Publications by authors named "Paola K Parraga Solorzano"
The preferred carbon source of Staphylococcus aureus and many other pathogens is glucose, and its consumption is critical during infection. However, glucose utilization increases the cellular demand for manganese, a nutrient sequestered by the host as a defense against invading pathogens. Therefore, bacteria must balance glucose metabolism with the increasing demand that metal-dependent processes, such as glycolysis, impose upon the cell.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStaphylococcus aureus is a versatile opportunistic pathogen whose success is driven by its ability to adapt to diverse environments and host-imposed stresses. Two-component signal transduction systems, such as ArlRS, often mediate these adaptations. Loss of ArlRS or the response regulator ArlR alone impairs the ability of S.
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- Mammals protect themselves from infections by withholding essential nutrients like manganese through a process known as nutritional immunity, with calprotectin being a key player in sequestering manganese.
- Research indicates that overexpressing a specific phosphate importer operon, PstSCAB, makes bacteria more sensitive to the manganese-depleting effects of calprotectin, although it doesn’t affect manganese uptake or cause excess phosphate buildup.
- In mouse models, bacteria with heightened levels of this importer show reduced virulence compared to normal strains, especially in calprotectin-deficient mice, suggesting that tight regulation of phosphate homeostasis is crucial for bacterial infection capabilities.
Article Synopsis
- Staphylococcus aureus is a versatile pathogen able to adapt its cellular processes to thrive in various environments within a host, making it a significant concern in infections.
- This study investigates how disabling NADH-dependent aerobic respiration affects the bacteria's physiology, revealing that while two NDH-2s are non-essential for growth, their absence impacts important functions like biofilm formation and virulence.
- The research highlights that the SaeRS two-component system plays a crucial role in connecting fatty acid metabolism alterations caused by the lack of NADH respiration to the pathogen's ability to cause disease.
The host restricts the availability of zinc to prevent infection. To overcome this defense, and rely on zincophore-dependent zinc importers. Synthesis of the zincophore staphylopine by and its import are both necessary for the bacterium to cause infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring infection, bacteria use two-component signal transduction systems to sense and adapt to the dynamic host environment. Despite critically contributing to infection, the activating signals of most of these regulators remain unknown. This also applies to the ArlRS two-component system, which contributes to virulence by coordinating the production of toxins, adhesins, and a metabolic response that enables the bacterium to overcome host-imposed manganese starvation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ability of Staphylococcus aureus and other pathogens to consume glucose is critical during infection. However, glucose consumption increases the cellular demand for manganese sensitizing S. aureus to host-imposed manganese starvation.
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- During an infection, our immune system tries to protect us by taking away important nutrients like zinc from germs.
- A specific protein called calprotectin binds to zinc really tightly, but some bacteria can still find ways to get it.
- Researchers discovered two systems in bacteria that help them get zinc, and one was a new kind that helps them fight against our immune system during infections.
Article Synopsis
- During infections, germs need nutrients like phosphate from their host to survive, but how they get it is still a mystery.
- Unlike other bacteria, this germ has three different phosphate transporters instead of just two, which helps it get enough phosphate when it's low.
- Even though losing one transporter doesn't seem to affect how harmful the germ is, losing two together makes it much less able to cause an infection, especially because one of the transporters, NptA, is very important for its ability to be harmful.
During infection the host imposes manganese and zinc starvation on invading pathogens. Despite this, Staphylococcus aureus and other successful pathogens remain capable of causing devastating disease. However, how these invaders adapt to host-imposed metal starvation and overcome nutritional immunity remains unknown.
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