Finding the invisible

Merck & Co. Inc. scientists published in Nature the discovery of platensimycin, a new antibiotic class with broad Gram-positive antibacterial activity that works by inhibiting cellular lipid biosynthesis, which is key for maintenance of the bacterial cell membrane.

"This is the first broad spectrum agent targeting lipid biosynthesis," Sheo Singh, a MRK researcher and co-author of the paper, told BioCentury. Platensimycin selectively inhibits FabF, a critical enzyme in the synthesis pathway for fatty acids used in the cell membrane. ...