The ScpC protease of Streptococcus pyogenes affects the outcome of sepsis in a murine model.

Abstract

The ScpC protease of Streptococcus pyogenes degrades interleukin-8 (IL-8), a chemokine that mediates neutrophil transmigration and activation. The ability to degrade IL-8 differs dramatically among clinical isolates of S. pyogenes. Bacteria expressing ScpC overcome immune clearance by preventing the recruitment of neutrophils in soft tissue infection of mice. To study the role of ScpC in streptococcal sepsis, we generated an ScpC mutant that did not degrade IL-8 and thus failed to prevent the recruitment of immune cells as well as to cause disease after soft tissue infection. In a murine model of sepsis, challenge with the ScpC mutant resulted in more severe systemic disease with higher bacteremia levels and mortality than did challenge with the wild-type strain. As expected, the blood level of KC, the murine IL-8 homologue, increased in mice infected with the ScpC mutant. However, the elevated KC levels did not influence neutrophil numbers in blood, as it did in soft tissue, indicating that additional factors contributed to neutrophil transmigration in blood. In addition, the absence of ScpC increased tumor necrosis factor, IL-6, and C5a levels in blood, which contributed to disease severity. Thus, the ScpC mutant triggers high neutrophil infiltration but not lethal outcome after soft tissue infection, whereas intravenous infection leads to highly aggressive systemic disease.

• Authors: Hong Sjölinder, Lena Lövkvist, Laura Plant, Jens Eriksson, Helena Aro, Allison Jones, Ann-Beth Jonsson
• Journal: Infection and immunity (Infect Immun) Vol. 76 Issue 9 Pg. 3959-66 (Sep 2008) ISSN: 1098-5522 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 18573900 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Bacterial Proteins
• Interleukin-6
• Interleukin-8
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
• Virulence Factors
• Complement C5a
• Peptide Hydrolases

Topics

• Animals
• Bacterial Proteins (genetics, physiology)
• Blood (microbiology)
• Cell Line
• Complement C5a (analysis)
• Humans
• Interleukin-6 (blood)
• Interleukin-8 (immunology, metabolism)
• Mice
• Mutation, Missense
• Peptide Hydrolases (genetics, physiology)
• Sepsis (microbiology)
• Skin (pathology)
• Soft Tissue Infections (immunology, microbiology, pathology)
• Streptococcal Infections (immunology, microbiology, mortality, pathology)
• Streptococcus pyogenes (genetics, pathogenicity)
• Survival Analysis
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (blood)
• Virulence Factors (genetics, physiology)