THE chemical war against bacteria has intensified with the discovery of a
molecule that knocks out bacteria鈥檚 defences against penicillin.
Penicillin is a &bgr;-lactam antibiotic, which inhibits enzymes that make the
bacterium鈥檚 outer coating. 鈥淭he cell wall falls to pieces,鈥� says Rex Pratt of
Wesleyan University in Connecticut. But some bacteria fight back, producing
enzymes called &bgr;-lactamases which break down the antibiotics.
Now Pratt and a colleague have created a new class of &bgr;-lactamase blocker.
The new chemical sticks to the enzyme, stopping it in its tracks. The work will
appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
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The researchers hope to develop it for drugs against resistant bacteria.
Doctors already use a chemical called clavulanic acid to inhibit &bgr;-lactamase,
but limited resistance to it has been reported.