Implant-associated Staphylococcus aureus infections are difficult to treat because of biofilm formation. Bacteria in a biofilm are often insensitive to antibiotics and host immunity. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) could provide an alternative approach to improve the diagnosis and potential  treatment of biofilm-related infections. Here we show that mAbs targeting common surface components of S. aureus can recognize clinically relevant biofilm types. The mAbs were also shown to bind a collection of clinical isolates derived from different biofilm-associated infections (endocarditis, prosthetic joint, catheter). We identify two groups of antibodies: one group that uniquely binds S. aureus in biofilm state and one that recognizes S. aureus in both biofilm and planktonic state. Furthermore, we show that a mAb recognizing wall teichoic acid (WTA; clone 4497) specifically localizes to a subcutaneously implanted pre-colonized catheter in mice. In conclusion, we demonstrate the capacity of several human mAbs to detect S. aureus biofilms in vitro and in vivo.

Methods are included in the related preprint manuscript (https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.09.429966)

The dataset "flow cytometry.zip" contains the supporting data (.fsc files) used to analyze binding of monoclonal antibodies to Staphylococcus aureus in planktonic state using flow cytometry. An .xlsx file containing the samples corresponding to each .fsc file is included in each separate folder.

The dataset "Z stacks confocal.zip" contains the supporting data used to analyze binding of monoclonal antibodies to Staphylococcus aureus biofilm using confocal microscopy. It contains all Z-stacks (.lif files) analyzed in this study.

The dataset "Mice.zip" contains the supporting data used to analyze localization of monoclonal antibodies to subcutaneous implants in a mouse model. It contains unprocessed SPECT/CT scans (.nii files) of the first set of mice at 24, 72 and 120h post injection of [¹¹¹In]In-4497-IgG1 (spcific antibody) or [¹¹¹In]In-Palivizumab (ctrl antibody). For each scan, this data set also contains volumes of interests (.voi files) and corresponding statistics (.voistat files) used for analysis.

The file "de Vor_data for graphs.zip" contains plate reader data used to analyze binding of monoclonal antibodies to Staphylococcus aureus biofilm and contains all processed data used to generate the graphs in the manuscript.