Staphylococcus aureus induces DNA damage in host cell

International audienceStaphylococcus aureus causes serious medical problems in human and animals. Here we show thatS. aureus can compromise host genomic integrity as indicated by bacteria-induced histone H2AXphosphorylation, a marker of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs), in human cervix cancer HeLa andosteoblast-like MG-63 cells. This DNA damage is mediated by alpha phenol-soluble modulins (PSMα1–4),while a specific class of lipoproteins (Lpls), encoded on a pathogenicity island in S. aureus, dampens theH2AX phosphorylation thus counteracting the DNA damage. This DNA damage is mediated by reactiveoxygen species (ROS), which promotes oxidation of guanine forming 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG). DNA damage is followed by the induction of DNA repair that involves the ATM kinase-signalingpathway. An examination of S. aureus strains, isolated from the same patient during acute initial andrecurrent bone and joint infections (BJI), showed that recurrent strains produce lower amounts of Lpls,induce stronger DNA-damage and prompt the G2/M transition delay to a greater extent that suggest aninvolvement of these mechanisms in adaptive processes of bacteria during chronicization. Our findingsredefine our understanding of mechanisms of S. aureus-host interaction and suggest that the balancebetween the levels of PSMα and Lpls expression impacts the persistence of the infection