A new class of antibiotics has been developed
The peculiarity is that it is able to fight gram-negative bacteria
Alexey Yevglevsky, Naked Science
Researchers from the biotech corporation Genentech presented an article in the journal Nature, in which they talked about an antibiotic codenamed G0775, capable of fighting gram-negative bacteria.
In 1884, a Danish doctor named Hans Christian Gram proposed a method for differentiating bacteria. Its essence was as follows. Bacteria are stained with aniline dyes – they are fixed with an iodine solution. With subsequent washing with alcohol, those bacteria that retain their color are called gram–positive, and those that lose it are gram-negative.
Gram-positive bacteria have a single-layer cell membrane. It contains peptidoglycan, a heteropolymer that is important in the bacterial cell wall. Most antibiotics, including penicillin, interfere with the synthesis of peptidoglycan, which inevitably leads to cell death. Gram-negative bacteria differ markedly in this respect from gram-positive ones. In them, the cell membrane is locked between two loose layers, an additional lipopolysaccharide layer covers it from the outside, which is why the path to the membrane is closed. Scientists have been looking for workarounds for a long time – and now they have discovered one.
Some pathogenic bacteria develop antibiotic resistance over time – a phenomenon in which the causative agent of infection is resistant to the action of drugs. Such bacteria are called superbugs. To fight against them helps a class of molecules called arylomycins (arylomycins), which act on the signal peptidase. Biologists have suggested that in this way these molecules could destroy gram-negative bacteria. By changing the chemical characteristics of arilomycin, they received a new drug – G0775.
The authors of the study Christopher Heise and Peter Smith commented on the work:
"In this study, we applied the methods of medical chemistry to deconstruct arilomycin and develop modified molecules based on it, one of which is G0775. They are an order of magnitude more effective than arilomycin and are able to penetrate the outer membrane of the bacterium to get to the signal peptidase."
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru