New Insights into the Role of Zinc Acquisition and Zinc Tolerance in Group A Streptococcal Infection

Zinc plays an important role in host innate immune function. However, the innate immune system also utilizes zinc starvation ("nutritional immunity") to combat infections. Here, we investigate the role of zinc import and export in the protection of (group A ; GAS), a Gram-positive bacteria...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInfection and immunity Vol. 86; no. 6
Main Authors Ong, Cheryl-Lynn Y, Berking, Olga, Walker, Mark J, McEwan, Alastair G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Society for Microbiology 01.06.2018
Subjects
Bacterial Infections
Streptococcus pyogenes
nutritional immunity
zinc acquisition
zinc toxicity
neutrophils
group A Streptococcus
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Summary:Zinc plays an important role in host innate immune function. However, the innate immune system also utilizes zinc starvation ("nutritional immunity") to combat infections. Here, we investigate the role of zinc import and export in the protection of (group A ; GAS), a Gram-positive bacterial pathogen responsible for a wide spectrum of human diseases, against challenge from host innate immune defense. In order to determine the role of GAS zinc import and export during infection, we utilized zinc import (Δ Δ ) and export (Δ ) deletion mutants in competition with the wild type in both and virulence models. We demonstrate that nutritional immunity is deployed extracellularly, while zinc toxicity is utilized upon phagocytosis of GAS by neutrophils. We also show that lysosomes and azurophilic granules in neutrophils contain zinc stores for use against intracellular pathogens.
Bibliography:Citation Ong CY, Berking O, Walker MJ, McEwan AG. 2018. New insights into the role of zinc acquisition and zinc tolerance in group A streptococcal infection. Infect Immun 86:e00048-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00048-18.
M.J.W. and A.G.M. contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:0019-9567
1098-5522
DOI:10.1128/IAI.00048-18