John Schmidt, McCafferty Group
Office: A005 LSRC
Phone: (919) 660-1510
E-mail: 
Research Interests
Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of nosocomial and community acquired infections. The increasing occurrence of resistant infections, particularly vancoymicin intermediate S. aureus (VISA) type resistance, has underlined the need for new antimicrobial drugs. To this end my research focuses on the characterizing the response of S. aureus to the antibiotic ramoplanin. Ramoplanin is active against most clinically important Gram-postive bacteria and is currently is Phase III clinical trials for the prevention of vancomycin-resistant enterococcal infections in hospitals. Since its discovery in 1984 no clinical or laboratory generated resistance to ramoplanin has been reported. Cross-resistance with other antibacterial agents has not been observed. Several studies have utilized Gene Chips to perform transcriptional profiling of the response of S. aureus to cell wall active antibiotics including oxacillin, bacitracin and vancomycin. Genes whose expression was increased by all of these tested antibiotics have been referred to as members of the “cell wall stimulon”. Ramoplanin acts at a different step and has a much different effect. Thus we plan to determine the transcriptional profile of the S. aureus response to ramoplanin. Further study of genes whose expression is significantly affected by exposure to ramoplanin may further illuminate the mechanism of action and indicate how resistance to ramoplanin may be generated. Bacteria have proven themselves remarkably adapt at generating resistance to antibiotics. We hope the knowledge gained from these studies guides judicious use of antibiotics resulting in the slowing or halting of resistance to new antibiotics.