Researchers found a new class of antibiotics for combatting antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
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"We took a creative, double-pronged strategy to develop new molecules that can kill difficult-to-treat infections while enhancing the natural host immune response," said Farokh Dotiwala, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center and lead author of the effort to identify a new generation of antimicrobials named dual-acting immuno-antibiotics (DAIAs).
Findings were published in Nature.
"We reasoned that harnessing the immune system to simultaneously attack bacteria on two different fronts makes it hard for them to develop resistance," said Dotiwala.
"Immune activation represents the second line of attack of the DAIA strategy," said Kumar Singh, Ph.D., Dotiwala lab postdoctoral fellow and first author of the study.
"We believe this innovative DAIA strategy may represent a potential landmark in the world's fight against AMR, creating a synergy between the direct killing ability of antibiotics and the natural power of the immune system," echoed Dotiwala.
Source: Science Daily
