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Initial fate of Streptococcus pyogenes captured in a human plasma protein shell and its effects towards host peptides and cold atmospheric plasma

Packirisamy, Swathi (2020) MOBN02 20192
Degree Projects in Molecular Biology
Popular Abstract
Streptococcus pyogenes covered by a human plasma protein shell

Streptococcus pyogenes is a bacterium found mainly on human skin. It can cause a number of diseases ranging from uncritical to life threatening sepsis by entering the bloodstream. Infections such as sepsis can have high mortality rates, making it essential to identify how this bacterium causes infections. It is equally important to develop novel treatment options apart from antibiotics due to increasing antibiotic resistance.

In the progression towards sepsis, S. pyogenes can induce powerful inflammatory responses from the point where it starts to spread such as the nasal area. S. pyogenes can produce a number of components which along with the human inflammatory system,... (More)
Streptococcus pyogenes covered by a human plasma protein shell

Streptococcus pyogenes is a bacterium found mainly on human skin. It can cause a number of diseases ranging from uncritical to life threatening sepsis by entering the bloodstream. Infections such as sepsis can have high mortality rates, making it essential to identify how this bacterium causes infections. It is equally important to develop novel treatment options apart from antibiotics due to increasing antibiotic resistance.

In the progression towards sepsis, S. pyogenes can induce powerful inflammatory responses from the point where it starts to spread such as the nasal area. S. pyogenes can produce a number of components which along with the human inflammatory system, can cause tissue damage and leakage from blood vessels. This leakage can allow S. pyogenes to come in contact with human blood and the proteins in the blood

In order to prevent the spread of the bacterium in the body, the immune system forms a clot around them to arrest and kill the bacterium. The formation of clots near the blood vessels can also damage them further. S. pyogenes has developed various abilities to escape these clots and spread through the body.

Protein shell
S. pyogenes can attach different proteins of the human blood and plasma onto it surface. When they come in contact with plasma, a shell-like structure is formed around them. These proteins can be misused by S. pyogenes to fight against the body’s defenses. We show that S. pyogenes survive better against antibacterial agents when they have been in contact with diluted human plasma. This can be attributed to the protein shell.

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is an ionised gas containing various charged particles. It has been used to disinfect wounds. We show that CAP can kill S. pyogenes when it encounters it. However, when we use CAP with the antibiotic tetracycline, less bacteria were killed. We also looked into the effect of clots on the bacteria by a new method; viewing the clot with bacteria through a microscope by staining live and dead bacteria. We found that bacteria which have been in contact with human plasma survived better. However, after an hour, the bacteria start to die, implying that protein shell cannot protect them for long periods of time.

Master’s Degree Project in Molecular Biology 45 credits 2020
Department of Biology, Lund University
Advisor: Hilger Jagau
Division of Infection Medicine, BMC, Lund University (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Packirisamy, Swathi
supervisor
organization
course
MOBN02 20192
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
language
English
id
9030984
date added to LUP
2020-10-16 09:11:40
date last changed
2020-10-16 09:11:40
@misc{9030984,
  author       = {{Packirisamy, Swathi}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Initial fate of Streptococcus pyogenes captured in a human plasma protein shell and its effects towards host peptides and cold atmospheric plasma}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}