The Staphylococcus aureus proteome

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive commensal bacterium that is regarded as a major threat for modern health care systems. This relates both to the ability of S. aureus to overcome antibiotic therapy by developing high-level resistance against multiple antibiotics and this bacterium's extensive arsenal of virulence factors. Understanding the mechanisms of resistance and functional studies on stress and starvation responses are the main goals of proteomics in staphylococcal research. This review high-lights recent advances in gel-based and gel-free proteomics analyses of S. aureus and pinpoints the importance of location-specific proteomics studies targeting the cytosol, the membrane, the cell surface and the extracellular milieu in combination with integrated global proteome studies. Emerging hot topics in staphylococcal proteomics are discussed with special focus on in vivo proteomics, membrane vesicles, biofilm formation and the acquisition of absolute proteome data for systems biological modeling approaches.

Keywords: 2D gel electrophoresis; Biofilms; Entire proteome; MS-based proteomics; Membrane vesicles; Physiological proteomics; Stress/starvation responses; Surfacome; Virulence factors.