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Journal of Bacteriology, December 2001, p. 6778-6786, Vol. 183, No. 23
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.23.6778-6786.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identification and Characterization of a Novel
38.5-Kilodalton Cell Surface Protein of Staphylococcus
aureus with Extended-Spectrum Binding Activity for
Extracellular Matrix and Plasma Proteins
Muzaffar
Hussain,1,*
Karsten
Becker,1
Christof
von
Eiff,1
Jacques
Schrenzel,2
Georg
Peters,1 and
Mathias
Herrmann1,
Institute of Medical Microbiology, University
Hospital of Muenster, Muenster, Germany,1 and
Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene and Division of
Infectious Diseases, University Hospital, Geneva,
Switzerland2
Received 1 July 2001/Accepted 5 September 2001
The ability to attach to host ligands is a well-established
pathogenic factor in invasive Staphylococcus aureus
disease. In addition to the family of adhesive proteins bound to the
cell wall via the sortase A (srtA) mechanism, secreted
proteins such as the fibrinogen-binding protein Efb, the extracellular
adhesion protein Eap, or coagulase have been found to interact with
various extracellular host molecules. Here we describe a novel protein, the extracellular matrix protein-binding protein (Emp) initially identified in Western ligand blots as a 40-kDa protein due to its
broad-spectrum recognition of fibronectin, fibrinogen, collagen, and
vitronectin. Emp is expressed in the stationary growth phase and is
closely associated with the cell surface and yet is extractable by
sodium dodecyl sulfate. The conferring gene emp (1,023 nucleotides) encodes a signal peptide of 26 amino acids and a mature
protein of a calculated molecular mass of 35.5 kDa. Using PCR,
emp was demonstrated in all 240 S. aureus
isolates of a defined clinical strain collection as well as in 6 S. aureus laboratory strains, whereas it is lacking in
all 10 S. epidermidis strains tested. Construction of an
allelic replacement mutant (mEmp50) revealed the absence of Emp in
mEmp50, a significantly decreased adhesion of mEmp50 to immobilized
fibronectin and fibrinogen, and restoration of these characteristics
upon complementation of mEmp50. Emp expression was also demonstrable
upon heterologous complementation of S. carnosus. rEmp
expressed in Escherichia coli interacted with
fibronectin, fibrinogen, and vitronectin in surface plasmon resonance
experiments at a Kd of 21 nM, 91 nM,
and 122 pM, respectively. In conclusion, the biologic characterization
of Emp suggests that it is a member of the group of secreted S.
aureus molecules that interact with an extended spectrum of
host ligands and thereby contribute to S. aureus
pathogenicity.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of
Medical Microbiology, University Hospital, Domagkstr. 10, 48129 Muenster, Germany. Phone: 49-251-835-5357. Fax: 49-251-835-5350. E-mail: muzaffa{at}uni-muenster.de.

Present address: Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene,
University of Saarland Hospital, Homburg 66421,
Germany.
Journal of Bacteriology, December 2001, p. 6778-6786, Vol. 183, No. 23
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.23.6778-6786.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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