ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1616536
This article is part of the Research TopicA Molecular and Structural Approach to Deciphering and Combating Infectious PathogensView all articles
Sub-inhibitory concentrations of oxacillin modulate biogenesis and function of extracellular vesicles secreted by oxacillin-sensitive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Provisionally accepted
- Affiliated Hospital, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) carry multiple components, such as toxins, antigens, and resistance determinants, whose production is influenced by exposure to β-lactam antibiotics. However, systematic studies on the effects of β-lactam antibiotics on the release and functions of EVs remain limited. In this study, we isolated EVs from an OS-MRSA (OS-200) strain by ultracentrifugation, including both EVs untreated with antibiotics and those exposed to sub-inhibitory concentrations of oxacillin (OI-EVs). Exposure to sub-inhibitory concentrations of oxacillin (half and one-eighth of the minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC]) significantly enhanced the secretion of OI-EVs and increased the abundance of several proteins, including penicillin-binding protein 2, EmrB, Hlg, and enolase, in a concentration-dependent manner.Notably, EV1/2MIC exhibited more pronounced functional changes and enhanced hemolytic activity against rabbit red blood cells and promoted biofilm formation by OS-200. Additionally, OI-EVs stimulated the secretion of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α by THP-1 macrophages in a dose-dependent manner and demonstrated greater penetration potential into A549 lung epithelial cells.Exposure to sub-inhibitory concentrations of oxacillin significantly altered the secretion and composition of EVs, highlighting a novel relationship between antimicrobial exposure, exosome biogenesis, and OS-MRSA pathogenicity. These findings provide new insights into how β-lactam antibiotics influence host-pathogen interactions by modulating the secretion of bacterial vesicles.
Keywords: OS-MRSA, extracellular vesicles, Sub-inhibitory concentrations, Oxacillin, Bioactivities
Received: 23 Apr 2025; Accepted: 18 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Ran, Hao and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Junrui Wang, Affiliated Hospital, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.