Fig. 1: Schematic representation of the interaction between Staphylococcus aureus and human host for the bacterial acquisition of iron. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Schematic representation of the interaction between Staphylococcus aureus and human host for the bacterial acquisition of iron.

From: Time-resolved X-ray solution scattering unveils the events leading to hemoglobin heme capture by staphylococcal IsdB

Fig. 1

The bacterium produces hemolysins to lyse red blood cells (RBC) and release Hb. To proceed with the iron acquisition, S. aureus exposes the Hb receptor IsdB outside the cell wall. The magnified region shows how IsdB mediates the first step in iron acquisition: IsdB binds free Hb in the bloodstream, extracts heme and then passes it to the following proteins of the Isd system for its degradation and iron release.

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