Wall teichoic acid is an essential component... : Molecular Immunology (original) (raw)

Wall teichoic acid is an essential component of Staphylococcus aureus for the induction of human dendritic cell maturation

Sung Jun Hong
Sun Kyung Kim
Eun Byeol Ko
Cheol-Heui Yun
Seung Hyun Han

Molecular Immunology

135

142

January 2017

| DOI: 10.1016/j.molimm.2016.12.008

Highlights

S. aureus and wall teichoic acid (WTA)-deficient mutant were compared in activation of human DCs.
WTA-deficient S. aureus induced phenotypic maturation of DC less potently than the wild-type.
WTA-deficient S. aureus weakly induced cytokine expression in comparison with the wild-type.
WTA-deficient S. aureus minimally enhances T lymphocyte-activating capacity of DCs.
WTA might be an important component of S. aureus provoking human DC maturation and activation.

ABSTRACT

Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive pathogen that can cause chronic skin inflammation, pneumonia, and septic shock. The immunomodulatory functions of wall teichoic acid (WTA), a glycopolymer abundantly expressed on the Gram-positive bacterial cell wall, are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the role of WTA in the phenotypic and functional activation of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) treated with ethanol-killed S. aureus. WTA-deficient S. aureus mutant (Δ_tagO_) exhibited attenuated binding and internalization to DCs compared to the wild-type. Δ_tagO_ induced lower expression of maturation markers on and cytokines in DCs than the wild-type S. aureus. Furthermore, autologous human peripheral blood mononuclear cells cocultured with Δ_tagO_-treated DCs exhibited a marked reduction in T cell proliferative activity, the expression of activation markers, and the production of cytokines compared to the wild-type _S. aureus_-stimulated DCs. Collectively, these results suggest that WTA is an important cell wall component of S. aureus for the induction of DC maturation and activation.