Proteomic and Bioinformatics Tools to Understand Virulence Mechanisms in Staphylococcus aureus

Malik      Altaf Hussain; Flavia      Huygens

doi:10.2174/157016412799746245

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus, one of the major pathogenic bacteria, is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. The disease burden of staphylococcal infections is significant, which is primarily attributed to its adaptability and resistance to environmental stresses. S. aureus has the ability to develop multiple resistances to antimicrobial agents. These high resistances make pathogenicity of S. aureus one of the most complex mechanisms to understand and manage. Proteomic and bioinformatics approaches show great potential in exploring microbial adaptation strategies, ability to cause disease by pathogenic bacteria and the development of diagnostic tools. A summary of the latest developments in the application of ‘omics’ technologies to understand resistance mechanisms in S. aureus and their future role in antistaphylococcal vaccine and/or drug discovery is given here.

Keywords: Bioinformatics, methicillin-resistant, pathogenicity, proteomics, Staphylococcus aureus, virulence, microbiological sciences, post-genomic, polyacrylamide gel, electrophoresis, metabolism, stress/starvation