We have previously demonstrated that the presence of oxygen is necessary for the production of toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) by Staphylococcus aureus in vitro. To investigate the mechanism by which oxygen might regulate toxin production, we identified homologs in S. aureus of the Bacillus subtilis resDE genes. The two-component regulatory system encoded by resDE, ResD-ResE, has been imp...

A 40-year-old female patient developed toxic shock syndrome following breast surgery. A toxin producing strain of Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from the post-operative wound. INTRODUCTION The term toxic shock syndrome (TSS) was first used in 1978 1 to describe a condition characterised by sudden onset of fever, shock, confusion, subcutaneous oedema, erythematous rash which desquamates in c...

S. aureus produces secreted virulence factors, including superantigens (SAgs), that activate the host immune response and cause tissue damage. Little is known about what receptors SAgs utilize on epithelial cells, keratinocytes (KC) in particular. CD40 has recently been proposed as a potential SAg receptor for TSST-1 vaginal cells. To address relevance of KC, we utilized CRISPR/Cas9 to knockout...

Validated biological and psychological markers of acute stress in humans are an important tool in translational research. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), involving public interview and mental arithmetic performance, is among the most popular methods of inducing acute stress in experimental settings, and reliably increases hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation. However, although mu...

UNLABELLED Excessive weight and obesity are associated with the development of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMII) in humans. They also pose high risks of Staphylococcus aureus colonization and overt infections. S. aureus causes a wide range of severe illnesses in both healthy and immunocompromised individuals. Among S. aureus virulence factors, superantigens are essential for pathogenicity. In thi...

OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study were (i) to investigate the genetic background of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream isolates from Croatia and (ii) to monitor the prevalence of Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL) and toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1) among these isolates. METHODS Eighty-two hospital-acquired MRSA bloodstream isolates, collected in 2001 an...

Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen manifesting virulence through diverse disease forms, ranging from acute skin infections to life-threatening bacteremia or systemic toxic shock syndromes. In the latter case, the prototypical superantigen is TSST-1 (Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin 1), encoded by tst(H), and carried on a mobile genetic element that is not present in all S. aureus strains....