Nature Communications (Jun 2021)

Multi-target mode of action of silver against Staphylococcus aureus endows it with capability to combat antibiotic resistance

  • Haibo Wang,
  • Minji Wang,
  • Xiaohan Xu,
  • Peng Gao,
  • Zeling Xu,
  • Qi Zhang,
  • Hongyan Li,
  • Aixin Yan,
  • Richard Yi-Tsun Kao,
  • Hongzhe Sun

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23659-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 16

Abstract

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Silver (Ag) has been used as an antimicrobial agent since a long time, but its molecular mechanism of action was not elucidated due to technical challenges. Here, the authors develop a mass spectrometric approach to identify the Ag-proteome in Staphylococcus aureus, and capture a molecular snapshot of the dynamic bactericidal mode of action of Ag through targeting multiple biological pathways.