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Warwick Team Finds Potent Antibiotic Intermediate 100 Times Stronger in Lab Tests

The discovery highlights biosynthetic intermediates as a promising path for replenishing the antibiotic pipeline.

Image
MRSA (pictured) is one of a number of superbugs that are increasingly hard to treat with antibiotics.
Representational image | Wikimedia Commons

Overview

  • A peer-reviewed Journal of the American Chemical Society paper details the chance identification of pre-methylenomycin C lactone during efforts to map methylenomycin A biosynthesis.
  • The naturally produced intermediate from Streptomyces coelicolor showed about 100-fold greater activity than methylenomycin A against Gram-positive bacteria in vitro.
  • Researchers reported activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium, key agents of MRSA and VRE.
  • Under laboratory conditions that typically induce resistance to vancomycin, VRE showed no resistance to the compound, according to the coverage.
  • The team says the finding is early stage with preclinical testing next, and it argues for systematically testing biosynthetic pathway intermediates to uncover new antibiotic leads.