Genetic inactivation of the extracellular cysteine protease enhances in vitro internalization of group A streptococci by human epithelial and endothelial cells

Eugene H. Burns, Slawomir Lukomski, Jacqueline Rurangirwa, Andreas Podbielski, James M. Musser

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) produces an extracellular cysteine protease (streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin B) that participates in virulence. We examined two pairs of isogenic GAS strains (serotype M2 and M3) for ability to be internalized by human umbilical vein endothelial cells and A549 human lung fibroblasts. For both host cell types, the level of internalization by the cysteine protease-negative mutant strains was significantly greater than the wild type parent organisms. The data suggest that expression of the cysteine protease contributes to extracellular survival, an observation consistent with recent results from mouse infection studies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)333-339
Number of pages7
JournalMicrobial Pathogenesis
Volume24
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1998

Keywords

  • Cysteine protease
  • Internalization
  • Streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin B (SpeB)
  • Streptococcus pyogenes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases

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