Key points from article :
A new class of antibiotics promote a rapid immune response with an antibacterial action.
Bacteria are becoming resistant to treatment with all available antibiotic options.
"We reasoned that harnessing the immune system to simultaneously attack bacteria on two different fronts makes it hard for them to develop resistance," - Dr. Dotiwala, lead author.
Focused on the MEP pathway that is essential for most bacteria but absent in humans.
Targeted the IspH enzyme involved in this pathway to kill the microbes.
Computer modelling screened commercially available compounds to select the most potent ones.
In preclinical models the bactericidal effects of the selected IspH inhibitors outperformed traditional antibiotics.
All compounds tested were shown to be nontoxic to human cells.
Research by The Wistar Institute published in Nature.
