Researchers discovered a new class of antibiotics that could help fight drug-resistant bacteria.
The new antibiotic class could help combat dangerous and treatment-resistant bacteria strains such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a University of Notre Dame news release reported.
The new class, dubbed oxadiazoles, were discovered through a computer screening and showed promise in MRSA rodent studies.
The researchers used computers to screen 1.2 million compounds that "oxadiazole inhibits a penicillin-binding protein, PBP2a, and the biosynthesis of the cell wall that enables MRSA to resist other drugs," the news release reported. These oxadiazoles could also be taken orally; there is currently only one on antibiotic for MRSA that can be administered this way.
"Professor Mobashery has been working on the mechanisms of resistance in MRSA for a very long time," Chang said. "As we understand what the mechanisms are, we can devise strategies to develop compounds against MRSA."
MRSA has been affecting patients since the 1960s. Every year 278,000 Americans contract the infection and are hospitalized, 19,000 die.
"Mayland Chang and Shahriar Mobashery's discovery of a class of compounds that combat drug resistant bacteria such as MRSA could save thousands of lives around the world. We are grateful for their leadership and persistence in fighting drug resistance," Greg Crawford, dean of the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame.
MRSA, or "staph" is contagious, and can be contracted by touching the infected skin of another person or objects that have come in contact with the bacteria, WebMD reported.
"MRSA infections are common among people who have weak immune systems and are in hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care centers. Infections can appear around surgical wounds or invasive devices, like catheters or implanted feeding tubes. Rates of infection in hospitals, especially intensive care units, are rising throughout the world. In U.S. hospitals, MRSA causes more than 60 [percent] of staph infections," WebMD reported.
