Detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with antibodies against synthetic peptides derived from penicillin-binding protein 2'.

Ten kinds of peptides (21 to 32 amino acids in length) were synthesized based on the reported amino acid sequences of the penicillin-binding protein 2' (PBP2') of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Antibodies against these synthetic peptides (SPs) were generated by immunizing rabbits. The antibodies raised against all the peptides except for one reacted to PBP2' of MRSA and to SPs used for immunization but not to any other protein of MRSA or methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) tested by ELISA and Western blotting. A sandwich immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) for the detection of PBP2' was developed using these antibodies. The method could detect PBP2' extracted from as few as 3 x 10(4) cells of a clinical MRSA isolate, and a good correlation between cell number and signal radio-count was observed. IRMA was positive for all 51 methicillin-resistant staphylococci isolated from patients, and was negative for all the 28 methicillin-susceptible ones and 19 strains of other bacterial species. IRMA could be a simple and reliable method for MRSA detection in the clinical bacterial laboratory.