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Statin-induced lipid carrier stress reveals a conserved vulnerability in β-lactam-resistant Gram-positive bacteria
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Molecular Biology (Faculty of Medicine).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0450-1430
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Molecular Biology (Faculty of Medicine).
National Centre for Biotechnology, Spanish National Research Council (CNB-CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
Umeå University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Microbiology.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0548-5943
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2026 (English)In: Nature Communications, E-ISSN 2041-1723, Vol. 17, no 1, article id 6680Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus resists β-lactam antibiotics through the allosteric transpeptidase penicillin-binding protein 2a, which operates within staphyloxanthin-rich membrane microdomains. Statins restore susceptibility by disrupting these microdomains and impairing penicillin-binding protein 2a oligomerization, but the mechanisms enabling resistance to this resensitization remain unclear. Here we show, using evolution experiments in strains lacking a functional staphyloxanthin pathway, that mutations in gdpP, a regulator of cyclic di-adenosine monophosphate signaling, are the predominant route for restoring oxacillin resistance during membrane microdomain disruption. This adaptation is blocked by simvastatin, revealing a synthetic lethal interaction. Mechanistically, simvastatin inhibits the mevalonate pathway, depleting the essential lipid carrier undecaprenyl phosphate and exacerbating peptidoglycan precursor imbalance, an effect phenocopied by lipid carrier–targeting antibiotics such as bacitracin. Although compensatory mutations can restore resistance, they impose a fitness cost in vivo. Importantly, this vulnerability extends to Streptococcus pneumoniae, revealing a conserved strategy to overcome β-lactam resistance in Gram-positive pathogens.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Nature Portfolio, 2026. Vol. 17, no 1, article id 6680
National Category
Microbiology in the Medical Area Infectious Medicine
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URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-256942DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-75729-8ISI: 001825954200004PubMedID: 42477355Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105045292273OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-256942DiVA, id: diva2:2088970
Funder
Swedish Research Council, VR2018-05882Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, KAW2023.0346Swedish Society for Medical Research (SSMF)Available from: 2026-07-30 Created: 2026-07-30 Last updated: 2026-07-30Bibliographically approved

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Torrens, GabrielBisset, SeanJohansson, Anders F.Cava, Felipe

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Department of Molecular Biology (Faculty of Medicine)Department of Clinical MicrobiologyMolecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS)Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR)
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Nature Communications
Microbiology in the Medical AreaInfectious Medicine

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