Figure 1.
Overview of S. aureus leukotoxin action on host immune cells.
The above schematic illustrates our current understanding of leukotoxin targeting and the functional consequences of toxin activity on specific immune cell types. Upon encountering host immune cells, S. aureus elaborates numerous molecules that facilitate escape from bacterial killing. The bi-component leukotoxins (LukAB, red; HlgCB, green; PVL, gray; HlgAB, purple; LukED, orange) are one class of lytic molecules that directly target and kill immune cells. The cells types currently known to be targets of each leukotoxin are shown. While the leukotoxins possess potent lytic capacity on their cellular targets, evidence also suggests a sublytic influence of PVL. The downstream effects of sublytic toxin activity, including inflammasome activation and enhanced bactericidal activity are shown.