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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Infectious Agents and Disease
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1422574

Rapid and sensitive detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus through the RPA-PfAgo system

Provisionally accepted
Weizhong Chen Weizhong Chen 1,2Jiexiu Zhang Jiexiu Zhang 3*Wei Huagui Wei Huagui 4Jie Su Jie Su 2*Jie L Jie L 1*Xueyan Liang Xueyan Liang 5*Jiangtao Chen Jiangtao Chen 5*Rong Zhou Rong Zhou 1*Lin Li Lin Li 1*Zefang Lu Zefang Lu 1*Guangyu Sun Guangyu Sun 1*
  • 1 Chaozhou People's Hospital, Chaozhou, Guangdong, China
  • 2 Chaozhou Central Hospital, Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 3 College of Medicine, Shantou University, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 4 Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, Guangx, China
  • 5 Huizhou Central People's Hospital, Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Both the incidence and mortality rates associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have progressively increased worldwide. A nucleic acid testing system was developed in response, enabling swift and precise detection of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and its MRSA infection status. This facilitates improved prevention and control of MRSA infections. In this work, we introduce a novel assay platform developed by integrating Pyrococcus furiosus Argonaute (PfAgo) with recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA), which was designed for the simultaneous detection of the nuc and mecA genes in MRSA. This innovative approach enables visual MRSA detection within 55 minutes, boasting a detection limit of 10 2 copies/μL. Characterized by its high specificity, the platform accurately identifies MRSA infections without cross-reactivity to other clinical pathogens, highlighting its unique capability for S. aureus infection diagnostics amidst bacterial diversity.Validation of this method was performed on 40 clinical isolates, demonstrating a 95.0% accuracy rate in comparison to the established Vitek2-COMPACT system. The RPA-PfAgo platform has emerged as a superior diagnostic tool, offering enhanced sensitivity, specificity, and identification efficacy for MRSA detection. Our findings underscore the potential of this platform to significantly improve the diagnosis and management of MRSA infection.

    Keywords: PfAgo, RPA, POCT, Nucleic acid detection, Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

    Received: 25 Apr 2024; Accepted: 05 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Zhang, Huagui, Su, L, Liang, Chen, Zhou, Li, Lu and Sun. 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:
    Jiexiu Zhang, College of Medicine, Shantou University, Shantou, 515041, Guangdong Province, China
    Jie Su, Chaozhou Central Hospital, Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, China
    Jie L, Chaozhou People's Hospital, Chaozhou, Guangdong, China
    Xueyan Liang, Huizhou Central People's Hospital, Huizhou, 516001, Guangdong Province, China
    Jiangtao Chen, Huizhou Central People's Hospital, Huizhou, 516001, Guangdong Province, China
    Rong Zhou, Chaozhou People's Hospital, Chaozhou, Guangdong, China
    Lin Li, Chaozhou People's Hospital, Chaozhou, Guangdong, China
    Zefang Lu, Chaozhou People's Hospital, Chaozhou, Guangdong, China
    Guangyu Sun, Chaozhou People's Hospital, Chaozhou, Guangdong, 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.