Peptidomics Analysis of Virulent Peptides Involved in Streptococcus suis Pathogenesis

Abstract

Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is a zoonotic pathogen causing severe streptococcal disease worldwide. S. suis infections in pigs and humans are frequently associated with the virulent S. suis serotype 2 (SS2). Though various virulence factors of S. suis have been proposed, most of them were not essentially accounted for in the experimental infections. In the present study, we compared the peptidomes of highly virulent SS2 and SS14 in humans, the swine causative serotypes SS7 and SS9, and the rarely reported serotypes SS25 and SS27, and they were cultured in a specified culture medium containing whole blood to simulate their natural host environment. LC-MS/MS could identify 22 unique peptides expressed in the six S. suis serotypes. Under the host‑simulated environment, peptides from the ABC-type phosphate transport system (SSU05_1106) and 30S ribosomal protein S2 (rpsB) were detected in the peptidome of virulent SS2 and SS14. Therefore, we suggest that these two proteins or their derived peptides might be involved in the survival of S. suis when simulated with a blood environment.

Genomic Characterization of Streptococcus suis Serotype 24 Clonal Complex 221/234 From Human Patients

“…Our study showed 100% identities of the genes in S. suis strains WUSS351, HN105, LS9N, YZDH1, FJSMS, and AH681 ( Table 1 ). ABC transporter ATP-binding protein/permease plays an important role in the transportation of various substrates, serves as an efflux pump, or is involve in biofilm formation ( Chaiden et al, 2021 ). Another study reported that the presence of ABC transporters in the virulent-to-humans SS2, SS14 strains, and non-virulent-to-humans SS7 strains indicated their possible involvement for the survival and then the pathogenesis of virulent S. suis in the host-simulated environment ( Chaiden et al, 2021 ).…”

“…ABC transporter ATP-binding protein/permease plays an important role in the transportation of various substrates, serves as an efflux pump, or is involve in biofilm formation ( Chaiden et al, 2021 ). Another study reported that the presence of ABC transporters in the virulent-to-humans SS2, SS14 strains, and non-virulent-to-humans SS7 strains indicated their possible involvement for the survival and then the pathogenesis of virulent S. suis in the host-simulated environment ( Chaiden et al, 2021 ). We detected the ABC transporter ATP-binding protein/permease gene in several S. suis strains such as YSJ17, AKJ18, AH681, HN136, LS9N, and CZ130302 ( Table 1 ).…”

Extraribosomal Functions of Bacterial Ribosomal Proteins—An Update, 2023

“…Recently, RpsB (uS2) has been shown to be a surface-exposed protein of rickettsia, representing an important ligand and adhesin of these obligate intracellular microorganisms [ 87 ]. Increased expression of uS2-derived peptides has been observed in the highly virulent strains of Streptococcus suis cultured under host-simulated conditions, indicating that uS2 or its peptides might serve as specific virulence factors [ 88 ]. The role of uS2 in pathogenesis is obviously not related to its functions in the ribosome.…”

Unlocking the Secrets of Streptococcus suis: A peptidomics comparison of virulent and non-virulent serotypes 2, 14, 18, and 19

“…As for the techniques capable of identifying the putative virulence factors, the proteome of S . suis has also been studied to consolidate their particular roles of putative virulence factors in the host as well [ 18 – 21 ]. Various putative virulence factors of SS2 have been proposed such as, acetaldehyde-CoA/alcohol dehydrogenase (adhE), catabolite control protein A (Ccp A), leucyl aminopeptidase (LAP), enolase (Eno), and endopeptidase [ 19 , 22 – 24 ].…”

“…According to our previous work, peptidomics analysis revealed the role of the ABC-type phosphate transport system (SSU05_1106) and 30S ribosomal protein S2 (rpsB) in the survival of S . suis in a growth medium supplemented with 5% sheep blood [ 18 ], since some bacteria or yeast are adaptive or responsive to different environments or growth conditions [ 25 – 28 ].…”