Researchers will now explore the development of ‘antibiotic adjuvants’ that will specifically target the SpsB protein in MRSA. An antibiotic adjuvant is a molecule that is paired with existing antibiotics to block bacterial resistance mechanisms. Adjuvants typically target different parts of bacteria to their antibiotic partners, and work by making antibiotics effective again.
Assistant Professor Thomas Lanyon-Hogg, senior author on the paper, explained the significance of the findings: "As resistance to common antibiotics increases, any new antibiotics must be held back as ‘last-resort' treatments. However, developing a new drug costs over $1 billion and takes 10 to 15 years, so the limited commercial market for antibiotics has stifled investment and innovation. Drugs that aid antibiotics by combatting resistance - known as ‘antibiotic adjuvants’ – may not face these same market barriers, making them an attractive alternative for drug development."
Antibiotic resistance is driven in part by the SOS response within damaged bacterial DNA which increases the rate of genetic mutations. Blocking this SOS response in bacteria can extend the efficacy of existing antibiotics. However, no drugs inhibiting the SOS response have reached clinical trials yet.
Much of the work on the project was carried out by Jacob Bradbury, who is just completing his Oxford DPhil under the Chemistry in Cells programme, and who is lead author on the paper. Jacob commented, "MRSA remains a major cause of serious infections because it can quickly evolve resistance to antibiotics used in routine care. By targeting the SOS response that drives this process, our findings have the potential to restore the power of existing antibiotics and make MRSA infections treatable once again, rather than solely relying on a decreasing number of last-resort drugs."
For the full story and link to the paper, see https://www.ineosoxford.ox.ac.uk/news/IOI-new-antibiotic-drug-target-signal-peptidase-IB-slows-resistance-mrsa