New class of Antibiotics disrupts protein synthesis

Odilorhabdins:

Odilorhabdins, or ODLs, a new class of antibiotics which disrupts protein synthesis are produced by symbiotic bacteria Xenorhabdus Nematophilia, found in soil-dwelling nematode worms that colonize insects for food. The bacteria Xenorhabdus Nematophilia actually helps to kill the insect and, importantly, secrete the antibiotic to keep competating the other bacteria away. Till now, these nematode-associated bacteria and the antibiotics they make have been largely understudied. To identify the antibiotic property present in the xenorhabdus bacteria, researchers screened 80 cultured strains of the bacteria & isolated the active compounds showing properties of antibiotics, studied their chemical structures and engineered more potent derivatives. ODLs mainly act on the ribosome, which is the molecular machine of individual cells that makes the proteins it needs to function of bacterial cells.

Like many clinically useful antibiotics, ODLs work by targeting the ribosome, but ODLs are unique because they bind to a place on the ribosome that has never been used by other known antibiotics. The ODLs when binds to the ribosome, the antibiotic disrupts its ability to interpret and translate genetic code. When ODLs are introduced to the bacterial cells, they impact the reading ability of the ribosome and cause the ribosome to make mistakes when it creates new proteins. This miscoding corrupts the cell with flawed proteins and causes the bacterial cell death. Many antibiotics can slow bacterial growth, but the antibiotics that actually kill bacteria, called bactericidal antibiotics, are rare. The bactericidal mechanism of ODLs and the fact that they bind to a site on the ribosome not exploited by any known antibiotic are very strong indicators that it has the potential to treat infections that are unresponsive to other antibiotics.

Now-a-days WHO is also focusing on antibiotic resistant, which is one of the gigantic threats to global health today and a significant contributor to longer hospital stays, higher medical costs and increased mortality? The researchers, academics & pharma industries have been collaborated with each other , which is needed to combat the growing and global threat of antibiotic resistance. Currently, pharma professionals, microbiologists & academia are working together for this.

Article written by:

Utkalendu suvendusekhar samantaray

MSc Biotechnology

Utkal University