Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Pancreatic Cancer (Jul 2025)
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Top
  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal
  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Version history
  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article

Advertisement

Research Article Free access | 10.1172/JCI117463

M protein and protein F act as important determinants of cell-specific tropism of Streptococcus pyogenes in skin tissue.

N Okada, A P Pentland, P Falk, and M G Caparon

Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110-1093.

Find articles by Okada, N. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110-1093.

Find articles by Pentland, A. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110-1093.

Find articles by Falk, P. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110-1093.

Find articles by Caparon, M. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Published September 1, 1994 - More info

Published in Volume 94, Issue 3 on September 1, 1994
J Clin Invest. 1994;94(3):965–977. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI117463.
© 1994 The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Published September 1, 1994 - Version history
View PDF
Abstract

The pathogenic gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus) causes numerous diseases of cutaneous tissue, each of which is initiated after the interaction of the bacterium with the cells of the epidermis. In this study, we show that different surface proteins of S. pyogenes play important roles in determining the cell-specific tropism of the bacterium in skin. Using streptococcal strains with defined mutations in the genes which encode surface proteins in combination with primary cultures of human skin and an in situ adherence assay which uses histological sections of human skin, we show that the M protein of S. pyogenes mediates the binding of the bacterium to keratinocytes, while a second streptococcal surface protein, protein F, directs the adherence of the organism to Langerhans' cells. Characterization of binding revealed that adherence was inhibited by purified streptococcal proteins and pretreatment of both host cells with the protease trypsin. Adherence was only slightly affected by the state of keratinocyte differentiation in vitro, but was considerably modulated in response to environmental conditions known to regulate expression of M protein and protein F, suggesting that the interaction between these bacterial cell-surface structures/adhesins and keratinocytes and Langerhans' cells may play an important role in streptococcal skin disease.

Images.

Browse pages

Click on an image below to see the page. View PDF of the complete article

icon of scanned page 965
page 965
icon of scanned page 966
page 966
icon of scanned page 967
page 967
icon of scanned page 968
page 968
icon of scanned page 969
page 969
icon of scanned page 970
page 970
icon of scanned page 971
page 971
icon of scanned page 972
page 972
icon of scanned page 973
page 973
icon of scanned page 974
page 974
icon of scanned page 975
page 975
icon of scanned page 976
page 976
icon of scanned page 977
page 977
Version history
  • Version 1 (September 1, 1994): No description

Article tools

  • View PDF
  • Download citation information
  • Send a comment
  • Terms of use
  • Standard abbreviations
  • Need help? Email the journal

Metrics

  • Article usage
  • Citations to this article

Go to

  • Top
  • Abstract
  • Version history
Advertisement
Advertisement

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts