PR001791 (Project)

Description:Staphylococcus epidermidis (SE) is one of the most common bacteria of the human skin microbiota. Despite its role as a commensal, SE has emerged as an opportunistic pathogen, associated with 80% of medical devices related infections. Moreover, these bacteria are extremely difficult to treat due to their ability to form biofilms and accumulate resistance to almost all classes of antimicrobials developed so far. Thus new preventive and therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. In spite of its clinical importance, the molecular mechanisms associated with SE colonisation and disease are still poorly understood. A deeper understanding of the metabolic and cellular processes associated with response to environmental factors characteristic of SE ecological niches in health and disease might provide new clues on colonisation and disease processes. Here we studied the impact of pH conditions, mimicking the skin pH (5.5) and blood pH (7.4), in a S. epidermidis pathogenic strain, belonging to the A/C clonal lineage, by means of next-generation proteomics and 1H NMR-based metabolomics. Moreover, we evaluated the metabolic changes occurring when a sudden pH change arise, simulating the skin barrier break produced by a catheter.