Exploring Staphylococcus aureus pathways to disease for vaccine development

Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal of the human skin or nares and a pathogen that frequently causes skin and soft tissue infections as well as bacteremia and sepsis. Recent efforts in understanding the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis revealed key virulence strategies of S. aureus in host tissues: bacterial scavenging of iron, induction of coagulation pathways to promote staphylococcal agglutination in the vasculature, and suppression of innate and adaptive immune responses. Advances in all three areas have been explored for opportunities in vaccine design in an effort to identify the critical protective antigens of S. aureus. Human clinical trials with specific subunit vaccines have failed, yet provide important insights for the design of future trials that must address the current epidemic of S. aureus infections with drug-resistant isolates (MRSA, methicillin-resistant S. aureus).