How potent bacterial toxin kills MRSA bacteria

How potent bacterial toxin kills MRSA bacteria


Scientists have discovered how a potent bacterial toxin is able to target and kill MRSA, paving the way for potential new treatments for superbugs.

New research has explained how lysostaphin specifically recognises MRSA cell walls and quickly causes the breakdown of this pathogen. The lysostaphin is able to increase the number of its molecules bound to the surface of the MRSA cell and this allows the enzyme to 'walk' along the cell walls and cause rapid breakdown.

Lysostaphin is an enzyme that has been shown to eradicate Staphylococcal infections, such as MRSA, alone or in combination with antibiotics. Although it was discovered over 50 years ago, not much has been known about how it kills these infections.

The C-terminal SH3b domain of lysostaphin recognizes peptidoglycans containing a pentaglycine crossbridge and has been proposed to drive the preferential digestion of staphylococcal cell walls. The authors show that the pentaglycine crossbridge and the peptide stem are recognized by two independent binding sites located on opposite sides of the SH3b domain, thereby inducing a clustering of SH3b domains. 

The scientists hope to use their findings to develop new treatments for MRSA and other antibiotic resistant superbugs which target the infection in a similar way. MRSA is a bacterial superbug that is resistant to several antibiotics and frequently spreads in hospitals where people are more susceptible to infection.

The senior author said: "Lysostaphin is arguably the most studied enzyme after lysozyme, so we are delighted that our research is able to explain the mechanism underpinning its potent antibacterial activity.

"Our study explains how this enzyme is able to target and digest the MRSA bacteria and why it is so potent. Hospital-acquired infections caused by bacteria resistant to last resort antibiotics are on the rise, but our work could lead to the development of new treatments for these superbugs that use the same targeting mechanism."

The paper  is published \in Nature Chemical Biology.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/scientists-discover-bacteria-toxin-kills-mrsa-1.871287

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-019-0393-4?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nchembio%2Frss%2Fcurrent+%28Nature+Chemical+Biology+-+Issue%29

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