. Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important human pathogen that exerts a tremendous negative impact on human health. S. aureus stands out among other species of Coagulase- Negative Staphylococci (CoNS) in that S. aureus specifically has evolved high pathogenic potential. Some of this is explained by the arsenal of virulence traits present in the genomes of MRSA isolates. However, the metabolic evolution of S. aureus contributes equally to the success of this pathogen. That is, S. aureus has evolved to thrive at sites if inflammation, which are very often hypoxic, replete with immune radicals (e.g. nitric oxide, NO) and devoid of free iron. All these attributes limit bacterial respiration and S. aureus has evolved to better deal with such respiratory stress than most CoNS. In response to respiratory stress, S. aureus elicits a metabolic state that maximizes glycolytic flux coupled to lactate excretion. This Warburg-like metabolism is reminiscent of that employed by host immune cells infiltrating to sites if infection. Thus, S. aureus must compete with the host for available glucose. As such, S. aureus encodes three glucose-specific transporters not present in most CoNS. Moreover, S. aureus encodes a unique lactate dehydrogenase (Ldh1) that supports redox balance in the absence of respiration. Our LC-MS metabolomics survey of S. aureus under respiratory stress has uncovered many new pathways beyond lactate production that contribute to redox balance.
Aim 1 of this proposal seeks to identify the genes that encode the enzymes in these pathways as none have been annotated. We hypothesize that many of these genes share a common regulatory mechanism and are not encoded in the genomes of most CoNS. Thus, these newly acquired metabolic genes represent additional examples of the metabolic evolution that allowed for the emergence of a pathogen from a genus of skin commensals. We will also explore whether the certain genes exhibit signatures of forward selection specifically among NO-resistant staphylococci possibly highlighting new mechanisms of metabolic evolution.
The second Aim focuses on uncovering the mechanism by which all of these newly acquired metabolic genes, and major virulence regulons (Agr) are controlled by the presence of glucose. We contend that S. aureus uses glucose as a signal that it has penetrated into deeper tissue given that carbohydrates are scarce on the skin surface. Coordinating the expression of virulence genes as well as metabolic genes that contribute to growth in inflamed tissue with the availability of glucose underscores the importance of this carbon source to the metabolic evolution of S. aureus. As such, the final aim investigates whether excessive blood glucose in diabetic patients drives MRSA virulence factor production thereby worsening infection. In total, this proposal seeks to finalize our understanding of the metabolic evolution of an important human pathogen and how it is intricately tied to blood glucose. Perhaps the rise in metabolic disorder in the US accounts for more of the rise in MRSA incidence over the last several decades that previously appreciated.

Public Health Relevance

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an extremely important human pathogen that significantly burdens human health worldwide. This pathogen evolved from a genus of commensal skin/hair colonizers through the acquisition of a wide array of virulence determinants. Our group has also demonstrated that an understudied aspect of MRSA evolution is the enhanced metabolic flexibility of this pathogen that allows it to thrive in the face of host immunity. The poorly understood metabolic evolution of MRSA is therefore the focus of this proposal.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI093613-10
Application #
9985701
Study Section
Bacterial Pathogenesis Study Section (BACP)
Program Officer
Huntley, Clayton C
Project Start
2011-03-01
Project End
2022-08-31
Budget Start
2020-09-01
Budget End
2021-08-31
Support Year
10
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Pittsburgh
Department
Genetics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004514360
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15260
Grosser, Melinda R; Paluscio, Elyse; Thurlow, Lance R et al. (2018) Genetic requirements for Staphylococcus aureus nitric oxide resistance and virulence. PLoS Pathog 14:e1006907
Altman, Deena R; Sullivan, Mitchell J; Chacko, Kieran I et al. (2018) Genome Plasticity of agr-Defective Staphylococcus aureus during Clinical Infection. Infect Immun 86:
Thurlow, Lance R; Joshi, Gauri S; Richardson, Anthony R (2018) Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor ? Is Essential for the Resolution of Staphylococcus aureus Skin Infections. Cell Host Microbe 24:261-270.e4
Keener, Amanda B; Thurlow, Lance T; Kang, SunAh et al. (2017) Staphylococcus aureus Protein A Disrupts Immunity Mediated by Long-Lived Plasma Cells. J Immunol 198:1263-1273
Vitko, Nicholas P; Grosser, Melinda R; Khatri, Dal et al. (2016) Expanded Glucose Import Capability Affords Staphylococcus aureus Optimized Glycolytic Flux during Infection. MBio 7:
Grosser, Melinda R; Richardson, Anthony R (2016) Method for Preparation and Electroporation of S. aureus and S. epidermidis. Methods Mol Biol 1373:51-7
Spahich, Nicole A; Vitko, Nicholas P; Thurlow, Lance R et al. (2016) Staphylococcus aureus lactate- and malate-quinone oxidoreductases contribute to nitric oxide resistance and virulence. Mol Microbiol 100:759-73
Grosser, Melinda R; Weiss, Andy; Shaw, Lindsey N et al. (2016) Regulatory Requirements for Staphylococcus aureus Nitric Oxide Resistance. J Bacteriol 198:2043-55
Richardson, Anthony R; Somerville, Greg A; Sonenshein, Abraham L (2015) Regulating the Intersection of Metabolism and Pathogenesis in Gram-positive Bacteria. Microbiol Spectr 3:
Vitko, Nicholas P; Spahich, Nicole A; Richardson, Anthony R (2015) Glycolytic dependency of high-level nitric oxide resistance and virulence in Staphylococcus aureus. MBio 6:

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