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Resistant bacteria meet their match with custom antibiotics
By Levi Gadye / Mon Oct 26, 2020
Paul Gunning (Cell Image Library)
A scanning electron micrograph image of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria.
Bacterial resistance is a growing problem. About 2.8 million people are infected by resistant bacteria or fungi each year, leading to 35,000 deaths. Scientists at the UCSF School of Pharmacy have shown that engineering small molecular changes into some antibiotics can restore their effectiveness in stopping the growth of drug-resistant bacteria.
Ian Seiple, PhD, faculty member in the School’s Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the UCSF Cardiovascular Research Institute, systematically modified a group of antibiotics to skirt the defenses of drug-resistant bacteria.
Seiple’s revamped antibiotics beat back these bacteria. He then worked with James Fraser, PhD, faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, to understand how these modifications work.
He provides an overview of the research, which was published September 23 in Nature, in the video below.
Ian Seiple, PhD, explains how he improved antibiotics to make them effective against resistant bacteria.
More
Customizable Synthetic Antibiotic Outmaneuvers Resistant Bacteria (UCSF News)
Synthetic group A streptogramin antibiotics that overcome Vat resistance (Nature)
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About the School: The UCSF School of Pharmacy aims to solve the most pressing health care problems and strives to ensure that each patient receives the safest, most effective treatments. Our discoveries seed the development of novel therapies, and our researchers consistently lead the nation in NIH funding. The School’s doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree program, with its unique emphasis on scientific thinking, prepares students to be critical thinkers and leaders in their field.
