Russian researchers from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) and other scientific centers have created an improved system for detecting antibiotics, the multinational channel TVBrics reported.
This new testing system helps determine whether a substance kills bacteria by disrupting RNA synthesis. A promising method for combating resistant infections.
It also allows for the rapid selection of substances that disrupt RNA synthesis (the process of creating a copy of a DNA fragment). In Gram-negative bacteria, including the dangerous Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
The development accelerates the search for new drugs and helps understand exactly how a given compound works, according to the Skoltech website.
Disrupting RNA synthesis is considered very promising for new drugs because there are few such medications on the market. And bacteria have not yet had time to develop protection against them.
Also the research’s scientific director, Professor Dmitri Lukianov of the Center for Biomedical Technologies at Skoltech. He explained that understanding a substance’s mechanism of action is important. Because it allows for detailed study of how it works and for chemical modification.
The biologist and first author of the paper, Anton Izzi, described the practical search process. Researchers receive a list of candidate substances from their colleagues and test them on bacteria. If the bacteria die, the system helps determine the cause.
“Our reporter system deciphers the mechanism of action: if the antibiotic acts on ribosomes (like tetracycline), the system will show it. If it acts on DNA synthesis (like novobiocin), it will also show it. Now this set has been expanded, and the new system is able to ‘see’ the effect on RNA synthesis (like rifampicin),” he added.
The system is based on a laboratory strain of Escherichia coli. It has a gene that becomes more active precisely when there are errors in RNA synthesis. The activity of this gene is measured using a PCR test.
Furthermore the problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics arose due to their uncontrolled use. For example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa has adapted to several classes of drugs in the last 50 years. Staphylococcus aureus has also learned to survive where it previously died.
It is noted that, without the new system, scientists would have to study the structure of molecules at early stages. Speculate about possible targets, and conduct additional tests, which greatly slowed down the work.
With information from Prensa Latina
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