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Researchers at Harvard University have developed a powerful antimicrobial substance that can overcome the defenses of superbugs against commonly used antibiotics, making them useless.
Scientists discovered that the recently developed cresomycin has the ability to eliminate multiple types of drug-resistant bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
The safety of cresomycin and similar drugs to humans is still uncertain, as stated in the recent study.
However, researchers claim that the compound has increased effectiveness against a wide range of harmful bacteria that are responsible for the deaths of more than one million individuals annually.
According to study co-author Kelvin Wu, antibiotics play a crucial role in modern medicine by enabling advanced procedures such as surgeries, cancer treatments, and organ transplants.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cautions about a concerning increase in syphilis infections in the United States.
According to researchers, cresomycin has a higher capacity to attach to ribosomes, which are bacterial structures responsible for producing proteins inside cells, when compared to currently approved antibiotics.
Although numerous antibiotics function by interfering with ribosomes, certain bacteria have developed methods to counteract this impact.
They accomplish this by producing specific genes that encode for enzymes known as ribosomal RNA methyltransferases, which encapsulate and immobilize the drug components that are meant to bind to the ribosome.
Certain bacteria can exhibit resistance to drugs by decreasing the ability of their ribosomes to bind to antibiotic compounds.
Ben Tresco, co-author of the study, stated that antibacterial agents target the bacterial ribosome, which is nature’s preferred target. These agents serve as the inspiration for our program.
The latest study involved modifying a synthetic compound to mimic the shape of its binding target, making it more effective at gripping the ribosome.
It was discovered that cresomycin is highly effective in treating various types of bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics.
Researchers discovered that cresomycin has the ability to hinder the development of two common forms of bacteria, known as Gram-positive and Gram-negative. This includes strains of drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as observed in both laboratory experiments and in a mouse model of bacterial infection.
The scientists stated that cresomycin is not completely optimized for inhibiting the bacterial ribosome, but they did mention that these results are promising for the development of antibacterial treatments that can effectively combat antimicrobial resistance.
Source: independent.co.uk
