A small-molecule membrane fluidizer re-sensitizes methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to β-lactam antibiotics.

ABSTRACT: Novel antibacterial agents and strategies are urgently needed to fight against the ongoing global antibiotic resistance problem. While natural products remain the main source in antibiotic discovery, synthetic antibacterials provide an attractive alternative and may evade the ancient antibiotic resistance. Herein, we report a small molecule that re-sensitizes methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to β-lactam antibiotics with extremely low potential for resistance development. It belongs to a new class of broad-spectrum antibacterials, trypyricins, which share similar structural characteristics and mechanism of action to the cationic antimicrobial peptides. Mechanistic studies indicated that trypyricins fluidize and disrupt bacterial cytoplasmic membrane. These results suggeste

SUBMITTER: Podoll JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10583677 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature