MALDI-TOF MS method for differentiation of methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using (E)-Propyl α-cyano-4-Hydroxyl cinnamylate

Differentiating methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and MSSA) is crucial for clinical diagnosis and anti-microbial treatment. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is an efficient tool for identifying pathogenic microorganisms at the bacterial species level. Here, we found that MRSA and MSSA can be differentiated by MALDI-TOF MS by employing (E)-propylα-cyano-4-hydroxyl cinnamylate (CHCA-C3) as the matrix, which shows great performance for proteins/peptides, especially hydrophobic proteins. The results show that the mass spectra profile of standard MRSA (ATCC 43300) is significantly different from the profiles of standard MSSA strains (ATCC 25923 and 29213) when using CHCA-C3 as the matrix compared to traditional matrix. The mass profiles had great reproducibility and were scarcely influenced by the growth medium. Due to the enhanced discrimination ability of CHCA-C3, we collected the mass spectra of 62 clinical S. aureus strains and selected four representative peaks for principal component analysis, which showed great differentiation. Our results suggest that employing a suitable matrix could enhance the discrimination ability of antibiotic-resistant bacteria by MALDI-TOF MS.