A breakthrough has been made by researchers at King’s College London that has the potential to accelerate the development of new antibiotics in the battle against antimicrobial resistance.
In a publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, experts from the Department of Chemistry present a new, quick technique for producing cyclic peptides, which are a crucial category of antibiotic compounds. This method takes only minutes instead of the typical hours or even days, which could help address a significant obstacle in the production of new antibiotics.
Advances in antibiotic development pose a significant challenge.
Dr Sarah Barry, the lead author from King’s College London’s Department of Chemistry, stated, “The increasing global prevalence of antimicrobial resistant infections jeopardizes the substantial progress made in modern medicine during the past century. Antibiotics are essential for everything from minor injuries to major surgeries and cancer treatments. However, as bacteria and viruses adapt to resist these medications, the effectiveness of these life-saving drugs diminishes.
“There is an urgent need for investment in antibiotic development. We hope that innovations such as our new method at King’s will inspire renewed efforts towards this goal.”
the scientists studied a naturally produced cyclic peptide which has promising activity against the bacteria
Given that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant and increasing threat to global public health, there is an urgent need for new antibiotics to combat deadly infectious diseases. However, the complexity of the molecular structure of antibiotics makes it challenging to modify or design them to evade resistance. Some antibiotics are made up of cyclic peptides, which are strings of amino acids joined together in a circle, and are very difficult to replicate in the lab.
To comprehend how this process occurs in nature, the researchers examined a naturally occurring cyclic peptide.The world’s most lethal infectious disease is becoming more resistant. Researchers discovered that by using the encoded sequence of amino acids from the natural peptide to create their synthetic peptides, it allowed their peptides to rapidly form cycles.
The team believes that this simple method can be used to create modified versions of the molecules found in antimicrobials, which could lead to the development of new antibiotics.
Dr. Yaoyu Ding, Research Assistant, who based his PhD on the project, stated, “We have simplified and expedited a crucial part of the chemistry involved in creating these molecules. We hope that this new approach will lead to the development of more effective treatments.”The technique will allow scientists to create collections of variations for the purpose of searching for new antimicrobial drugs. In addition to antimicrobials, the researchers have also used this method to test a variety of other peptides, paving the way for the discovery of cyclic peptides in a variety of medications, such as anti-cancer drugs.
