Periasamy Saravanan, Chatterjee Som S, Cheung Gordon Y C, Otto Michael
Pathogen Molecular Genetics Section; Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); The National Institutes of Health (NIH); Bethesda, MD USA.
Commun Integr Biol. 2012 May 1;5(3):275-7. doi: 10.4161/cib.19420.
Phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) are amphipathic peptides produced by staphylococci that have multiple functions in pathogenesis. For example, they may function as cytotoxins and pro-inflammatory agents. Additionally, in a recent study we demonstrated that Staphylococcus aureus PSMs structure biofilms and cause dissemination during biofilm infection. Based on those results suggesting a surfactant-like mechanism by which PSMs work, we here propose that all PSM functions in pathogenesis arose from an original role in non-pathogenic surface colonization. This original role may have included overcoming surface tension in environments of strongly varying hydrophobicity and emulsification of hydrophobic molecules for use as food sources.
酚溶性调节素(PSMs)是葡萄球菌产生的两亲性肽,在发病机制中具有多种功能。例如,它们可能作为细胞毒素和促炎剂发挥作用。此外,在最近的一项研究中,我们证明金黄色葡萄球菌PSMs构建生物膜并在生物膜感染期间导致扩散。基于这些结果表明PSMs发挥作用的类似表面活性剂的机制,我们在此提出,PSMs在发病机制中的所有功能都源于其在非致病性表面定殖中的原始作用。这一原始作用可能包括克服疏水性差异很大的环境中的表面张力,以及乳化疏水分子以用作食物来源。