An antibiotic preorganized for ribosomal binding overcomes antimicrobial resistance. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38359125/)

These scientists made a new antibiotic called cresomycin (CRM) that can kill many different types of bacteria, even ones that are resistant to other antibiotics. They designed and created CRM in a lab using chemicals, and then tested it to see how well it worked against harmful bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

They found that CRM was really good at attaching to the ribosomes of the bacteria, which is like their control center, and stopping them from making proteins they need to survive. They also discovered that CRM could still work even if the bacteria had changes that made them resistant to other antibiotics.

By studying the structure of CRM and how it interacts with bacterial ribosomes, the scientists were able to figure out why it is so effective at killing bacteria. They even looked at how CRM worked against bacteria that had developed resistance to other antibiotics, and found that it could still bind to their ribosomes and stop them from working properly.

Overall, these scientists created a powerful new antibiotic that can fight off many different types of bacteria, including ones that have become resistant to other treatments.

Wu KJY., Tresco BIC., Ramkissoon A., Aleksandrova EV., Syroegin EA., See DNY., Liow P., Dittemore GA., Yu M., Testolin G., Mitcheltree MJ., Liu RY., Svetlov MS., Polikanov YS., Myers AG. An antibiotic preorganized for ribosomal binding overcomes antimicrobial resistance. Science. 2024 Feb 16;383(6684):721-726. doi: 10.1126/science.adk8013. Epub 2024 Feb 15.