The Role of Iron in Staphylococcus aureus Infection and Human Disease

The Role of Iron in Staphylococcus aureus Infection and Human Disease: A Metal Tug of War at the Host—Microbe Interface

van Dijk, Madeleine C. (Student TU Delft)
de Kruijff, R.M. (TU Delft RST/Applied Radiation & Isotopes)
Hagedoorn, P.L. (TU Delft BT/Biocatalysis)

2022

Iron deficiency anemia can be treated with oral or intravenous Fe supplementation. Such supplementation has considerable effects on the human microbiome, and on opportunistic pathogenic micro-organisms. Molecular understanding of the control and regulation of Fe availability at the host-microbe interface is crucial to interpreting the side effects of Fe supplementation. Here, we provide a concise overview of the regulation of Fe by the opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Ferric uptake regulator (Fur) plays a central role in controlling Fe uptake, utilization and storage in order to maintain a required value. The micro-organism has a strong preference for heme iron as an Fe source, which is enabled by the Iron-regulated surface determinant (Isd) system. The strategies it employs to overcome Fe restriction imposed by the host include: hijacking host proteins, replacing metal cofactors, and replacing functions by non-metal dependent enzymes. We propose that integrated omics approaches, which include metalloproteomics, are necessary to provide a comprehensive understanding of the metal tug of war at the host-microbe interface down to the molecular level.

ferric uptake regulator
heme
iron deficiency anemia
iron homeostasis
iron-regulated surface determinant system
MRSA
nutritional immunity
Staphylococcus aureus

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6fcd6ad7-6cdf-428a-9a99-73e32bb705cf

https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2022.857237

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 10

Institutional Repository

review

© 2022 Madeleine C. van Dijk, R.M. de Kruijff, P.L. Hagedoorn