Abstract
Staphylococcus sciuri is a rare pathogen in humans, but it can cause a wide array of human infections. Recently a strain of S. sciuri (HBXX06) carrying exfoliative toxin C (ExhC) was reported to cause fatal exudative epidermitis in piglets and might be considered as a potential zoonotic agent. However, little is known regarding the pathogenicity of this bacterium. In this study, we predicted the three-dimensional structure of S. sciuri HBXX06 ExhC and replaced Ser231 or His107 or Asp156 in the active site of ExhC by site-directed mutagenesis, and examined the effects of mutant ExhC on BHK-21 cells and newborn mice as models. Interestingly, we found that mutant ExhC lost its exfoliative effects on newborn mice but could still induce necrosis in cultured cells if any one of the three amino acid residues in the active site was replaced. These results suggest that Ser231, His107 and Asp156 of ExhC play a critical role in the induction of skin exfoliation in neonate mice, which may help to further understand the mechanisms underlying the actions of exfoliative toxins.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- EE:
-
exudative epidermitis
- ExhC:
-
exfoliative toxin C
- LB:
-
Luria-Bertani
- HDS:
-
triple ExhC mutant (H107A, D156G, S231G)
- PBS:
-
phosphate-buffered saline
References
Ahrens P. & Andresen L.O. 2004. Cloning and sequence analysis of genes encoding Staphylococcus hyicus exfoliative toxin types A, B, C, and D. J. Bacteriol. 186: 1833–1837.
Andresen L.O. 1998. Differentiation and distribution of three types of exfoliative toxin produced by Staphylococcus hyicus from pigs with exudative epidermitis. FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol. 20: 301–310.
Andresen L.O. 2005. Production of exfoliative toxin by isolates of Staphylococcus hyicus from different countries. Vet. Rec. 157: 376–378.
Andresen L.O., Ahrens P., Daugaard L. & Bille-Hansen V. 2005. Exudative epidermitis in pigs caused by toxigenic Staphylococcus chromogenes. Vet. Microbiol. 105: 291–300.
Andresen L.O., Wegener H.C. & Billehansen V. 1993. Staphylococcus hyicus skin reactions in piglets caused by crude extracellular products and by partially purified exfoliative toxin. Microb. Pathog. 15: 217–225.
Bailey C.J. & Redpath M.B. 1992. The esterolytic activity of epidermolytic toxins. Biochem. J. 284: 177–180.
Chen S., Wang Y., Chen F., Yang H., Gan M. & Zheng S.J. 2007. A highly pathogenic strain of Staphylococcus sciuri caused fatal exudative epidermitis in piglets. PLoS One 2: e147.
Couto I., de Lencastre H., Severina E., Kloos W., Webster J.A., Hubner R.J., Sanches I.S. & Tomasz A. 1996. Ubiquitous presence of a mecA homologue in natural isolates of Staphylococcus sciuri. Microb. Drug Resist. 2: 377–391.
Couto I., Sanches I.S., Sa-Leao R. & de Lencastre H. 2000. Molecular characterization of Staphylococcus sciuri strains isolated from humans. J. Clin. Microbiol. 38: 1136–1143.
Fudaba Y., Nishifuji K., Andersen L.O., Yamaguchi T., Komatsuzawa H., Amagai M. & Sugai M. 2005. Staphylococcus hyicus exfoliative toxins selectively digest porcine desmoglein 1. Microb. Pathog. 39: 171–176.
Hedin G. & Widerstrom M. 1998. Endocarditis due to Staphylococcus sciuri. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. 17: 673–675.
Higgins W.J., Fox D.M., Kowalski P.S., Nielsen J.E. & Worrall D.M. 2010. Heparin enhances serpin inhibition of the cysteine protease cathepsin L. J. Biol. Chem. 285: 3722–3729.
Horii T., Suzuki Y., Kimura T., Kanno T. & Maekawa M. 2001. Intravenous catheter-related septic shock caused by Staphylococcus sciuri and Escherichia vulneris. Scand. J. Infect. Dis. 33: 930–932.
