The rapid evolution of antibiotic resistance increasingly challenges the successful treatment of S. aureus infections. Here, we present an unconventional treatment approach by disassembly its membrane microdomains via pulsed laser photolysis of staphyloxanthin. After staphyloxanthin photolysis, membrane permeabilization, fluidification, and membrane protein detachment, were found the underlying mechanisms to malfunction its defense to several major classes of conventional antibiotics. Through resistance selection study, we found pulsed laser treatment completely depleted staphyloxanthin virulence. More importantly, laser treatment further inhibited development of resistance for several major classes of conventional antibiotics including fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, and oxazolidinones. Collectively, this work highlights a novel platform to revive conventional antibiotics to treat S. aureus infections.
Given that the dearth of new antibiotic development loads an existential burden on successful infectious disease therapy, health organizations are calling for alternative approaches to combat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. Here, we report a drug-free photonic approach to eliminate MRSA through photobleaching of staphyloxanthin, an indispensable membrane-bound antioxidant of S. aureus. The photobleaching process, uncovered through a transient absorption imaging study and quantitated by absorption spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, decomposes staphyloxanthin, and sensitizes MRSA to reactive oxygen species attack. Consequently, staphyloxanthin bleaching by low-level blue light eradicates MRSA synergistically with external or internal reactive oxygen species. The effectiveness of this synergistic therapy is validated in MRSA culture, MRSAinfected macrophage cells. Collectively, these findings highlight broad applications of staphyloxanthin photobleaching for treatment of MRSA infections.
Candida is the single most important cause of fungal bloodstream infections worldwide causing significant mortality as high as 50%. This high mortality rate is, in part, due to the inability to rapidly diagnose and simultaneously initiate an effective antifungal therapy early in the disease process. Current culture-based diagnostics are often slow, requiring several days to complete, and are only 50% sensitive in diagnosing candidemia (Candida bloodstream infection). For every 12 hours of delay in starting correct antifungal therapy, the risk of death for a given patient with candidemia increases by 200%. To address this unmet need, we explored the potential of employing stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) imaging to diagnose candidemia and probe metabolic differences between resistant and susceptible strain at a single cell level. Metabolism is integral to pathogenicity; microorganism have very short life cycles, and therefore only a few hours are needed to observe a full metabolic cycle. SRS imaging at C-H vibration frequency at 2850 cm-1 revealed a substantial difference in lipogenesis between the susceptible and resistant C. albicans. Treating the C. albicans with fluconazole, an antimicrobial drug that targets ergosterol biosynthesis only affected the lipogenesis in the susceptible strain. Our results show that single-cell metabolic imaging under a SRS microscope can be used for diagnose candidemia and early detection of antimicrobial susceptibility.
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