Overproduction of type 8 capsular polysaccharide augments Staphylococcus aureus virulence

Type 8 capsular polysaccharide (CP8) is the most prevalent capsule type in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus. However, its role in virulence has not been clearly defined. CP8 strains such as strain Becker produce a small amount of capsule on their surface in vitro. In contrast, CP1 strains such as strain M produce a large amount of capsule, which has been shown to be an important antiphagocytic virulence factor. The cap8 and cap1 operons, required for the synthesis of CP8 and CP1, respectively, have been cloned and sequenced. To test whether CP8 contributes to the pathogenesis of S. aureus, we replaced the weak native promoter of the cap8 operon in strain Becker with the strong constitutive promoter of the cap1 operon of strain M. The resultant strain, CYL770, synthesized cap8-specific mRNA at a level about sevenfold higher than that in the parent strain. Remarkably, the CYL770 strain produced about 80-fold more CP8. In a mouse infection model of bacteremia, the CP8-overproducing strain persisted longer in the bloodstream, the liver, and the spleen in mice than the parent strain. In addition, strain CYL770 was more resistant to ospsonophagocytosis in vitro by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. These results indicate that CP8 is an antiphagocytic virulence factor of S. aureus.