Macaluso's research aims to prevent cat scratch disease and other illnesses

In this file photo from fall 2019, Kevin

Macaluso, Ph.D., works in the lab.

Kevin R. Macaluso, Ph.D., professor and Locke Distinguished Chair of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, is among the authors of a research article accepted for publication in Microbial Pathogenesis.

The article, “A non-coding RNA controls the transcription of a gene encoding a DNA binding protein that modulates biofilm development in Bartonella henselae” will be included in an upcoming edition of the peer-reviewed journal.

Bartonella henselae (B. henselae) is a bacterium that can infect humans and cats. It is transmitted by the cat flea from one cat to another and to humans by the scratch of a cat. This bacterium causes cat scratch disease and other serious health conditions including bacterial, bloodstream and heart valve infections.

More than 12,500 people are diagnosed with cat scratch disease in the United States annually, according to a 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study. The incidence of cat scratch disease during the study period was highest in children between the ages of 5 and 9. The CDC estimates the annual medical cost for cat scratch disease in the U.S. to be nearly $10 million each year.

The research article describes how the bacterium B. henselae persists in both humans and cat fleas in a structure known as a biofilm. Understanding new genetic mechanisms by which bacteria, including B. henselae, initiate biofilm formation is critical for understanding how it causes disease in humans, according to the authors.

Biofilms are a collective of one or more types of microorganisms that can grow on different surfaces. Microorganisms that form biofilms include bacteria and fungi.

The report, authored by Udoka Okaro, Sierra George, Sabrina Valdes, Macaluso and Burt Anderson, will enable further studies to optimize efforts to prevent the initial steps in which bacteria aggregate to form a biofilm. This could help prevent the transmission of the bacterium from one cat to another and from cats to humans. 

Data presented within the article, according to the scientists, are the first to identify and experimentally characterize a transcriptional regulator and RNA responsible for biofilm formation in B. henselae. The work was done in collaboration with researchers at the University of South Florida School of Medicine.

Microbial Pathogenesis is an international journal which publishes original contributions and reviews about the molecular and cellular mechanisms of infectious diseases. It covers microbiology, host-pathogen interaction and immunology related to infectious agents, including bacteria, fungi, viruses and protozoa. It also accepts papers in the field of clinical microbiology.