding domain, findings corroborated by observations that a purified SOF N‐terminal peptide could promote latex bead adherence to HEp‐2 cells and inhibit GAS invasion of HEp‐2 cells in a dose‐dependent manner. Finally, the first in vivo studies to employ a single gene allelic replacement mutant of SOF demonstrate that this protein contributes to GAS virulence in a murine model of necrotizing skin infection.

Impairment of innate immune killing mechanisms by bacteriostatic antibiotics

Antibiotics are designed to support host defense in controlling infection. Here we describe a paradoxical inhibitory effect of bacteriostatic antibiotics on key mediators of mammalian innate immunity. When growth of species including Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus is suppressed by chloramphenicol or erythromycin, the susceptibility of the bacteria to cathelicidin antimicrobial peptides or serum complement was markedly diminished. Survival of the bacteria in human whole blood, human wound fluid, or a mouse wound infection model was in turn increased after antibiotic‐induced bacteriostasis. These findings provide a further rationale against the indiscriminate use of antibiotics.—Kristian, S. A., Timmer, A. M., Liu, G. Y., Lauth, X., Sal‐Man, N., Rosenfeld, Y., Shai, Y., Gallo, R. L., Nizet, V. Impairment of innate immune killing mechanisms by bacteriostatic antibiotics. FASEB J. 21, 1107–1116 (2007)

Opacity factor activity and epithelial cell binding by the serum opacity factor protein of Streptococcus pyogenes are functionally discrete.

Serum opacity factor (SOF) is a unique multifunctional virulence determinant expressed at the surface of Streptococcus pyogenes and has been shown to elicit protective immunity against GAS infection in a murine challenge model. SOF consists of two distinct domains with different binding capacities: an N-terminal domain that binds apolipoprotein AI and a C-terminal repeat domain that binds fibronectin and fibrinogen. The capacity of SOF to opacify serum by disrupting the structure of high density lipoproteins may preclude its use as a vaccine antigen in humans. This study generated mutant forms of recombinant SOF with reduced (100-fold) or abrogated opacity factor (OF) activity, for use as vaccine antigens. However, alterations introduced into the N-terminal SOF peptide (SOFΔFn) by mutagenesis to abrogate OF activity, abolish the capacity of SOF to protect against lethal systemic S. pyogenes challenge in a murine model. Mutant forms of purified SOFΔFn peptide were also used to assess the contribution of OF activity to the pathogenic processes of cell adhesion and cell invasion. Using latex beads coated with full-length SOF, SOFΔFn peptide, or a peptide encompassing the C-terminal repeats (FnBD), we demonstrate that adhesion to HEp-2 cells is mediated by both SOFΔFn and FnBD. The HEp-2 cell binding displayed by the N-terminal SOFΔFn peptide is independent of OF activity. We demonstrate that while the N terminus of SOF does not directly mediate intracellular uptake by epithelial cells, this domain enhances epithelial cell uptake mediated by full-length SOF, in comparison to the FnBD alone.

Streptolysin O Rapidly Impairs Neutrophil Oxidative Burst and Antibacterial Responses to Group A Streptococcus

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) causes a wide range of human infections, ranging from simple pharyngitis to life-threatening necrotizing fasciitis and toxic shock syndrome. A globally disseminated clone of M1T1 GAS has been associated with an increase in severe, invasive GAS infections in recent decades. The secreted GAS pore-forming toxin streptolysin O (SLO), which induces eukaryotic cell lysis in a cholesterol-dependent manner, is highly upregulated in the GAS M1T1 clone during bloodstream dissemination. SLO is known to promote GAS resistance to phagocytic clearance by neutrophils, a critical first element of host defense against invasive bacterial infection. Here, we examine the role of SLO in modulating specific neutrophil functions during their early interaction with GAS. We find that SLO at subcytotoxic concentrations and early time points is necessary and sufficient to suppress neutrophil oxidative burst, in a manner reversed by free cholesterol and anti-SLO blocking antibodies. In addition, SLO at subcytotoxic concentrations blocked neutrophil degranulation, interleukin-8 secretion and responsiveness, and elaboration of DNA-based neutrophil extracellular traps, cumulatively supporting a key role for SLO in GAS resistance to immediate neutrophil killing. A non-toxic SLO derivate elicits protective immunity against lethal GAS challenge in a murine infection model. We conclude that SLO exerts a novel cytotoxic-independent function at early stages of invasive infections (<30 min), contributing to GAS escape from neutrophil clearance.

Strain-associated virulence factors of Streptococcus iniae in hybrid-striped bass

Streptococcus iniae is a major fish pathogen producing invasive infections that result in economic losses in aquaculture. Development of in vitro models of S. iniae virulence may provide insight to the pathogenesis of infection in vivo. Three S. iniae strains (K288, 94-426, and 29178) were tested for virulence in a hybrid-striped bass (HSB) model using intraperitoneal injection. S. iniae strains K288 and 94-426 caused high levels of mortality in HSB (lethal dose 2x10(5)CFU) while strain 29178 was avirulent even upon IP challenge with 1000-fold higher inocula. In vitro assays were developed to test for the presence of characteristics previously associated with virulence in other species of pathogenic Streptococcus in animals and humans. In vitro differences relevant to virulence were not detected for beta-hemolysin activity, sensitivity to antimicrobial peptides, or adherence and invasion of epithelial cell layers. However, in whole-blood killing assays, the pathogenic strains were resistant to blood clearance, while 29178 was cleared (P<0.001) and more sensitive to complement (P<0.001). The avirulent strain 29178 was most efficiently phagocytosed and was most susceptible to intracellular killing (P<0.01) by the carp leukocyte cell line (CLC). When exposed to reactive oxygen species, strain 29178 was most susceptible. When the oxidative burst of CLC cells was inhibited, intracellular survival of 29178 was rescued fivefold, while no significant enhancement in survival of K288 or 94-426 was detected. Our results indicate that resistance to phagocytosis, oxidative killing, and associated phagocytic clearance is a significant factor in S. iniae virulence.