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Isolation of an adhesin from Staphylococcus aureus that binds Lewis blood group antigen and its relevance to sudden infant death syndrome |
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| Authors: | Abdulrahman T Saadi Donald M Weir Ian R Poxton John Stewart Steven D Essery C Caroline Blackwell Mohammed W Raza Anthony Busuttil |
| Institution: | Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Edinburgh, Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK;Forensic Medicine Unit, University of Edinburgh, Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK |
| Abstract: | Abstract A 67 kDa protein was isolated from cell membrane preparations of Staphylococcus aureus (NCTC 10655) by affinity adsorption with synthetic Lewis antigen conjugated to Synsorb beads. Pre-treatment of buccal epithelial cells expressing Lewis with the purified protein reduced binding of the staphylococcal strain to a greater extent than the material not bound to the Synsorb beads. The significance of this work is discussed with reference to expression of Lewis antigen in infants and the proposed role of toxigenic strains of staphylococci in some cases of sudden infant death syndrome. |
| Keywords: | Staphylococcus aureus Adhesin Lewis Blood group antigen Sudden infant death syndrome |