# Transcriptomic and Genetic Differences of Group A Streptococcus in Humans: Acute Infection versus Carriage

> **NIH NIH R21** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NY,BINGHAMTON · 2020 · $208,598

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 Acute pharyngitis is the most common illness for which children and adults seek acute medical care.
Group A streptococcus (GAS) is the most frequent bacterial cause of pharyngitis in children and causes both
suppurative (acute otitis media, acute sinusitis, mastoiditis) and non-suppurative (post-streptococcal
glomerulonephritis and acute rheumatic fever) sequelae. Furthermore, GAS has emerged as a major cause of
severe invasive disease including streptococcal toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis. The carrier state
of GAS is of particular significance to public health as carriers serve as a reservoir for spread of the pathogen to
others in the population. GAS carriage has been associated with community outbreaks of pharyngitis,
nosocomial infections and fatal invasive disease in individuals who are close contacts of carriers. To date, no
study has demonstrated the physiological characteristics of GAS as it exists in the carrier state in human patients.
The main goal of this proposal is to define the transcriptomic and genomic differences of GAS between two
states of human colonization: acute infection (in children with pharyngitis) and the carrier state (in asymptomatic
children with positive pharyngeal cultures after treatment). Due to the challenge in obtaining longitudinal samples
from human subjects, to date there are no reports of such analyses. Not only will these results be the first of their
kind, but we anticipate they will be the most direct and comparable analyses from human subjects colonized with
GAS during different stages of infection and colonization. We hypothesize that, when in the carrier state, GAS
exhibits unique transcriptional profiles that differ from those of the acute infection state. We expect transcriptional
profiles of GAS to provide important information regarding the changes the organism undergoes when
transitioning between acute infection and carriage. Previous studies have posited that genetic differences
between organisms in these two states may also account for differences in carriage potential. We will test these
two hypotheses using longitudinal human samples.
 Children with acute GAS pharyngitis will be recruited and enrolled in the study. Following treatment,
children who become GAS carriers will be identified. The specific goals of this proposal are to 1) demonstrate
the transcriptomic profiles and genetic differences in GAS recovered from individuals with acute pharyngitis
compared to GAS recovered from carriers and 2) employ in vitro and tissue culture models of carriage to
determine how differentially expressed genes or genetic mutations affect colonization potential of GAS. Overall,
this proposal will offer the first data on the transcriptomics of GAS carrier state in a human host and will provide
invaluable information on both the genetic and transcriptional changes GAS undergoes when switching from a
pathogenic to colonization state in the only natural host. Furtherm...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9975700
- **Project number:** 5R21AI147502-02
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NY,BINGHAMTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Laura Carol Case Cook
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $208,598
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-10 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9975700

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9975700, Transcriptomic and Genetic Differences of Group A Streptococcus in Humans: Acute Infection versus Carriage (5R21AI147502-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9975700. Licensed CC0.

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