Journal
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS
Volume 39, Issue 4, Pages 488-508Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuu009
Keywords
Group A Streptococcus; innate immunity; oxidative stress resistance; reactive oxygen species; Streptococcus pyogenes; virulence
Categories
Funding
- National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia [APP1033258]
- National Institutes of Health [AI077780, AI48176]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as group A Streptococcus (GAS), is an exclusively human Gram-positive bacterial pathogen ranked among the 'top 10' causes of infection-related deaths worldwide. GAS commonly causes benign and self-limiting epithelial infections (pharyngitis and impetigo), and less frequent severe invasive diseases (bacteremia, toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis). Annually, GAS causes 700 million infections, including 1.8 million invasive infections with a mortality rate of 25%. In order to establish an infection, GAS must counteract the oxidative stress conditions generated by the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) at the infection site by host immune cells such as neutrophils and monocytes. ROS are the highly reactive and toxic byproducts of oxygen metabolism, including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), superoxide anion (O-2(center dot-)), hydroxyl radicals (OH center dot) and singlet oxygen (O-2(*)), which can damage bacterial nucleic acids, proteins and cell membranes. This review summarizes the enzymatic and regulatory mechanisms utilized by GAS to thwart ROS and survive under conditions of oxidative stress.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available