{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T05:04:31Z","timestamp":1791263071192,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Microbiology Society","issue":"9","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2010,9,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Enterococci are important nosocomial pathogens with multiple intrinsic and acquired resistances to antibiotics. In the past, the majority of infections were caused by<jats:italic>Enterococcus faecalis<\/jats:italic>; however, an increase in<jats:italic>Enterococcus faecium<\/jats:italic>clinical isolates has been observed in recent years. The enterococcal surface protein (Esp) is expressed on the surface of most<jats:italic>E. faecium<\/jats:italic>clinical isolates and has been shown to be involved in biofilm formation. Here,<jats:italic>E. faecium<\/jats:italic>E1162 and its previously created insertion-deletion mutant of the<jats:italic>esp<\/jats:italic>gene,<jats:italic>E. faecium<\/jats:italic>E1162\u0394<jats:italic>esp<\/jats:italic>, were compared in a mouse bacteraemia model. Anti-Esp serum was tested for its capacity to mediate opsonophagocytic killing of E1162<jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic>and to protect against<jats:italic>E. faecium<\/jats:italic>bacteraemia. The inactivation of<jats:italic>esp<\/jats:italic>attenuated<jats:italic>E. faecium<\/jats:italic>virulence with reduced numbers of bacteria recovered from the kidneys in animals infected with the mutant compared to the wild-type strain (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>=0.035). Passive immunization with rabbit polyclonal serum raised against the recombinant N-terminal Esp protein did not protect mice against<jats:italic>E. faecium<\/jats:italic>bacteraemia (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>&gt;0.05). In contrast, mice passively immunized with polyclonal antiserum raised against lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from<jats:italic>E. faecalis<\/jats:italic>had lower numbers of<jats:italic>E. faecium<\/jats:italic>E1162 in the blood compared to mice immunized with normal rabbit serum. These results suggest that Esp contributes to<jats:italic>E. faecium<\/jats:italic>persistence in the host. However, in contrast to LTA, Esp does not seem to be a target for protective antibodies in<jats:italic>E. faecium<\/jats:italic>strain E1162 in mouse bacteraemia.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1099\/jmm.0.020578-0","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2010,6,4]],"date-time":"2010-06-04T02:25:42Z","timestamp":1275618342000},"page":"1001-1004","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Enterococcal surface protein contributes to persistence in the host but is not a target of opsonic and protective antibodies in Enterococcus faecium infection"],"prefix":"10.1099","volume":"59","author":[{"given":"I. G.","family":"Sava","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"E.","family":"Heikens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"A.","family":"Kropec","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"C.","family":"Theilacker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"R.","family":"Willems","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"J.","family":"Huebner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hugstetter Str. 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"345","reference":[{"key":"R1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"439","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMp0804651","article-title":"Antibiotic-resistant bugs in the 21st century \u2013 a clinical super-challenge","volume":"360","author":"Arias","year":"2009","journal-title":"N Engl J 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