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Originally published in Science Express on 18 January 2007
Science 23 February 2007:
Vol. 315. no. 5815, pp. 1130 - 1133
DOI: 10.1126/science.1137165
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Reports

Staphylococcus aureus Panton-Valentine Leukocidin Causes Necrotizing Pneumonia

Maria Labandeira-Rey,1 Florence Couzon,2,3,4,5 Sandrine Boisset,2,3,4,5 Eric L. Brown,1* Michele Bes,2,3,4,5 Yvonne Benito,2,3,4,5 Elena M. Barbu,1 Vanessa Vazquez,1 Magnus Höök,1 Jerome Etienne,2,3,4,5 François Vandenesch,2,3,4,5{dagger}{ddagger} M. Gabriela Bowden1{dagger}{ddagger}

The Staphylococcus aureus Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a pore-forming toxin secreted by strains epidemiologically associated with the current outbreak of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) and with the often-lethal necrotizing pneumonia. To investigate the role of PVL in pulmonary disease, we tested the pathogenicity of clinical isolates, isogenic PVL-negative and PVL-positive S. aureus strains, as well as purified PVL, in a mouse acute pneumonia model. Here we show that PVL is sufficient to cause pneumonia and that the expression of this leukotoxin induces global changes in transcriptional levels of genes encoding secreted and cell wall–anchored staphylococcal proteins, including the lung inflammatory factor staphylococcal protein A (Spa).

1 Center for Extracellular Matrix Biology, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
2 Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69008, France.
3 Université de Lyon 1, Faculté Laennec, Lyon, F-69008, France.
4 INSERM E0230, Centre National de référence des staphylocoques, Lyon, F-69008, France.
5 Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Lyon, F-69003, France.

* Present address: University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, TX 77030, USA.

{dagger} These authors contributed equally to this work.

{ddagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gbowden{at}ibt.tamhsc.edu and denesch{at}univ-lyon1.fr

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E-Letters:

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Does Panton-Valentine Leukocidin Itself Cause Necrotizing Pneumonia?
Stephen J. Seligman
Science Online, 24 May 2007 [Full text]
Response to S. J. Seligman's E-Letter
M. Gabriela Bowden, et al.
Science Online, 24 May 2007 [Full text]

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