The giant staphylococcal protein Embp facilitates colonization of surfaces through Velcro-like attachment to fibrillated fibronectin
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The giant staphylococcal protein Embp facilitates colonization of surfaces through Velcro-like attachment to fibrillated fibronectin. / Khan, Nasar; Aslan, Hüsnü; Büttner, Henning; Rohde, Holger; Golbek, Thaddeus Wayne; Roeters, Steven Joop; Woutersen, Sander; Weidner, Tobias; Meyer, Rikke Louise.
In: ELIFE, Vol. 11, e76164, 07.07.2022.Research output: SCORING: Contribution to journal › SCORING: Journal article › Research › peer-review
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T1 - The giant staphylococcal protein Embp facilitates colonization of surfaces through Velcro-like attachment to fibrillated fibronectin
AU - Khan, Nasar
AU - Aslan, Hüsnü
AU - Büttner, Henning
AU - Rohde, Holger
AU - Golbek, Thaddeus Wayne
AU - Roeters, Steven Joop
AU - Woutersen, Sander
AU - Weidner, Tobias
AU - Meyer, Rikke Louise
N1 - © 2022, Khan et al.
PY - 2022/7/7
Y1 - 2022/7/7
N2 - Staphylococcus epidermidis causes some of the most hard-to-treat clinical infections by forming biofilms: Multicellular communities of bacteria encased in a protective matrix, supporting immune evasion and tolerance against antibiotics. Biofilms occur most commonly on medical implants, and a key event in implant colonization is the robust adherence to the surface, facilitated by interactions between bacterial surface proteins and host matrix components. S. epidermidis is equipped with a giant adhesive protein, extracellular matrix-binding protein (Embp), which facilitates bacterial interactions with surface-deposited, but not soluble fibronectin. The structural basis behind this selective binding process has remained obscure. Using a suite of single-cell and single-molecule analysis techniques, we show that S. epidermidis is capable of such distinction because Embp binds specifically to fibrillated fibronectin on surfaces, while ignoring globular fibronectin in solution. S. epidermidis adherence is critically dependent on multivalent interactions involving 50 fibronectin-binding repeats of Embp. This unusual, Velcro-like interaction proved critical for colonization of surfaces under high flow, making this newly identified attachment mechanism particularly relevant for colonization of intravascular devices, such as prosthetic heart valves or vascular grafts. Other biofilm-forming pathogens, such as Staphylococcus aureus, express homologs of Embp and likely deploy the same mechanism for surface colonization. Our results may open for a novel direction in efforts to combat devastating, biofilm-associated infections, as the development of implant materials that steer the conformation of adsorbed proteins is a much more manageable task than avoiding protein adsorption altogether.
AB - Staphylococcus epidermidis causes some of the most hard-to-treat clinical infections by forming biofilms: Multicellular communities of bacteria encased in a protective matrix, supporting immune evasion and tolerance against antibiotics. Biofilms occur most commonly on medical implants, and a key event in implant colonization is the robust adherence to the surface, facilitated by interactions between bacterial surface proteins and host matrix components. S. epidermidis is equipped with a giant adhesive protein, extracellular matrix-binding protein (Embp), which facilitates bacterial interactions with surface-deposited, but not soluble fibronectin. The structural basis behind this selective binding process has remained obscure. Using a suite of single-cell and single-molecule analysis techniques, we show that S. epidermidis is capable of such distinction because Embp binds specifically to fibrillated fibronectin on surfaces, while ignoring globular fibronectin in solution. S. epidermidis adherence is critically dependent on multivalent interactions involving 50 fibronectin-binding repeats of Embp. This unusual, Velcro-like interaction proved critical for colonization of surfaces under high flow, making this newly identified attachment mechanism particularly relevant for colonization of intravascular devices, such as prosthetic heart valves or vascular grafts. Other biofilm-forming pathogens, such as Staphylococcus aureus, express homologs of Embp and likely deploy the same mechanism for surface colonization. Our results may open for a novel direction in efforts to combat devastating, biofilm-associated infections, as the development of implant materials that steer the conformation of adsorbed proteins is a much more manageable task than avoiding protein adsorption altogether.
U2 - 10.7554/eLife.76164
DO - 10.7554/eLife.76164
M3 - SCORING: Journal article
C2 - 35796649
VL - 11
JO - ELIFE
JF - ELIFE
SN - 2050-084X
M1 - e76164
ER -