Tokyo (SCCIJ) – Researchers of the University of Zurich and the Swiss young company Spexis AG have come up with a new class of antibiotics that are highly effective against extremely dangerous bacteria. The new antibiotics class is based on a naturally occurring peptide.
A new antibiotics class from Switzerland may help to ensure that dangerous bacterial infections in patients can still be treated successfully (Source: Pixabay).
Modified structure
Each year, more than five million people worldwide die as a result of bacteria that are resistant to the most common antibiotics. Hence, new antibiotics are urgently needed to ensure that bacterial infections in patients can still be treated successfully. Swiss scientists now modified the chemical structure of naturally occurring peptides to develop antimicrobial molecules that bind to novel targets in the bacteria’s metabolism.
“Unfortunately, the development pipeline for new antibiotics is fairly empty,” explains chemist Oliver Zerbe, head of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance facilities at the University of Zurich (UZH). “It’s been more than 50 years since the last antibiotics against previously unused target molecules were approved.” Now, in a recently published study, Zerbe discusses the development of a highly effective class of antibiotics that fight Gram-negative bacteria in a novel way. The WHO classifies this group of bacteria as extremely dangerous.
The starting point for the researchers’ study was the naturally occurring peptide thanatin, which insects use to fend off infections. However, thanatin isn’t suitable as an antibiotic drug, among other things because bacteria quickly become resistant to it. The researchers therefore modified the chemical structure of thanatin to enhance the peptide’s characteristics.
Preclinical study
Zerbe’s team synthetically assembled the various components of the bacterial transport bridge and then used nuclear magnetic resonance to visualize where and how thanatin binds to and disrupts the transport bridge. Researchers from Spexis AG planned the chemical modifications that were necessary to boost the peptide’s antibacterial effects. Further mutations were made to increase the molecule’s stability, among other things.
The synthetic peptides were then tested in mice with bacterial infections – and yielded outstanding results. “The novel antibiotics proved very effective, especially for treating lung infections,” says Zerbe. “They are also highly effective against carbapenem-resistant enterobacteria, where most other antibiotics fail.”
Also, the newly developed peptides are not toxic or harmful to the kidneys, and they also proved stable in the blood over a longer period – all of which are properties that are required for gaining approval as a drug. “We now have the prospect of a new class of antibiotics becoming available that is also effective against resistant bacteria,” says Zerbe. After further preclinical studies, the first tests in humans can begin.
Text: UZH News (Editing by SCCIJ)
