Liu Junyan, Chen Dingqiang, Peters Brian M, Li Lin, Li Bing, Xu Zhenbo, Shirliff Mark E
College of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, PR China; Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College, Guangzhou 510120, PR China.
Microb Pathog. 2016 Dec;101:56-67. doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2016.10.028. Epub 2016 Nov 9.
Considered to be a potential "superbug", methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been one of the major recent infectious pathogens and thus poses a challenge to hospital infection control. The mobile genetic element staphylococcal chromosomal cassette mec (SCCmec) carries both the mecA or mecC gene, encoding for a novel specific penicillin-binding protein (PBP2a), and site-specific recombinase genes ccrAB or/and ccrC. In MRSA, the acquisition of SCCmec leads to the resistance to the β-lactam antibiotics. As SCCmec plays a core role in the antimicrobial resistance characteristics, molecular epidemiology and evolution of MRSA, a thorough summary and comprehensive understanding of the prevalence and structural characteristics of SCCmec may aid in global surveillance, implementation and investigation on MRSA isolates, as well as further development of preventive and therapeutic approaches. Consequently, this review is aimed at describing the history, prevalence, types and subtypes, and current typing methods of SCCmec, with the focus on the typical structures of the SCCmec cassette.
耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）被认为是一种潜在的“超级细菌”，是近年来主要的传染性病原体之一，因此对医院感染控制构成挑战。移动遗传元件葡萄球菌染色体盒式mec（SCCmec）同时携带mecA或mecC基因，该基因编码一种新型特异性青霉素结合蛋白（PBP2a），以及位点特异性重组酶基因ccrAB或/和ccrC。在MRSA中，SCCmec的获得导致对β-内酰胺类抗生素产生耐药性。由于SCCmec在MRSA的抗菌耐药特性、分子流行病学和进化中起核心作用，对SCCmec的流行情况和结构特征进行全面总结和深入了解，可能有助于对MRSA分离株进行全球监测、实施和调查，以及进一步开发预防和治疗方法。因此，本综述旨在描述SCCmec的历史、流行情况、类型和亚型以及当前的分型方法，重点是SCCmec盒式结构的典型结构。
