Russian scientists investigating the mechanisms of antibiotic action
Gennady Makarov, a young scientist of South Ural State University, is researching a bacterial ribosome. The results could have application in creating a new antibiotic that can overcome the maternal systems of bacteria.
In recent decades, bacteria have mutated and become resistant to antibiotics. New, fully synthetic antibiotics could be active against such resistant pathogens but have not yet been undeveloped.
"The fact is that half of the families of antibiotics act on the ribosome of a bacterial cell. Ribosomes are cell organelles, massive complexes of proteins and RNA that are responsible for protein synthesis. Antibiotics are a pillar of our quality of life, and it is thanks to antibacterial drugs that bacterial infection does not present an insoluble problem for us. The golden era of antibiotics came in the 1950-60s, when modern drugs were introduced rapidly into medical practice and made it possible to achieve significant results. However, by the 1980s, persistent bacterial strains spread intensively in the world, and antibiotics ceased to be effective. We strive to understand the mechanisms of action of the bacterial ribosome and, on the basis of the data obtained, to understand what the new antibiotics should look like," said Gennady Makarov, senior research fellow, Research Laboratory for Multiscale Modeling of Multicomponent Functional Materials, SUSU.
One problem is that bacteria constantly mutate and become resistant to drugs. Hospitals are vectors for a variety of pathogenic bacteria that constantly come into contact with antibiotics in doses insufficient to destroy them, but sufficient to select for the survival of resistant bacteria. And a person who becomes infected with any infectious disease caused by such resistant bacteria cannot be treated with antibiotics.
Another problem is the search for new antibacterial drugs is difficult, as scientists have already found a large number of natural antibiotics. And the discovery of another natural antibiotic will not remain a solution for the reason that bacteria exist that likely already have a system of protection against its action. In this regard, there is a need to create fully artificial, synthetic antibiotics to which bacteria cannot adapt for a long time.
"The antimicrobial effect of antibiotics is required to impair protein synthesis in bacterial ribosomes, and a new synthetic antibiotic will be created based on knowledge of the structure of the ribosome. Having received it, we will have to introduce it into medical practice and cease the use of old antibiotics. Their use will again become possible in 50 to 100 years, when bacterial strains resistant to them cease to circulate," said Makarov.
Antibiotics cannot penetrate the bacterial cell. So pathogenic bacteria form a protective film and resist UV radiation, and are immune to disinfectant reagents. The new antibiotic will have to circumvent existing resistance mechanisms and typical bacterial mutations. It must have high permeability, which would allow fighting tuberculosis and other dangerous infectious diseases.
Provided by South Ural State University
