Table 1.
Virulence determinants which have been demonstrated to play a role in the pathology of experimental S. aureus bone infections. Most studies have utilised the murine model of septic arthritis.
| Virulence determinant | Model | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Accessory gene regulator (agr) | A, O | Abdelnour et al., 1993; Blevins et al., 2003; Gillaspy et al., 1995 |
| Alpha-toxin and gamma-toxin | A | Gemmell et al., 1997; Nilsson et al., 1999 |
| Collagen adhesin (Cna) | A, O | Elasri et al., 2002; Nilsson et al., 1998; Patti et al., 1994; Xu et al., 2004 |
| Clumping factor (ClfA) | A | Josefsson et al., 2001; Palmqvist et al., 2004, 2005 |
| Capsular polysaccharide | A | Nilsson et al., 1997 |
| DltA (D-alanine modification of teichoic acid) | A | Collins et al., 2002 |
| Fibronectin-binding proteins | O | Johansson et al., 2001 |
| MgrA (a global regulator) | A | Jonsson et al., 2008 |
| MprF (L-lysine modification of membrane lipids) | A | Peschel et al., 2001 |
| Peptidoglycan | A | Liu et al., 2001 |
| Pls (plasmin-sensitive protein) | A | Josefsson et al., 2005 |
| Protein A | A | Gemmell et al., 1997; Palmqvist et al., 2002 |
| Ribonucleotide reductase class III | A | Kirdis et al., 2007 |
| Sigma factor B (σB) and sigma factor S (σs) | Jonsson et al., 2004; Shaw et al., 2008 | |
| Sortase SrtA (responsible for anchoring many adhesins to the bacterial cell wall) | A | Jonsson et al., 2002 |
| Small colony variant phenotype | A | Jonsson et al., 2003 |
| Staphylococcal accessory regulator | A, O | Blevins et al., 2003 |
| Staphylococcal DNA | A | Deng et al., 1999 |
| Staphylococcal superantigens | A | Abdelnour et al., 1994; Bremell and Tarkowski, 1995 |
| Two putative lytic transglycosylases, IsaA and SceD | A | Stapleton et al., 2007 |
A, arthritis; O, osteomyelitis.