Novel Cytoplasmic Bacteriocin Compounds Derived from Staphylococcus epidermidis Selectively Kill Staphylococcus aureus, Including Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the well-known agents causing atopic dermatitis (AD) in susceptible individuals, and Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) produces class I thermostable bacteriocins that can selectively kill S. aureus, suggesting protective roles against AD. There is a large need for developing precise therapies only to target S. aureus and not to harm the beneficial microbiome. On the agar well diffusion assay, live planktonic S. epidermidis showed clear zones of inhibition of S. aureus growth, but heat-killed cells and cell-free supernatants did not show this. These results would lead us to hypothesize that cytoplasmic bacteriocin from S. epidermidis will be a promising agent to inhibit S. aureus growth. Therefore, we have extracted a novel thermolabile cytoplasmic bacteriocin from S. epidermidis using trichloroactic acid (TCA)/acetone precipitation method after cell lysis with a SDS-containing buffer. These bacteriocin selectively exhibited antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), presenting no active actions against S. epidermidis, E. coli, and Salmonella Typhimurium. The extracted cytoplasmic bacteriocin compounds revealed several diffuse bands of approximately 40–70 kDa by SDS-PAGE. These findings suggest that these cytoplasmic bacteriocin compounds would be a great potential means for S. aureus growth inhibition and topical AD treatment.

Non-aureus Staphylococci and Bovine Udder Health: Current Understanding and Knowledge Gaps

“…Other species apart from S. chromogenes also inhibit the growth of major mastitis pathogens. In a recent study, cytoplasmic bacteriocins from S. epidermidis selectively inhibited growth of S. aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains (112). These studies suggest the need for additional in vivo studies to determine how bacteriocins influence NAS specieslevel interactions in the milk microbiome.…”

The Effect of Cell-Free Supernatants of Free-Living Amoeba against Some Staphylococcus Bacteria: First Findings from Turkey

“…As stated above, since it is thought that the characteristics/abilities (pathogenicity factors) possessed by these microorganisms may play an important role among the factors affecting the relationship between FLA and bacteria living in the same environ- ment, the subject should be investigated in detail. For example, it is known that the S. epidermidis ATCC 12228 strain, which was tested in our study and is avirulent, has molecules called bacteriocin that it releases into the external environment (43). This bacterium thus inhibits some species (eg S. aureus) that live in the same environment and are close to it.…”

Atopic Dermatitis as a Multifactorial Skin Disorder. Can the Analysis of Pathophysiological Targets Represent the Winning Therapeutic Strategy?

“…An in vitro study showed that cytoplasmic bacteriocins isolated from S. epidermidis selectively exhibited antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). These findings suggest that these cytoplasmic bacteriocin compounds could potentially inhibit the growth of S. aureus and be used as a topical AD treatment [ 68 ].…”