Group A Streptococcus (GAS) commonly infects human skin and occasionally causes
severe and life-threatening invasive diseases. The hyaluronan (HA) capsule of GAS has
been proposed to protect GAS from host defense by mimicking endogenous HA, a large and
abundant glycosaminoglycan in the skin. However, HA is degraded during tissue injury, and
the functions of short-chain HA that is generated during infection have not been studied. To
examine the impact of the molecular mass of HA on GAS infection, we established infection …