Mechanisms of blister formation by staphylococcal toxins

Abstract

Many children suffer from the bacterial skin diseases bullous impetigo and staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS). Staphylococcus aureus, which produces exfoliative toxins (ETs), causes these diseases. Recently, it was proven that ETs cleave the cell adhesion molecule desmoglein (Dsg) 1, which plays an important role in maintaining the proper structure and barrier function of the epidermis. Surprisingly, Dsg1 is also the antibody target in the autoimmune disease pemphigus foliaceus. Skin biopsies from pemphigus foliaceus patients show the same pathology as those from bullous impetigo and SSSS patients. The crystal structure of ET suggests that it is a serine protease with an inactive catalytic site, which may become activated when ET binds a specific receptor. This receptor binding is thought to cause a change in conformation that exposes the catalytic site. It has recently been shown that Dsg1 specifically binds and activates ET, which in turn cleaves the bound Dsg1 at only one peptide bond. This process is absolutely dependent on the calcium-dependent conformation of Dsg1. These data suggest that ETs have a very high specificity for human Dsg1, and that S. aureus uses ETs to disrupt the barrier of the human epidermis in order to survive and proliferate on the human body.