Novel chemistry for new class of antibiotic

 The potential new antibiotic targets a bacterial enzyme critical to metabolic processes. The compound is a protein inhibitor which binds to the enzyme (called biotin protein ligase), stopping its action and interrupting the life cycle of the bacteria.

"Existing antibiotics target the bacterial cell membranes but this potential new antibiotic operates in a completel"

 

Ref : http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2013/sc/c3sc51127h

A ‘leaky mutant’ (SaBPL-R122G) of Staphylococcus aureus biotin protein ligase (SaBPL) is used to enhance the turnover rate for the reaction of biotin alkyne with an azide to give a triazole. This allows the enzyme to select the optimum triazole-based inhibitor using a library of such azides in a single experiment with greatly improved efficiency and sensitivity of detection, difficulties that can restrict the general utility of a multi-component in situ click approach to ligand optimisation...

Novel chemistry for new class of antibiotic