Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an important human pathogen, has evolved an inducible mechanism for resistance to β-lactam antibiotics. We report herein that the integral membrane protein BlaR1, the β-lactam sensor/signal transducer protein, is phosphorylated on exposure to β-lactam antibiotics. This event is critical to the onset of the induction of antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, we document that BlaR1 phosphorylation and the antibiotic-resistance phenotype are both reversed in the presence of synthetic protein kinase inhibitors of our design, restoring susceptibility of the organism to a penicillin, resurrecting it from obsolescence in treatment of these intransigent bacteria.
