RaPID results
A Japanese team has provided new structural insights into the function of a conserved class of drug transporters and has identified cyclic peptide inhibitors of one such protein.1 The researchers are now collaborating with PeptiDream Inc. to develop compounds with improved drug-like properties that hit medically relevant targets.
The multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) class of transporters exports diverse cationic chemical substrates and is conserved across all domains of life. Although the physiological roles of MATEs are still being worked out in humans and other organisms, in the lab they are capable of exporting antibiotics in multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria including Neisseria gonorrhea and Staphylococcus aureus, though their contribution to clinically relevant drug resistance remains unclear...