Imaging Staphylococcus aureus biofilms in vivo reveals neutrophil exclusion by PNAG exopolysaccharide
Rachel M. Kratofil, Rehnuma T. Sejuty, Trevor E. Randall, Josefien W. Hommes, Jessica Chisholm, Michelle Willson, Raymond Shim, Deepa Raju, Mario A. Vargas, P. Lynne Howell, Gerald B. Pier, Douglas W. Morck, Joe J. Harrison, Paul Kubes · 2026
Read Imaging Staphylococcus aureus biofilms in vivo reveals neutrophil exclusion by PNAG exopolysaccharide by Rachel M. Kratofil, Rehnuma T. Sejuty, Trevor E. Randall, Josefien W. Hommes, Jessica Chisholm, Michelle Willson, Raymond Shim, Deepa Raju, Mario A. Vargas, P. Lynne Howell, Gerald B. Pier, Douglas W. Morck, Joe J. Harrison, Paul Kubes (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13556241.txt.
Description
Rachel Kratofil and colleagues filmed Staphylococcus aureus biofilms inside living tissue to see how a sugar coating shields the bacteria from immune attack. Biofilms are bacterial cities glued together, and this coating, called PNAG, is a slime the bacteria secrete.
Using a foreign-body infection model in mice, the team watched white blood cells called neutrophils try to reach bacteria clusters. The PNAG layer worked as a physical wall, keeping neutrophils out and delaying clearance of the infection. Strains unable to make PNAG let more neutrophils in and were cleared faster by the body. Enzymes that chew up PNAG broke the wall open, restored neutrophil access, and sped bacterial clearance.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Rachel M. Kratofil, Rehnuma T. Sejuty, Trevor E. Randall, Josefien W. Hommes, Jessica Chisholm, Michelle Willson, Raymond Shim, Deepa Raju, Mario A. Vargas, P. Lynne Howell, Gerald B. Pier, Douglas W. Morck, Joe J. Harrison, Paul Kubes |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 55 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |