REVIEW article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Bacteria and Host
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1592086
This article is part of the Research TopicReviews in Bacteria and HostView all articles
Immune escape of Staphylococcus aureus mediated by osteocyte lacunacanalicular network leads to persistent and uncured bone infection
Provisionally accepted
- 1orthopedics department, southwest hospital, third military medical university, Chong qing, China
- 2National Engineering Research Center of Immunological Products, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China
- 3Department of Oncology, Xinqiao Hospital, Chongqing, China
- 4Department of Orthopedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
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Bone infections, specifically chronic osteomyelitis, are characterized by recurrent episodes. They are considered intractable clinical diseases as they require protracted and difficult-to-cure courses.Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is the most common pathogen responsible for bone infections and has high destruction rates. Previous literature has indicated that during S. aureus osteomyelitis, immune evasion mainly involves three mechanisms: biofilm formation, intracellular infection, and abscess formation. However, recently, it was observed that S. aureus can enter and persist for a long time in the Osteocyte lacuno-canalicular network (OLCN), a bone microstructure. Furthermore, it has been found to successfully evade the host's immune system via natural physical barriers, chemical properties, and bone microstructure's immune escape mechanisms. Therefore, S. aureus bone infections are more difficult to cure than soft-tissue infections. Currently, there are only a few studies on OLCN invasion by S. aureus, and the clinical evidence is not sufficient. Therefore, this review aimed to combine relevant published literature on the OLCN-mediated immune escape of S. aureus to elaborate on the pathological mechanisms associated with protracted and difficult-to-cure bone infections. The findings will provide a scientific basis and theoretical foundation for future comprehensive analysis of how S. aureus invades OLCN and novel treatment strategies for bone infections.
Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, Osteocyte lacuno-canalicular network, immune escape, bone infection, chronic osteomyelitis
Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 30 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Rong, Chen, Qin, Wang, Luo, Zou and Zeng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhigang Rong, orthopedics department, southwest hospital, third military medical university, Chong qing, China
Hao Zeng, National Engineering Research Center of Immunological Products, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China
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