New targets for antibiotics

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct 31, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- An Ohio State University study may help scientists stay a step ahead of disease-causing bacteria that can become resistant to antibiotics.

Researchers say the secret lies in understanding the function of the ribosome, a tiny protein-making factory residing inside most cells.

Many currently used antibiotics alter a ribosome's ability to make proteins, said Kurt Fredrick, a study co-author and an OSU assistant professor of microbiology.

But he and colleagues at the University of Illinois thought there may be additional places in a ribosome that future antibiotics could affect, places that current antibiotics don't currently target.

They were right.

"Antibiotic resistance will always be an issue," Fredrick said. "But as long as we can stay ahead of the ability of the pathogens to resist antibiotics, we're okay."

Fredrick co-authored the study with lead author Alexander Mankin and Aymen Yassin, both with the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The findings appear in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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