Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 115, Issue 31, Pages 8003-8008Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1720520115
Keywords
MRSA; antivirulence; virulence factors; ClpP; bacterial infection
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Funding
- HKU URC
- RGC of the Hong Kong SAR Project [AoE/P-705/16]
- Research Fund for the Control of Infectious Diseases [HK-09-01-14, HK-09-01-15]
- HMRF [HKM-15-M11]
- Providence Foundation
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Emerging antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens has necessitated the development of alternative approaches to combat drug-resistance-associated infection. The abolition of Staphylococcus aureus virulence by targeting multiple-virulence gene products represents a promising strategy for exploration. A multiplex promoter reporter platform using gfp-luxABCDE dual-reporter plasmids with selected promoters from S. aureus-virulence-associated genes was used to identify compounds that modulate the expression of virulence factors. One small-molecule compound, M21, was identified from a chemical library to reverse virulent S. aureus into its nonvirulent state. M21 is a noncompetitive inhibitor of ClpP and alters a-toxin expression in a ClpP-dependent manner. A mouse model of infection indicated that M21 could attenuate S. aureus virulence. This nonantibiotic compound has been shown to suppress the expression of multiple unrelated virulence factors in S. aureus, suggesting that targeting a master regulator of virulence is an effective way to control virulence. Our results illustrate the power of chemical genetics in the modulation of virulence gene expression in pathogenic bacteria.
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