A new step against “superbugs”: they create an effective synthetic molecule in mice

Scientific editorial, 15 February (EFE). – A scientific team from Harvard University in the US has developed a “highly effective” synthetic antimicrobial molecule against multi-resistant bacteria.

Cresomycin was published in the journal Science and, according to researchers, it can kill many strains of drug-resistant bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. in vitro” and in mice.

“Although we do not yet know whether cresomycin and similar drugs are safe and effective in humans, our results show significantly improved inhibitory activity against a long list of pathogenic bacterial strains that kill more than a million people every year compared to clinically approved antibiotics. ” says Andrew Myers, one of the study’s authors.

The new molecule demonstrates an improved ability to bind to bacterial ribosomes, which are biomolecular machines that control protein synthesis.

Altering ribosome function is a hallmark of many existing antibiotics, but some bacteria have evolved defense mechanisms that prevent traditional drugs from working, Harvard said in a statement.

Cresomycin is one of several “promising” compounds that Myers’ team has developed to help win the war against superbugs.

The new molecule is based on the chemical structure of lincosamides, a class of antibiotics that includes the widely prescribed clindamycin. Like many antibiotics, clindamycin is produced by semisynthesis, in which complex products isolated from nature are directly modified for pharmacological use.

However, Harvard’s new compound is completely synthetic and represents a chemical modification.

Bacteria can develop resistance to ribosomal-targeted antibiotics by expressing genes that produce enzymes called ribosomal RNA methyltransferases. These enzymes remove drug components designed to attach to and break down the ribosome, ultimately blocking the drug’s activity.

To avoid this problem, Myers and his team designed their compound to, among other properties, provide stronger binding to the ribosome.

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