Project 460494

The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common causes of human infections. These infections range from mild (minor wound infections and carbuncles, for example) to more serious, and often fatal illnesses (endocarditis, osteomyelitis, septicemia, and toxic shock syndrome, for example). S. aureus is also the most common source of hospital-acquired infections and is frequently found as the cause of surgical wound and indwelling medical device infections. However, efforts to control this bacterium with antibiotics are becoming increasingly difficult due to its ability to acquire resistance to many different antibiotics (for example MRSA is one of the most widely known forms of antibiotic resistant S. aureus). Our research is centred around identifying the mechanisms that this bacterium uses to survive attack by cells (that is macrophages) of our immune system. Surviving killing by these cells means the bacteria can go on to cause infection and sometimes very serious infection. Ultimately, our goal is to take advantage of our knowledge of the orchestrated response of S. aureus to immune cell attack to be able to find new avenues of treating infections caused by this bacterium. It is envisioned that uncovering these essential processes will lead to the rational design of successful next-generation drugs and therapeutic strategies to treat patients suffering from S. aureus infection