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Hemoglobin binding and iron utilization patterns identified in staph infections
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Researchers at Vanderbilt University have learned one of the reasons why Staphylococcus aureus infection tends to occur more in humans than in animals, like mice. The infection seeks human hemoglobin over other types and, once it finds those particular molecules, it has an improved ability to acquire iron to further the infection, according to their recently published study in Cell Host & Microbe.
Senior researcher Eric P. Skaar, PhD, MPH, and colleagues noted that S. aureus hemoglobin (Hb) receptor IsdB binds to human hemoglobin (hHb) with a stronger affinity than mouse Hb.
“Increased binding of hHb facilitates iron acquisition by S. aureus,” the researchers wrote in their study. “Increased iron availability exacerbates S. aureus infection in hHb-expressing mice.”
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The investigation also revealed new information about hHb-expressing mice and their potential as a model for further research in this area.
Previous S. aureus studies used murine infection models. However, these models do not perfectly replicate human disease.
“Our findings add the human hemoglobin expressing mouse to the list of humanized animals that are valuable tools for modeling infection,” Skaar and colleagues wrote. “Moreover, these findings demonstrate that humanized mouse models can be created that exploit the nutrient requirements of bacterial pathogens. Importantly, many bacterial pathogens utilize hemoglobin as an iron source; therefore, human hemoglobin expressing mice may be valuable for studies into a variety of infectious diseases”.
Reference:
- Pishchany G. Cell Host & Microbe. 2010. doi:10.1016/j.chom.2010.11.002
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