Streptococcus pyogenes nuclease A (SpnA) mediated virulence does not exclusively depend on nuclease activity.

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus pyogenes, or Group A Streptococcus (GAS), is a human pathogen that causes a wide range of diseases, including pharyngitis, necrotizing fasciitis and toxic shock syndrome. The bacterium produces a large arsenal of virulence factors, including the cell wall-anchored Streptococcus pyogenes nuclease A (SpnA), which facilitates immune evasion by degrading the DNA backbone of neutrophil extracellular traps. SpnA consists of a C-terminal endo/exonuclease domain and a N-terminal domain of unknown function.

METHODS: Recombinant SpnA mutants were generated by alanine conversion of selected residues that were predicted to play a role in the enzymatic activity and tested for their ability to degrade DNA. A GAS spnA deletion mutant was complemented with a plasmid-borne catalytic site mutant and analyzed for virulence in a Galleria mellonella (wax moth) infection model.

RESULTS: Several predicted residues were experimentally confirmed to play a role in SpnA enzymatic activity. These include Glu592, Arg696, His716, Asp767, Asn769, Asp810 and Asp842. Complementation of a GAS spnA deletion mutant with a spnA H716A mutant gene partially restored virulence in wax moth larvae, whereas complementation with the spnA wt gene completely restored activity. Furthermore, complementation with a secreted form of SpnA showed reduced virulence.

CONCLUSION: Our results show that abolishing the enzymatic activity of SpnA only partially reduces virulence suggesting that SpnA has an additional virulence function, which might be located on the N-terminal domain. Furthermore, cell wall-anchoring of SpnA results in higher virulence compared to secreted SpnA, probably due to a higher local density of the enzyme.