Due to its fast acquisition of antibiotic resistance, treatment of S. Staphylococcus aureus is a leading pathogen causing an array of serious and possibly fatal diseases in humans ( 1). Our rapid assay to monitor phagocytosis can be used to study neutrophil deficiencies and bacterial evasion, but also provides a powerful tool to assess the opsonic capacity of antibodies, either in the context of natural immune responses or immune therapies. the tagging of microbial surfaces with plasma-derived host proteins like antibodies and complement. aureus is greatly enhanced by opsonization, i.e. We show that effective phagocytic uptake of S. Here we describe a robust and relatively high-throughput flow cytometry assay to quantify phagocytosis of S. These professional phagocytes rapidly migrate to the site of infection to engulf bacteria and destroy them via specialized intracellular killing mechanisms. Neutrophils play a key role in the human immune response to Staphylococcus aureus infections. 2GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines S.r.l., Siena, Italy.
1Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.Elena Boero 1,2 Iris Brinkman 1 Thessely Juliet 1 Eline van Yperen 1 Jos A.
