Role Played by the Fibronectin‐Binding Protein SfbI (Protein F1) ofStreptococcus pyogenesin Bacterial Internalization by Epithelial Cells

Abstract

We read with great interest the article by Jadoun et al. [1], which confirms our previous findings [2] that the fibronectin-binding protein I (SfbI) of Streptococcus pyogenes mediates not only bacterial attachment but also internalization into nonphagocytic cells. For the benefit of the readers, we must clarify that the SfbI protein studied by our group [3] is, as determined by sequence analysis, an allelic variant of the protein that Hanski et al. [4] identified in parallel studies and named “protein F,” which was recently renamed “protein F1” [5].