Recombinant adhesin protein inhibits Staphylococcus aureus adhesion to collagen under dynamic conditions.

Nehal Mohamed and Julia M. Ross

University of Maryland Baltimore County, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Baltimore, MD 21250.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common etiological agents of bacterial arthritis and acute osteomyelitis, and has been shown to bind collagen under static conditions. However, since many infections caused by S. aureus are acquired hematogenously, their interactions with extracellular matrix proteins under dynamic conditions are important. Receptor-mediated adhesion of S. aureus with collagen II under dynamic conditions was studied in vitro using video microscopy coupled with digital image processing. It was found that adhesion follows first order kinetics and that the adhesion rate is shear stress dependent. Pre-incubation of the collagen matrix with a recombinant form of the collagen receptor blocked bacterial adhesion up to 95%. These results suggest the possible therapeutic use of the recombinant protein in preventing infection. The effect of collagen receptor-specific antibodies on adhesion is currently being studied.