ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — What began as an undergraduate research project at the University of North Carolina Asheville has resulted in a discovery that has landed the team a recognition in an accredited peer-reviewed journal.

‘It was very surreal’: UNC Asheville researchers make discovery in drug-resistant staph. (WLOS)

The team uncovered a weakness in a protein that drug-resistant, or methicillin-resistant, Staphylococcus aureus relies on during infection — a finding that could point to a new way to fight the bacteria.

Jenna Vidaud, a recent UNC Asheville graduate, was recognized with first-author credit on the paper.

“I never thought that something like that would happen in undergrad,” Vidaud said. “I didn’t really know that these kind of opportunities were available before I came to college.”

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“Knowing what that has done for the paper and what that finding did for the paper – It was very surreal,” senior biology major Garrett Davidson, another student who is part of the research team, said.

The four-year project, led by UNC Asheville Associate Professor Melinda R. Grosser was published Aug. 20 in the Journal of Bacteriology.

Grosser said a dozen undergraduate students helped her uncover a weakness in an enzyme called YqeK, which Staphylococcus aureus relies on to respond to stressful conditions it can encounter during an infection.

Researchers found that disabling the enzyme left the bacteria able to grow normally under everyday laboratory conditions but less able to withstand hostile conditions and cause damage, Grosser said. The bacteria became noticeably less toxic, losing much of their ability to destroy red blood cells, a strong signal that they would cause milder disease during a real infection, she said.

Grosser said targeting the enzyme could lead to an anti-virulence approach — one that weakens the bacteria rather than directly killing it.

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“If drugs were to be developed to target this protein, they would not directly kill the bacteria,” Grosser said. “It wouldn’t pressure the bacteria to evolve resistance in the same way, because it’s not making them fight for their lives,” she said.

The research comes as antimicrobial-resistant infections continue to create a major health care burden.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports $4.6 billion is spent each year in the U.S. treating antimicrobial-resistant infections, including MRSA.

Joëlla Adams, a research epidemiologist at RTI International, said the UNC Asheville research offers a promising direction for developing drugs that disarm S. aureus rather than kill it, but she emphasized that further testing is needed before it could affect patient care. Still, Adams said approaches like this could offer an alternative to traditional antibiotics whose overuse drives resistant infections.

Vidaud and Davidson said they never expected their work would lead them to a finding this significant. They said this work is creating even wider career possibilities for them. Vidaud is now a medical assistant after graduating last spring with a double major in biology along with chemistry and biochemistry. Davidson plans to continue the research as part of his senior thesis.

“Not only did it teach me all of these things that I would need for maybe a Ph.D. program, but having a publication on my resume would certainly help in that,” Davidson said.

Grosser said she is applying for additional funding to continue the research and determine whether the findings could eventually contribute to new treatments.

For more information, click here to see the official university release about this finding.