MRSA's Second Defense Strategy Against Antibiotics Revealed
University of Sheffield researchers have discovered a novel mechanism that enables MRSA to resist antibiotic treatment.
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University of Sheffield scientists have uncovered a novel mechanism enabling the superbug Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to resist antibiotic treatment. This discovery reveals a second defense strategy that helps MRSA survive in the presence of antibiotics and opens new possibilities for targeting this highly resistant pathogen.
MRSA: a persistent threat in antimicrobial resistance
MRSA is a major antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threat, contributing to more than 120,000 deaths globally each year. The development of effective treatments is limited by a lack of vaccines and the bacteria’s formidable antibiotic resistance. The University of Sheffield research offers new insight into how MRSA evades traditional antibiotic treatments, identifying additional mechanisms that could be targeted in future therapies.
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Subscribe for FREEDual mechanisms for antibiotic resistance
MRSA and similar bacteria have protective, mesh-like cell walls held together by specific enzymes, which are the targets of antibiotics like penicillin and methicillin. Although it has long been known that MRSA resists antibiotics by developing an alternative cell wall enzyme, the Sheffield team discovered that this adaptation alone does not ensure survival.
The study shows MRSA has evolved a second, previously unknown defense: an alternative division mechanism that allows it to reproduce even when exposed to antibiotics. This mechanism supports the superbug’s resilience, allowing it to replicate without relying on the usual enzyme-dependent process. The findings open a path toward therapies that inhibit this novel resistance pathway.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
AMR is the ability of microbes, including bacteria and fungi, to resist the effects of drugs designed to kill them, making standard treatments less effective and leading to persistent infections.Alternative division mechanism
A newly discovered process allowing MRSA to replicate under conditions that would typically inhibit bacterial division, independent of the enzyme pathways targeted by standard antibiotics.Toward new therapeutic strategies
With this deeper understanding of MRSA’s survival mechanisms, the research team aims to develop inhibitors to target this alternative division method. This discovery could lead to more effective treatments against MRSA and similar antibiotic-resistant bacteria, although these findings are still in the early stages of application.
Collaboration across disciplines for public health
This research was made possible by a multidisciplinary effort at the University of Sheffield, combining expertise in microbiology, genetics, and advanced microscopy. Supported by Wellcome and UK Research and Innovation, the project underscores the value of an interdisciplinary approach to antimicrobial resistance and sets the stage for further investigation into bacterial survival mechanisms.
Reference: Adedeji-Olulana AF, Wacnik K, Lafage L, et al. Two codependent routes lead to high-level MRSA. Science. 2024;386(6721):573-580. doi: 10.1126/science.adn1369
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