<i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> is the most prevalent cause of bloodstream infection, skin and soft tissue infection, and pneumonia. In particular, bacteraemia caused by S. aureus is one of the most common and serious bacterial infection worldwide, which may be complicated by the most serious infections including endocarditis, osteomyelitis, necrotizing pneumonia, and sepsis. Within minutes after the entry of S. aureus into the bloodstream, the pathogen is taken up by host phagocytic cells which are responsible for bacterial clearance. While the majority of the bacteria are effectively killed by these cells, some survive inside the phagocytic cells, especially macrophages. The intracellular location protects <i>S. aureus</i> from killing by antibiotics and by the host defense mechanisms, leading to relapse and re-infection in patients with S. aureus bactereamia. Moreover, the incomplete clearance of S. aureus allows the pathogen to hijack these infected cells as ‘Trojan horses’ for spreading infection via the bloodstream. Once delivered to the tissues, S. aureus can invade various non-phagocytic cell types, leading to metastatic infections in sites including bones, joints, heart, kidneys, and lungs. Clearly, eliminating intracellular S. aureus is key to clinical success. In this talk, we present a nanoparticle mimetic of this pathogen which outperforms antibiotics in eliminating intracellular S. aureus.

Eliminating Intracellular S. aureus with Its Nanoparticle Mimetic

255th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.