A 45-year-old man comes to the physician due to pain, swelling, and erythema affecting his right leg. He says that he suffered a minor cut to his leg a few days ago while cleaning his garage. Physical examination shows an indurated region surrounding a minor laceration that is draining a purulent exudate. He is diagnosed with cellulitis and started on the appropriate treatment. Gram stain of the exudate shows gram-positive cocci in clusters. The organism most likely responsible for this patient's infection synthesizes a protein as part of its peptidoglycan cell wall that does which of the following?

Question

A 45-year-old man comes to the physician due to pain, swelling, and erythema affecting his right leg.  He says that he suffered a minor cut to his leg a few days ago while cleaning his garage.  Physical examination shows an indurated region surrounding a minor laceration that is draining a purulent exudate.  He is diagnosed with cellulitis and started on the appropriate treatment.  Gram stain of the exudate shows gram-positive cocci in clusters.  The organism most likely responsible for this patient's infection synthesizes a protein as part of its peptidoglycan cell wall that does which of the following?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: Protein A is a virulence factor found in the peptidoglycan cell wall of Staphylococcus aureus that binds to the Fc portion of IgG, leading to impaired complement activation, opsonization, and phagocytosis.

A 45-Year-Old Man Comes to the Physician Due to Pain