Phenylpyropenes E and F: new meroterpenes from the marine-derived fungus Penicillium concentricum ZLQ-69
The Journal of Antibiotics advance online publication, June 10 2015. doi:10.1038/ja.2015.64
Authors: Zhuang Ding, Lianqing Zhang, Juan Fu, Qian Che, Dehai Li, Qianqun Gu & Tianjiao Zhu
New ansamycin analogues from the mutant strain of Streptomyces seoulensis
The Journal of Antibiotics advance online publication, June 10 2015. doi:10.1038/ja.2015.65
Authors: Ya-Nan Song, Wen-Jing Zhang, Shu-Feng Bi, Rui-Hua Jiao, Ren-Xiang Tan & Hui-Ming Ge
A new sarkomycin analog from Streptomyces sp. HS-HY-144
The Journal of Antibiotics advance online publication, June 10 2015. doi:10.1038/ja.2015.66
Authors: Li-fei Liu, Huan Qi, Hui Zhang, Ji-dong Wang & Nie-fang Yu
13-Deoxytetrodecamycin, a new tetronate ring-containing antibiotic that is active against multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
The Journal of Antibiotics advance online publication, May 27 2015. doi:10.1038/ja.2015.60
Authors: Tomas Gverzdys, Michael Kamin Hart, Sheila Pimentel-Elardo, Geoffrey Tranmer & Justin R Nodwell
First total synthesis of (+)-epogymnolactam, a novel autophagy inducer
The Journal of Antibiotics advance online publication, May 27 2015. doi:10.1038/ja.2015.63
Authors: Yuji Okado, Kengo Shigetomi, Shinya Mitsuhashi & Makoto Ubukata
All clinical isolates of group B Streptococcus (GBS; Streptococcus agalactiae) are considered uniformly susceptible to β-lactams, including penicillins. However, GBS with reduced penicillin susceptibility (PRGBS) were first identified by our group in Japan and have also been reported from North America. PRGBS are non-susceptible to penicillin because of acquisition of amino acid substitutions near the conserved active-site motifs in PBP2X. In particular, V405A and Q557E are considered the key amino acid substitutions responsible for penicillin non-susceptibility. We revealed that in addition to the substitutions in PBP2X, an amino acid substitution in PBP1A confers high-level cephalosporin resistance in GBS. As the number of publications on GBS with reduced β-lactam susceptibility (GBS-RBS), especially PRGBS, and concomitantly the need for a systematic classification of GBS-RBS is increasing, we propose here a classification of GBS-RBS based on the amino acid substitutions in their PBPs.
The global burden of antibiotic resistance is tremendous and, without new anti-infective strategies, will continue to increase in the coming decades. Despite the growing need for new antibiotics, few pharmaceutical companies today retain active antibacterial drug discovery programmes. One reason is that it is scientifically challenging to discover new antibiotics that are active against the antibiotic-resistant bacteria of current clinical concern. However, the main hurdle is diminishing economic incentives. Increased global calls to minimize the overuse of antibiotics, the cost of meeting regulatory requirements and the low prices of currently marketed antibiotics are strong deterrents to antibacterial drug development programmes. New economic models that create incentives for the discovery of new antibiotics and yet reconcile these incentives with responsible antibiotic use are long overdue. DRIVE-AB is a 9.4 million public–private consortium, funded by the EU Innovative Medicines Initiative, that aims to define a standard for the responsible use of antibiotics and to develop, test and recommend new economic models to incentivize investment in producing new anti-infective agents.
