Scientists uncover new MRSA resistance mechanism
· News-MedicalScientists have discovered the mechanism which allows the superbug Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to become highly resistant to antibiotics, paving the way for new approaches to control infectious disease.
MRSA is an antimicrobial resistance (AMR) superbug that causes over 120,000 deaths per year. Given the urgent need for new, more effective antibiotics and a lack of MRSA vaccines, understanding and combating the superbug is crucial.
The new research, led by the University of Sheffield, reveals MRSA has a double defence mechanism against antibiotics - this new insight offers hope in treating the life-threatening superbug and other infectious diseases.
The new study shows MRSA has also evolved an alternative division mechanism that allows it to replicate in the presence of antibiotics. This previously unknown mechanism is essential for MRSA resistance. By understanding the details of this process, researchers are working towards developing inhibitors that can target MRSA's novel survival strategy.
Professor Jamie Hobbs from the University of Sheffield's School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences said: "This is a fantastic example of how physics and biology can be brought together to understand the pressing societal challenge of antimicrobial resistance. We could not have made the discoveries without this synergy, fusing world leading microscopy, with genetics and microbiology.
"Our research demonstrates the power of an interdisciplinary approach to address the basic mechanisms supporting the physics of life which are of such importance to healthcare".
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