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New Dual-Action Antibiotic Could Render Bacterial Resistance "Nearly Impossible"

Bio Tech

dual-action antibiotic, bacterial resistance, macrolones, synthetic drugs, University of Illinois Chicago

Business Honor
24 July, 2024

To transform the way that diseases are treated, UIC Researchers invent a dual-action antibiotic to fight bacterial resistance

A new type of antibiotic has been invented at the University of Illinois at Chicago by researchers. It targets two different cellular pathways in bacteria and severely reduces their capacity to acquire resistance. The study, which was published in Nature Chemical Biology, focuses on artificial antibiotics called macrolones that impair essential bacterial cell activities.

Macrolones operate by interfering either with protein production or by altering DNA structure within bacterial cells. This dual-target approach means bacteria must simultaneously defend against attacks on multiple fronts, making the acquisition of resistance mutations exceedingly rare.

According to Alexander Mankin, distinguished professor of pharmaceutical sciences at UIC, "The beauty of this antibiotic is that it kills through two different targets in bacteria. If the antibiotic hits both targets at the same concentration, then the bacteria lose their ability to become resistant via acquisition of random mutations in any of the two targets."

The macrolones combine features from two established antibiotics: macrolides, which inhibit ribosomes, and fluoroquinolones, which target DNA gyrase. Researchers found that these compounds bind more tightly than traditional antibiotics, even blocking ribosomes in strains resistant to macrolides.

The interdisciplinary collaboration at UIC's Molecular Biology Research Building played a crucial role in advancing this research, bridging expertise from medicine, pharmacy, and sciences.