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Review
. 2010 Dec;83(4):223-33.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: a pervasive pathogen highlights the need for new antimicrobial development

Emily A Morell  1 , Daniel M Balkin
Affiliations
Review

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: a pervasive pathogen highlights the need for new antimicrobial development

Emily A Morell et al. Yale J Biol Med. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) has entered the spotlight as a globally pervasive drug-resistant pathogen. While historically associated exclusively with hospital-acquired infections in immunocompromised hosts, the methicillin-resistant form of S. aureus has been spreading throughout communities since the 1990s. Indeed, it has now become a common household term: MRSA. S. aureus has developed numerous mechanisms of virulence and strategies to evade the human immune system, including a host of surface proteins, secreted enzymes, and toxins. In hospital intensive care units, the proportion of MRSA-related S. aureus infections has increased strikingly from just 2 percent in 1974 to 64 percent in 2004. Its presence in the community has been rising similarly, posing a significant public health burden. The growing incidence of MRSA unfortunately has been met with dwindling efforts to develop new, more effective antibiotics. The continued emergence of resistant strains of bacteria such as MRSA demands an urgent revival of the search for new antibiotics.

Keywords: 10x‘20 initiative; Staphylococcus aureus; antibiotic development; antibiotic resistance; community-associated MRSA; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; penicillin; penicillin-binding proteins; virulence factors.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scanning electron micrograph of a cluster of Staphylococcus aureus. Image obtained from the Public Health Image Library of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Janice Carr) (http://phil.cdc.gov/Phil/default.asp).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic diagram of S. aureus, depicting basic structure and a selection of virulence factors. Adapted from Gordon et al., 2008.
Figure 3
Figure 3
β-lactam Antibiotics. Chemical structure of (A) Penicillin and (B) Methicillin. Purple indicates modification of the carbonyl group side chain of the penicillin core that facilitates β-lactamase resistance. β-lactam ring in red.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Number of new antimicrobials approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, per five-year period. Adapted from Spellberg et al., 2008.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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