‘Super’ drug! Modified form of vancomycin could put a stop to antibiotic resistance

Researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have revealed new data demonstrating a modified form of vancomycin, an antibiotic, could prevent antibiotic resistance for a long time.

Led by Dale Boger, co-chair of TSRI’s Department of Chemistry, the team structurally modified vancomycin in a way that not only overcomes the molecular basis of resistance but also improves potency of the drug. The findings of the study were recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Vancomycin has been prescribed for 60 years and bacteria are only now developing a resistance to it, notes a release on TSRI’s site. The longevity of the antibiotic, therefore, offers a good starting place for research as its mechanism of action is already difficult for bacteria to overcome.

In the paper, the team build on previous work that made vancomycin more potent through modifications and used a new modification of the antibiotic, which interferes with a bacterium’s cell wall. Through combining these changes to vancomycin, the researchers found that there was a 1,000-fold increase in activity of the antibiotic, meaning that less would be required to fight infection.

“This increases the durability of this antibiotic,” added Boger. “Organisms just can’t simultaneously work to find a way around three independent mechanisms of action. Even if they found a solution to one of these, the organisms would still be killed by the other two.”

Next steps of this study are to find a shortened synthesis route, as currently it takes the team 30 steps to create the modified vancomycin in the lab. “Antibiotics are total cures for bacterial infections. Making this molecule is important, even by the current approach, if the failure of antibiotics continues,” concluded Boger.