The misuse and overuse of antibiotics has led to the rise of superbugs - bacteria that have developed a resistance to widely used antibiotics. They pose a serious threat to public health. The threat is compunded for immuno-compromised patients.

At a presentation given yesterday at a national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C., researchers of Notre Dame University unveiled a novel type of antibiotic that has shown promise against bacteria that survive in the face of conventional antibiotics.

Doctors first identified methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria in the 1960s and hospitals have been fighting to control their spread for years. MRSA carry a unique protein called PBP 2a on the cell membrane that plays a key role in helping to defend against antibiotics. Shahriar Mobashery of Notre Dame University and his colleagues identified specific components of the bacterial cell wall that interact with PBP 2a to form a chemical barricade. The team has now made three new synthetic antibiotics based on cephalosporin, a close relative of penicillin. The compounds contain protein components that mimic the crucial parts of the cell wall that cooperate with PBP 2a, which leads to its deactivation and forces the bacterium to succumb to the medication. "We are the first to demonstrate this unique strategy," Mobashery says, "which could provide a new line of defense against the growing problem of antibiotic resistance."
Source: Scientific American