Scientists discover a novel antibacterial molecule that targets a vital RNA regulatory element.
Researchers at the pharmaceutical company Merck have identified a new bacteria-killing compound with an unusual target—an RNA regulatory structure called a riboswitch. The team used its drug, described in Nature today (September 30), to successfully reduce an experimental bacterial infection in mice, suggesting that the molecule could lead to the creation of a new antibiotic. Moreover, the results indicate that riboswitches—and other RNA elements—might be hitherto unappreciated targets for antibiotics and other drugs.
“Finding an antibiotic with a new target . . . has always been one of the holy grails of antibiotics discovery,” said RNA biochemist Thomas Hermann of the University of California, San Diego, who was not involved in the work. “It looks like that’s what the Merck group has now accomplished.”