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Updated: Apr 5, 2026

A Fluorescence-based Method to Study Bacterial Gene Regulation in Infected Tissues
Published on: February 19, 2019
Beta-Lactamase Repressor BlaI Modulates Staphylococcus aureus Cathelicidin Antimicrobial Peptide Resistance and
Morgan A Pence1, Nina M Haste2, Hiruy S Meharena3
1Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States of America; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States of America.
Abstract:
BlaI is a repressor of BlaZ, the beta-lactamase responsible for penicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Through screening a transposon library in S. aureus Newman for susceptibility to cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, we discovered BlaI as a novel cathelicidin resistance factor. Additionally, through integrational mutagenesis in S. aureus Newman and MRSA Sanger 252 strains, we confirmed the role of BlaI in resistance to human and murine cathelidicin and showed that it contributes to virulence in human whole blood and murine infection models. We further demonstrated that BlaI could be a target for innate immune-based antimicrobial therapies; by removing BlaI through subinhibitory concentrations of 6-aminopenicillanic acid, we were able to sensitize S. aureus to LL-37 killing.
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