# Mechanistic Studies Of The Staphylococcus aureus LukAB Cytotoxin

> **NIH NIH R01** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $498,947

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 Staphylococcus aureus is responsible for a large number of hospital- and community-acquired infections
worldwide. Therapeutic options to combat S. aureus infections are limited due to the high level of antibiotic
resistance and lack of an effective vaccine. Thus, there is a significant need for the development of effective
therapeutics against this organism. Critical to the pathogenic lifestyle of S. aureus is the killing of phagocytes;
innate immune cells integral to the control of Staphylococcal infections. Thus, the long-term goal of this
research program is to understand the mechanism employed by S. aureus to injure these critical immune cells.
We have described that the leukocidin A/B (LukAB) plays an essential role in protecting S. aureus from
phagocyte-mediated killing by targeting and eliminating these cells. Our work has established that LukAB is
present in all clinical strains, yet is the most divergent member of the bi-component pore-forming family of
toxins; is responsible for S. aureus-mediated demise of primary human phagocytes during ex vivo infections;
targets the CD11b integrin; exhibits species specificity by preferentially targeting the human I-domain of CD11b
over the murine I-domain; is produced in vivo during both murine and human infections; and kills human
leukocytes when produced by S. aureus from both extracellular and intracellular environments. The primary
goals of this application are to: elucidate the mechanism by which LukAB binds to human CD11b in order to
define the species specificity determinants to develop an improved murine model for S. aureus infection (Aim
1); define the mechanism by which LukAB kills human phagocytes (Aim 2); and delineate the contribution of
LukAB variants to the pathogenesis of other S. aureus clones (Aim 3). To accomplish these Aims, we propose
to employ a multidisciplinary approach that combines molecular biology, genetics, cellular immunology, whole
genome screens, and biochemistry, together with ex vivo and in vivo infection models. Understanding the
molecular details of how LukAB mediates targeting and killing of phagocytes will provide insight into how S.
aureus bi-component pore-forming toxins kill host cells and the importance of these toxins to S. aureus
pathogenesis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9936356
- **Project number:** 5R01AI099394-08
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Victor J. Torres
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $498,947
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2013-06-04 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9936356

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9936356, Mechanistic Studies Of The Staphylococcus aureus LukAB Cytotoxin (5R01AI099394-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9936356. Licensed CC0.

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