Martínez Guitián, MartaVázquez-Ucha, Juan CarlosÁlvarez-Fraga, LauraConde-Pérez, KellyLasarte-Monterrubio, CristinaVallejo, J. A.Bou, GermánPoza, MargaritaBeceiro Casas, Alejandro2019-10-102019-10-102019Martínez-Guitián M, Vázquez-Ucha JC, Álvarez-Fraga L, Conde-Pérez K, Lasarte-Monterrubio C, Vallejo JA, Bou G, Poza M and Beceiro A (2019) Involvement of HisF in the Persistence of Acinetobacter baumannii During a Pneumonia Infection. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. 9:310. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.003102235-2988http://hdl.handle.net/2183/24087[Abstract] Acinetobacter baumannii is currently considered one of themost problematic nosocomial microorganisms. In the present work the hisF gene from the ATCC 17978 strain and the AbH12O-A2 clinical isolate of A. baumannii was found over-expressed during the course of murine pneumonia infections. The study demonstrated that the A. baumannii ATCC 17978 mutant strain lacking the hisF gene induces a sub-lethal pneumonia infection in mice, while the complemented mutant strain increased its virulence. This histidine auxotroph mutant showed an increase on IL-6 secretion and leukocytes recruitment during infections. Furthermore, data revealed that the hisF gene, implicated in the innate immunity and inflammation, is involved in virulence during a pneumonia infection, which may partly explain the ability of this strain to persist in the lung. We suggest that HisF, essential for full virulence in this pathogen, should be considered a potential target for developing new antimicrobial therapies against A. baumannii.engAtribución 3.0 Españahttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/HisFMice pneumonia modelLung infectionAcinetobacter baumanniiVirulencejournal articleopen access