Potential new target for RNA-binding antibiotics identified
Small molecules called riboswitches could serve as targets for a new
class of antibacterial agents, according to research reported
online in Nature Chemical Biology this month (3 December
2006).
Researchers explain that riboswitches bind metabolites and, in most cases,
regulate the expression of genes involved in the synthesis or transport
of the bound metabolite. Because the biochemical pathways that are regulated
by riboswitches are often essential for bacterial survival, suppression
of these pathways could be lethal to the bacteria, they say. The researchers
suggest that it may be possible to design antibacterial compounds that
bind to lysine riboswitches and repress the expression of important metabolic
genes.
To test this, they evaluated 12 lysine analogues for their ability to
bind the riboswitch receptor from the Bacillus subtilis bacteria. The
researchers found that some of these analogues bound to the lysine riboswitch
and prevented lysine biosynthesis, thereby stopping bacterial growth.
However, they warn that using lysine riboswitches as targets will not
always work, since some bacteria have pathways for acquiring lysine that
are not controlled in this way. |
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