Lysocin E is a new antibiotic that targets menaquinone in the bacterial membrane

作者：Hamamoto Hiroshi; Urai Makoto; Ishii Kenichi; Yasukawa Jyunichiro; Paudel Atmika; Murai Motoki; Kaji Takuya; Kuranaga Takefumi; Hamase Kenji; Katsu Takashi; Su Jie; Adachi Tatsuo; Uchida Ryuji; Tomoda Hiroshi; Yamada Maki; Souma Manabu; Kurihara Hiroki; Inoue Masayuki; Sekimizu Kazuhisa^*

来源：Nature Chemical Biology, 2015, 11(2): 127-U68.

DOI：10.1038/NCHEMBIO.1710

To obtain therapeutically effective new antibiotics, we first searched for bacterial culture supernatants with antimicrobial activity in vitro and then performed a secondary screening using the silkworm infection model. Through further purification of the in vivo activity, we obtained a compound with a previously uncharacterized structure and named it 'lysocin E'. Lysocin E interacted with menaquinone in the bacterial membrane to achieve its potent bactericidal activity, a mode of action distinct from that of any other known antibiotic, indicating that lysocin E comprises a new class of antibiotic. This is to our knowledge the first report of a direct interaction between a small chemical compound and menaquinone that leads to bacterial killing. Furthermore, lysocin E decreased the mortality of infected mice. To our knowledge, lysocin E is the first compound identified and purified by quantitative measurement of therapeutic effects in an invertebrate infection model that exhibits robust in vivo effects in mammals.

• 出版日期2015-2