GehB Inactivates Lipoproteins to Delay the Healing of Acute Wounds Infected with Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most prevalent bacteria found in acute wounds. S. aureus produces many virulence factors and extracellular enzymes that contribute to bacterial survival, dissemination, and pathogenicity. Lipase GehB is a glycerol ester hydrolase that hydrolyzes triglycerides to facilitate the evasion of S. aureus from host immune recognition. However, the role and mechanism of lipase GehB in skin acute wound healing after S. aureus infection remain unclear. In this study, we found that the gehB gene deletion mutant (USA300ΔgehB) stimulated significantly higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in RAW264.7 and Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2)-transfected HEK293 cells than the wild-type USA300 strain did. Recombinant GehB-His treated lipoprotein (Lpp) reduced stimulation of TLR2-dependent TNF-α production by RAW264.7 macrophages. GehB delayed the skin acute wound healing in BALB/c mice infected with S. aureus, while wound healing was similar in C57BL/6 TLR2^-/- mice infected with either wild-type USA300 or USA300ΔgehB. In BALB/c mice, we also observed more bacterial survival, less leukocyte recruitment, lower IL-8 production, and adipocyte differentiation in USA300-infected skin acute wound tissues than those in USA300ΔgehB-challenged ones. Our data indicated that GehB inactivates lipoproteins to shield S. aureus from innate immune killing, resulting in delayed the healing of skin acute wounds infected with S. aureus.