In a study conducted by Kim Lewis and colleagues from
Northwestern University, an antibiotic called "Clovibactin" was
isolated from bacteria grown with a device developed to grow an organism called
"bacterial dark matter". According to the research results announced
by the NovoBiotic Pharmacology company, the Clovibactin antibiotic acts on a
wide range of pathogenic bacteria and can treat the "Staphylococcus
aureus" superbug in mice. A group of researchers led by Bonn University
Professor Tanja Schneider discovered that Clovibactin has an unusual mechanism
of destruction and targets 3 different molecules required in cell wall
formation.
The team used a special technique called nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR) during the study of Clovibactin. Clovibactin may have potential
for improved therapeutics.
Dr Markus Weingarth, a researcher from Utrecht University,
stated that Clovibactin is different from other antibiotics because it is
isolated from bacteria, while pathogenic bacteria do not have time to develop
resistance to the drug in question.
Stating that Clovibactin wraps the pyrophosphate tightly,
"like a cage", Weingarth said, "Since Clovibactin binds to the
immutable, protected part of its target, it will be much more difficult for
bacteria to develop resistance to it. In our studies, we did not observe any
resistance to Clovibactin."
"This is probably the reason why Clovibactin
selectively damages bacterial cells but is not harmful to human cells,"
Weingarth said, adding that the cell fibre in question only occurs in bacterial
cell membranes and is not seen in humans.