Dr. Sarah EJ Bowman and the National High-Throughput Crystallization Center involved in addressing the challenge of finding new antimicrobials

Antibiotic resistance is a rising global threat for public health, and finding new antimicrobials is a significant challenge.  HWI has been involved in addressing this challenge. A large collaborative project in which Dr. Sarah EJ Bowman and the National High-Throughput Crystallization Center were involved has resulted in a paper just published in Nature Microbiology (https://rdcu.be/cWmNJ).

The research has identified Dynobactin A, a novel peptide antibiotic from Photorhabdus australis found to be highly potent inhibiting BamA, a key target in Gram-negative bacteria. The paper is a tour de force and includes computational identification of Dynobactin A, microcrystal electron diffraction, cryoEM, crystallography, and NMR. The study demonstrates the utility of computational and structural approaches to antibiotic discovery, and suggests that Dynobactin A is a promising lead for drug development.

Collaborators:

Antimicrobial Discover Center, Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA

Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Beckman Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

National Crystallization Center, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Buffalo, NY

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA