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An In Vitro Model of a Parallel-Plate Perfusion System to Study Bacterial Adherence to Graft Tissues
Published on: January 7, 2019
A novel infective endocarditis virulence factor related to multiple functions for bacterial survival in blood was
Vysakh Anandan1, Liang Bao1, Zan Zhu1
1The Philips Institute for Oral Health Research, School of Dentistry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Abstract:
We identified the role of a conserved hypothetical protein (SSA_0451) in S. sanguinis that is involved in the virulence of infective endocarditis. An in vitro whole blood killing assay and rabbit endocarditis model studies revealed that the SSA_0451 mutant (ΔSSA_0451) was significantly less virulent than the wild-type (SK36) and its complementation mutant (ΔSSA_0451C). The mechanism underlying the SSA_0451 mutant's reduced virulence in infective endocarditis was evidentially linked to oxidative stress and environmental stress. The genes related to the survival of S. sanguinis in an oxidative stress environment were downregulated in ΔSSA_0451, which affected its survival in blood. Our findings suggest that SSA_0451 is a novel IE virulence factor and a new target for drug discovery against IE.
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