Date of Award
2018
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Microbiology and Immunology
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus is a prominent human pathogen that is responsible for a massive burden on healthcare. This thesis takes two approaches to characterize how S. aureus secreted factors subvert the innate immune response. First, characterization of the integral membrane protease 1984 showed that it regulates secretion of a putative lytic transglycosylase, IsaA, which is implicated in virulence. My results suggest IsaA and 1984 are capable of modulating immune responses that result in enhanced heart colonization in vivo. In addition, recent studies have uncovered TLR-independent pathways that induce inflammatory responses after S. aureus insult. Therefore, I hypothesized the bacterium secretes factors capable of modulating non-TLR inflammatory mechanisms. I identified 50 mutants that enhance MyD88-/- macrophage secretion of IL-1β and IL-13. Together, this work provides further evidence for S. aureus mediated innate immune subversion and may aid in furthering our understanding of survival of S. aureus within hostile host environments.
Recommended Citation
Harvey, Cameron, "Characterizing the Roles of Staphylococcus Aureus Secreted Factors in Virulence and Modulation of Innate Immune Cell Activity" (2018). Master's Theses. 3676.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/3676
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2018 Cameron Harvey
