Digital Commons Network^™

Role Of The Fibronectin-Binding, Collagen-Binding, T-Antigen Region During Nasopharyngeal Infection By Streptococcus Pyogenes, Akshay Sule

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Streptococcus pyogenes is a human-specific pathogen that uses a variety of adhesion molecules in order to initiate pharyngeal infection and maintain colonization. One genomic locus that is believed to contribute to adherence is the fibronectin-binding, collagen-binding, T-antigen (FCT) region, primarily due to the inclusion of genes that encode for a pilus (tee18.1), collagen-binding protein (cpa), and fibronectin-binding protein (prtF2). The precise role of these genes and the FCT region as a whole, however, have yet to be elucidated within the context of pharyngeal infection. In this study, we utilize the M18 serotype S. pyogenes strain MGAS8232 to demonstrate that the …