Juncosa M., Pons J., Dot T., Querol E. & Planas A. 1994. Identification of active site carboxylic residues in Bacillus licheniformis 1,3-1,4-β-D-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase by site-directed mutagenesis. J. Biol. Chem. 269: 14530–14535.
Kiefer F., Arnold K., Künzli M., Bordoli L. & Schwede T. 2009. The SWISS-MODEL repository and associated resources. Nucleic Acids Res. 37: D387–D392.
Lamhamedi-Cherradi S.E., Zheng S.J., Maguschak K.A., Peschon J. & Chen Y.H. 2003. Defective thymocyte apoptosis and accelerated autoimmune diseases in TRAIL(−/−) mice. Nat. Immunol. 4: 255–260.
Li H., Wang Y., Ding L. & Zheng S.J. 2011. Staphylococcus sciuri exfoliative toxin C (ExhC) is a necrosis-inducer for mammalian cells. PLoS One 6: e23145.
Papageorgiou A.C., Plano L.R.W., Collins C.M. & Acharya K.R. 2000. Structural similarities and differences in Staphylococcus aureus exfoliative toxins A and B as revealed by their crystal structures. Protein Sci. 9: 610–618.
Poutrel B. 1984. Staphylococcus sciuri subsp. lentus associated with goat mastitis. Am. J. Vet. Res. 45: 2084–2085.
Rahman M.T., Kobayashi N., Alam M.M. & Ishino M. 2005. Genetic analysis of mecA homologues in Staphylococcus sciuri strains derived from mastitis in dairy cattle. Microb. Drug Resist. 11: 205–214.
Sato H., Tanabe T., Kuramoto M., Tanaka K., Hashimoto T. & Saito H. 1991. Isolation of exfoliative toxin from Staphylococcus hyicus subsp. hyicus and its exfoliative activity in the piglet. Vet. Microbiol. 27: 263–275.
Sato H., Watanabe T., Higuchi K., Teruya K., Ohtake A., Murata Y., Saito H., Aizawa C., Danbara H. & Maehara N. 2000. Chromosomal and extrachromosomal synthesis of exfoliative toxin from Staphylococcus hyicus. J. Bacteriol. 182: 4096–4100.
Stepanovic S., Dimitrijevic V., Vukovic D., Dakic I., Savic B. & Svabic-Vlahovic M. 2001a. Staphylococcus sciuri as a part of skin, nasal and oral flora in healthy dogs. Vet. Microbiol. 82: 177–185.
Stepanovic S., Jezek P., Dakic I., Vukovic D. & Seifert L. 2005. Staphylococcus sciuri: an unusual cause of pelvic inflammatory disease. Int. J. STD AIDS 16: 452–453.
Stepanovic S., Jezek P., Vukovic D., Dakic I. & Petras P. 2003. Isolation of members of the Staphylococcus sciuri group from urine and their relationship to urinary tract infections. J. Clin. Microbiol. 41: 5262–5264.
Stepanovic S., Vukovic D., Trajkovic V., Samardzic T., Cupic M. & Svabic-Vlahovic M. 2001b. Possible virulence factors of Staphylococcus sciuri. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 199: 47–53.
Takeuchi S., Kobayashi Y. & Morozumi T. 1987. Proteolytic zymograms of Staphylococcus hyicus subsp. hyicus isolated from pigs, chickens and cows. Vet. Microbiol. 14: 47–52.
Tanabe T., Sato H., Sato H., Watanabe K., Hirano M., Hirose K., Kurokawa S., Nakano K., Saito H. & Maehara N. 1996. Correlation between occurrence of exudative epidermitis and exfoliative toxin-producing ability of Staphylococcus hyicus. Vet. Microbiol. 48: 9–17.
Wallet F., Stuit L., Boulanger E., Roussel-Delvallez M., Dequiedt P. & Courcol R.J. 2000. Peritonitis due to Staphylococcus sciuri in a patient on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Scand. J. Infect. Dis. 32: 697–698.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, H., He, F., Zhang, Z. et al. Critical roles of amino acids Ser231, His107 and Asp156 of Staphylococcus sciuri exfoliative toxin C (ExhC) in the induction of skin exfoliations in neonate mice. Biologia 66, 1189–1195 (2011). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-011-0133-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-011-0133-z