AUTHOR=Scherr Tyler D., Heim Cortney E., Morrison John M., Kielian Tammy 

TITLE=Hiding in Plain Sight: Interplay between Staphylococcal Biofilms and Host Immunity

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2014.00037

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2014.00037

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> and <italic>Staphylococcus epidermidis</italic> are notable for their propensity to form biofilms on implanted medical devices. Staphylococcal biofilm infections are typified by their recalcitrance to antibiotics and ability to circumvent host immune-mediated clearance, resulting in the establishment of chronic infections that are often recurrent in nature. Indeed, the immunomodulatory lifestyle of biofilms seemingly shapes the host immune response to ensure biofilm engraftment and persistence in an immune competent host. Here, we provide a brief review of the mechanisms whereby <italic>S. aureus</italic> and <italic>S. epidermidis</italic> biofilms manipulate host–pathogen interactions and discuss the concept of microenvironment maintenance in infectious outcomes, as well as speculate how these findings pertain to the challenges of staphylococcal vaccine development.</p>