Invasive Staphylococcus aureus infections are common, causing high mortality, compounded by the propensity of the bacterium to develop drug resistance. S. aureus is an excellent case study of the potential for a bacterium to be commensal, colonizing, latent or disease-causing; these states defined by the interplay between S. aureus and host. This interplay is multidimensional and evolving, exemplified by the spread of S. aureus between humans and other animal reservoirs and the lack of success in vaccine development. In this Review, we examine recent advances in understanding the S. aureus–host interactions that lead to infections. We revisit the primary role of neutrophils in controlling infection, summarizing the discovery of new immune evasion molecules and the discovery of new functions ascribed to well-known virulence factors. We explore the intriguing intersection of bacterial and host metabolism, where crosstalk in both directions can influence immune responses and infection outcomes. This Review also assesses the surprising genomic plasticity of S. aureus, its dualism as a multi-mammalian species commensal and opportunistic pathogen and our developing understanding of the roles of other bacteria in shaping S. aureus colonization.

侵袭性金黄色葡萄球菌感染很常见，会导致高死亡率，而且细菌会产生耐药性。金黄色葡萄球菌是细菌共生、定植、潜伏或致病潜力的一个很好的案例研究；这些状态由金黄色葡萄球菌和宿主之间的相互作用定义。这种相互作用是多方面的和不断发展的，例如金黄色葡萄球菌在人类和其他动物宿主之间的传播以及疫苗开发缺乏成功。在本综述中，我们研究了了解金黄色葡萄球菌的最新进展–导致感染的宿主相互作用。我们重新审视了嗜中性粒细胞在控制感染中的主要作用，总结了新的免疫逃避分子的发现和归因于众所周知的毒力因子的新功能的发现。我们探索了细菌和宿主代谢之间有趣的交叉点，其中两个方向的串扰会影响免疫反应和感染结果。本综述还评估了金黄色葡萄球菌令人惊讶的基因组可塑性、它作为多哺乳动物物种共生和机会致病菌的二元论，以及我们对其他细菌在塑造金黄色葡萄球菌定植中的作用的不断理解。