British scientists have announced a “breakthrough” discovery about penicillin, opening the way for new designer antibiotics.
The Sheffield scientists say they have explained for the first time how the original antibiotic works in studies of MRSA.
According to the scientists, penicillin and other beta-lactam antibiotics create holes in the wall of the bacteria cell. Then these holes enlarge as the cell grows, with lethal consequences.
The project has been led by the University of Sheffield and has involved groups at Xiamen University in China, Masaryk University in the Czech Republic and McMaster University in Canada.
Sheffield claims to be the place where penicillin was first used for therapeutic purposes following its discovery by Alexander Fleming.
Researcher Professor Simon Foster said: “Penicillin and other antibiotics in its class have been a centrepiece of human healthcare for over 80 years and have saved over 200 million lives. However, their use is severely threatened by the global spread of antimicrobial resistance.
“Concentrating on the superbug MRSA, our research revealed that the antibiotics lead to the formation of small holes that span the cell wall that gradually enlarge as part of growth associated processes, eventually killing the bacteria. We also identified some of the enzymes that are involved in making the holes.
“Our findings get to the heart of understanding how existing antibiotics work and give us new avenues for further treatment developments in the face of the global pandemic of antimicrobial resistance.”
Demonstration of the role of cell wall homeostasis in growth and the action of bactericidal antibiotics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in press. Doi: 10.1073/pnas.2106022118.
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