Publications by authors named "Florence Couzon"

rRNA modifications play crucial roles in fine-tuning the delicate balance between translation speed and accuracy, yet the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Comparative analyses of the rRNA modifications in taxonomically distant bacteria could help define their general, as well as species-specific, roles. In this study, we identified a new methyltransferase, RlmQ, in responsible for the Gram-positive specific mG2601, which is not modified in (G2574).

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Staphylococcus aureus gamma-hemolysin CB (HlgCB) is a core-genome-encoded pore-forming toxin that targets the C5a receptor, similar to the phage-encoded Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL). Absolute quantification by mass spectrometry of HlgCB in 39 community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) isolates showed considerable variations in the HlgC and HlgB yields between isolates. Moreover, although HlgC and HlgB are encoded on a single operon, their levels were dissociated in 10% of the clinical strains studied.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how different levels of expression of virulence proteins in a bacterial pathogen relate to the severity of staphylococcal pneumonia in patients, highlighting the challenges of measuring these levels consistently.
  • Using a targeted proteomics technique, the researchers analyzed 136 isolates from French patients and identified specific virulence factors that predict severe symptoms like leukopenia and hemoptysis, as well as patient survival.
  • Notably, the expression of the Panton-Valentine leucocidin was found to be a significant predictor of mortality, suggesting that targeted proteomics could be valuable for understanding infection dynamics in other bacterial diseases.
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Objectives: We aimed at determining whether specific S. aureus strains cause infective endocarditis (IE) in the course of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB).

Methods: A genome-wide association study (GWAS) including 924 S.

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infective endocarditis (SaIE) is a severe complication of bacteremia (SAB) occurring in up to 22% of patients. Bacterial genetic factors and host conditions for SaIE have been intensely studied before; however, to date no study has focused on predisposing host genetic factors to SaIE. The present study aimed to identify genetic polymorphisms associated with SaIE by a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) of 67 patients with definite native valve SaIE (cases) and 72 matched native valve patients with SAB but without IE (controls).

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Introduction: In bone and joint infections (BJIs), bacterial toxins are major virulence factors: Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) expression leads to severe local damage, including bone distortion and abscesses, while α-hemolysin (Hla) production is associated with severe sepsis-related mortality. Recently, other toxins, namely phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) expressed by community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) strain USA300 (LAC WT) were shown to have ex vivo intracellular cytotoxic activity after S. aureus invasion of osteoblasts, but their in vivo contribution in a relatively PVL-sensitive osteomyelitis model remains poorly elucidated.

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Objectives: Community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus necrotizing pneumonia is a life-threatening disease. Panton Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) has been associated with necrotizing pneumonia. PVL triggers inflammasome activation in human macrophages leading to IL-1β release.

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Background: Severe sepsis, combining acute osteomyelitis and lung involvement, has been described increasingly in healthy children with the spread of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA).

Methods: Outcomes (mortality, hematogenous spread, lung and bone involvements) of rabbit osteomyelitis caused by CA-MRSA LAC(WT) USA300 and its Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)- and α-hemolysin (Hla)-negative isogenic derivatives (LACΔpvl and LACΔhla, respectively) were compared.

Results: Three days after inoculation (D3), all LAC(WT)- and LACΔpvl-, and 72% of LACΔhla-infected rabbits had no hematogenous spread and similar lung and bone bacterial densities.

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Epidemic community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is associated with more severe and acute forms of osteomyelitis than healthcare-associated (HA-) MRSA. Although S. aureus is now recognized as a facultative intracellular pathogen, the contribution of osteoblast invasion by CA-MRSA to the pathogenesis of osteomyelitis is unknown.

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Staphylococcus aureus is a major pathogen responsible for both nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Central to its virulence is its ability to secrete haemolysins, pore-forming toxins and cytolytic peptides. The large number of membrane-damaging toxins and peptides produced during S.

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The Staphylococcus aureus Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a pore-forming toxin secreted by strains epidemiologically associated with the current outbreak of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) and with the often-lethal necrotizing pneumonia. To investigate the role of PVL in pulmonary disease, we tested the pathogenicity of clinical isolates, isogenic PVL-negative and PVL-positive S. aureus strains, as well as purified PVL, in a mouse acute pneumonia model.

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Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis of cell cycle regulators is a major element of the cell cycle control. The anaphase-promoting complex (APC/C) is a large multisubunit ubiquitin-protein ligase required for the ubiquitination and degradation of G1 and mitotic checkpoint regulators. APC/C-dependent proteolysis regulates cyclin levels in G1, and triggers the separation of sister chromatids at the metaphase-anaphase transition and the destruction of mitotic cyclins at the end of mitosis.

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