An eclectic group of scientists from Rutgers, University of Kansas, Ohio University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Université de Strasbourg studied the importance of iron acquisition for Staphylococcus aureus, how the host limits iron availability during infection, and how S. aureus must adapt its gene expression to cope with iron limitation. The group, led by Rutgers Professor Jeff Boyd, found the S. aureus non-coding RNA IsrR regulates the expression of genes involved in the TCA cycle in response to iron limitation. IsrR contributes to cellular iron homeostasis by promoting iron uptake and increasing intracellular iron pools not ligated by macromolecules. They found that Fur (the ferric uptake transcriptional regulator) and IsrR contribute to S. aureus virulence in murine skin models and acute pneumonia infections.
Rios-Delgado G, McReynolds AKG, Pagella EA, Norambuena J, Briaud P, Zheng V, Munneke MJ, Kim J, Racine H, Carroll RK, Zelzion E, Skaar E, Bose JL, Parker D, Lalaouna D, Boyd JM. The Staphylococcus aureus non-coding RNA IsrR regulates TCA cycle activity and virulence. Nucleic Acids Res. 2025 Feb 8;53(4):gkae1243. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkae1243. PMID: 39704109; PMCID: PMC11879123. https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/53/4/gkae1243/7929373
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