Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteriaFLICKR, NIAID
Scientists have discovered a new class of antibiotics that can kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in mice. The drugs, called synthetic retinoid antibiotics, are in the same family of compounds as Vitamin A. In the study, published yesterday (March 28) in Nature, the researchers modified the retinoids to maintain their ability to attack MRSA while minimizing their toxicity.
“The molecule weakens the cell membranes of bacteria, but human cells also have membranes,” study coauthor William Wuest, a chemist at Emory University, says in a statement. “We found a way to tweak the molecule so that it now selectively targets bacteria.”
Under the looming crisis of antibiotic resistance and evolution of “superbugs” that are multidrug resistant, the task of finding new classes of compounds that can ...
