Genetic Architecture of Group A Streptococcal Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections in the Mouse

Overview

Journal PLoS Pathog

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2016 Jul 12

PMID 27399650

Citations 18

Authors

Karthickeyan Chella Krishnan

Santhosh Mukundan

Jeyashree Alagarsamy

Junguk Hur

Suba Nookala

Nikolai Siemens

Mattias Svensson

Ole Hyldegaard

Anna Norrby-Teglund

Malak Kotb

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Host genetic variations play an important role in several pathogenic diseases, and we have previously provided strong evidences that these genetic variations contribute significantly to differences in susceptibility and clinical outcomes of invasive Group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections, including sepsis and necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTIs). Our initial studies with conventional mouse strains revealed that host genetic variations and sex differences play an important role in orchestrating the severity, susceptibility and outcomes of NSTIs. To understand the complex genetic architecture of NSTIs, we utilized an unbiased, forward systems genetics approach in an advanced recombinant inbred (ARI) panel of mouse strains (BXD). Through this approach, we uncovered interactions between host genetics, and other non-genetic cofactors including sex, age and body weight in determining susceptibility to NSTIs. We mapped three NSTIs-associated phenotypic traits (i.e., survival, percent weight change, and lesion size) to underlying host genetic variations by using the WebQTL tool, and identified four NSTIs-associated quantitative genetic loci (QTL) for survival on mouse chromosome (Chr) 2, for weight change on Chr 7, and for lesion size on Chr 6 and 18 respectively. These QTL harbor several polymorphic genes. Identification of multiple QTL highlighted the complexity of the host-pathogen interactions involved in NSTI pathogenesis. We then analyzed and rank-ordered host candidate genes in these QTL by using the QTLminer tool and then developed a list of 375 candidate genes on the basis of annotation data and biological relevance to NSTIs. Further differential expression analyses revealed 125 genes to be significantly differentially regulated in susceptible strains compared to their uninfected controls. Several of these genes are involved in innate immunity, inflammatory response, cell growth, development and proliferation, and apoptosis. Additional network analyses using ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) of these 125 genes revealed interleukin-1 beta network as key network involved in modulating the differential susceptibility to GAS NSTIs.

Citing Articles

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Interplay between group A and host innate immune responses.

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Reduced interleukin-18 secretion by human monocytic cells in response to infections with hyper-virulent Streptococcus pyogenes.

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Concurrent Brain Subregion Microgliosis in an HLA-II Mouse Model of Group A Streptococcal Skin Infection.

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HLA-II-Dependent Neuroimmune Changes in Group A Streptococcal Necrotizing Fasciitis.

Ambigapathy G, Mukundan S, Nagamoto-Combs K, Combs C, Nookala S Pathogens. 2023; 12(8).

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