Methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA) has been classified as a high priority pathogen by the World Health Organization underlining the high demand for new therapeutics to treat infections. Human group IIA-secreted phospholipase A<sub>2</sub> (hGIIA) is among the most potent bactericidal proteins against Gram-positive bacteria, including <i>S. aureus</i>. To determine hGIIA-resistance mechanisms of MRSA, we screened the Nebraska Transposon Mutant Library using a sublethal concentration of recombinant hGIIA. We identified and confirmed the role of <i>lspA</i>, encoding the lipoprotein signal peptidase LspA, as a new hGIIA resistance gene in both in vitro assays and an infection model in hGIIA-transgenic mice. Increased susceptibility of the <i>lspA</i> mutant was associated with enhanced activity of hGIIA on the cell membrane. Moreover, <i>lspA</i> deletion increased susceptibility to daptomycin, a last-resort antibiotic to treat MRSA infections. MRSA wild type could be sensitized to hGIIA and daptomycin killing through exposure to LspA-specific inhibitors globomycin and myxovirescin A1. Analysis of >26,000 <i>S. aureus</i> genomes showed that LspA is highly sequence-conserved, suggesting universal application of LspA inhibition. The role of LspA in hGIIA resistance was not restricted to MRSA since <i>Streptococcus mutans</i> and <i>Enterococcus faecalis</i> were also more hGIIA-susceptible after <i>lspA</i> deletion or LspA inhibition, respectively. Overall, our data suggest that pharmacological interference with LspA may disarm Gram-positive pathogens, including MRSA, to enhance clearance by innate host defense molecules and clinically applied antibiotics.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.