Funding body: Swedish Research Council
Title: Dismantling lipid rafts in Staphylococcus aureus to inhibit MRSA infections.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major global healthcare problem being responsible of complicated infections such as infective endocarditis or sepsis with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Resistance to first-line antimicrobials combined with a lack of equally effective alternatives complicates MRSA treatment. The overall aim of our consortium is to develop new strategies to combat MRSA antibiotic-resistance by dissecting the molecular mechanisms behind PBP2a oligomerization within the Functional Membrane Microdomains (FMM). We will determine how inhibition of PBP2a oligomerization interferes with MRSA phenotype. Furthermore, as FMM promotes PBP2a oligomerization, we will implement the possibility of repurposing statins as antimicrobial agents, to inhibit multidrug resistance in MRSA clinical isolates in such a combination of statins with conventional penicillins may thus synergistically abrogate MRSA infections.