He has published ~ 70 peer reviewed papers in this field.. have their name from the Greek word staphylos, meaning grape, and kokkos, meaning berry, describing their microscopic appearance in grape-like clusters that may vary in size from strain to strain. Many strains are opportunistic pathogens. In contrast, the most virulent species may cause disease in otherwise healthy patients. It has the ability to coagulate blood using an enzyme called coagulase and on that basis, is systematically distinguished from most other, coagulase-negative staphylococcal species Monocrotaline such as isolates. A colonizer of humans can be a permanent (10C20%) or transient asymptomatic colonizer of humans; and some individuals never carry (~ 50%)9,10. The reasons Monocrotaline for these differences that suggest underlying host genetic factors are unknown. Most staphylococcal species that colonize humans have some specificity for the area of the body they colonize. commonly resides in the nose, although it may also be found in other areas such as the intestine, axillae and groin. Most likely, genetic factors determine preference for the colonization sites, providing bacteria with mechanisms to better cope with dryness, changing temperature, mechanical stress, innate host defense mechanisms, and so on, all of which can vary CIT dramatically between different areas of the human body. Additionally, it has been suggested that bacterial interference between staphylococcal species, based on secreted bacteriocins or other signals, may play a role in the differential colonization of body areas, but there is no direct evidence for this11C13. A pathogen is by far the most important pathogen among staphylococci. It is a very frequent cause of rather uncomplicated skin infections, but can cause serious diseases that may be fatal14. invasive infection begins with the breach of the skin and the invasion of bacteria into the bloodstream. bacteremia is a condition with a high rate of mortality (11 to 43 %) and may be further complicated by endocarditis, sepsis syndrome, or metastatic infection. is one of the most common cause of endocarditis and the most frequent cause of nosocomial and prosthetic-valve endocarditis, diseases with an extremely high mortality rate. Some bacteremic conditions may progress to sepsis, with risk factors including age, immunosuppression, chemotherapy, and invasive procedures. Metastatic infections such as in the joints, kidneys, and lungs, may Monocrotaline serve as a reservoir for recurrent infections. isolates differ significantly in their genetic composition with regard to mobile genetic elements that often carry genes encoding superantigenic and other toxins15. Many of these toxins may cause serious diseases, for example the toxic shock syndrome that is mediated by the superantigenic toxin, toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1)16. While mostly Monocrotaline related to tampon use in the 1980s, the percentage of non-menstrual cases of toxic shock syndrome has increased ever since. All pyrogenic superantigenic toxins function by binding to the invariant regions of MHC class II molecules, causing an extreme activation of T cells, an excessive expansion of the clonal T cell population, and rapid-onset disease characterized by high fever and multiorgan dysfunction17. and coagulase-negative staphylococci are by far the most frequent pathogens involved with infections of indwelling medical devices18. Contamination of such devices from the skin Monocrotaline of the patient or health care workers is a very common source of introduction into the human body19. It is largely due to these infections and the extraordinary capacity of staphylococci to colonize any type of surface of catheters, prostheses, etc. that is one of the most infamous and widespread nosocomial pathogens. Attachment and biofilms The ability of to adhere to host tissue is an important prerequisite for the asymptomatic colonization of body surfaces as well as the establishment of an infection. In some strains, the formation of large, multi-layered clusters called biofilms further promotes persistence20,21. surface-bound proteins in charge of mediating attachment to host tissue have been coined MSCRAMMs (for Microbial surface components recognizing adhesive matrix molecules) and show extreme functional redundancy22,23, underscoring their importance for physiology and pathogenesis. While attachment to the plastic or metal surfaces of indwelling medical devices may proceed directly, and in this case is most likely mediated by bacterial cell surface hydrophobicity, extracellular human matrix proteins cover the devices soon after insertion and thus, device colonization is believed to be mainly dependent on MSCRAMMs21. After attachment is established, several strains have.