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Project

Identification of novel surface-expressed factors mediating virulence and biofilm formation in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (FWOAL563)

Methicilline-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) recently became of the leading causes of hospital-acquired infections (HA) and infections that are acquired in the Community (CA). HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA show major differences in the distribution of toxin and antibiotic resistance genes. The worldwide spread of some HA-MRSA clones may be associated with an increased expression of virulence genes in these bacteria. In addition to a more aggressive virulence, also a different survival strategy is used by these bacteria that in vivo produce biofilms contributing to the long-term persistence of infections. The biofilm environment provides not only more resistance to the few antibiotics that are still active against MRSA in planktonic form, but also induces a modified growth, metabolic activity and gene expression in comparison with their planktonic counterparts. The latest molecular techniques and animal models of infection will be used to investigate the differences in the formation of biofilms between HA and CA-MRSA and to study their content and expression of virulence genes. In addition, the (virulence) mechanisms which are at the basis of the success of the dominant HA-MRSA clones will be studied. The presence of new virulence factors which are brought to the expression to the surface of MRSA and could be involved in bio-film formation and in host recognition will also be examined. These studies will contribute to a better understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms used by MRSA causing recalcitrant infections and in the development of more targeted therapies for MRSA infections.
Date:1 Jan 2010 →  31 Dec 2012
Keywords:MRSA, virulence, Staphylococcus aureus, HA-MRSA, Biology
Disciplines:Basic sciences, Biological sciences