Protein findings could open door to new class of antibiotics

In the face of growing resistance of bacteria to certain antibiotics, researchers at Oregon State University have made a breakthrough while studying peroxiredoxin.

Using X-ray crystallography, a technique that shows structures down to their atoms, researchers were studying what role peroxiredoxin could play in developing stronger antibiotics. Peroxiredoxin, which helps destroy hydrogen peroxide in healthy cells, reacts differently when placed in bacteria. There, peroxiredoxin provides a defense from our immune cells and increases the risk of the bacteria causing infections.  

While observing peroxiredoxin, researchers noticed that when it stops moving, it loses all function and causes cell death. This stoppage in mobility within bacterial cells means the bacteria loses immunity and is destroyed by the peroxiredoxin. Researchers were also able to uncover a special region of the bacterial peroxiredoxins that can be targeted to destroy the cells.

Researchers focused on developing a method to target specific damaging cells while leaving healthy cells untouched, which could potentially lead to the development of new antibiotics.

"There's a lot of potential for this to be foundational work, something we can build on to create a new class of antibiotics," said Arden Perkins, lead author, in collaboration with Andrew Karplus, a distinguished professor of biochemistry in the OSU College of Science. "The key concept is selectively restraining the motions of peroxiredoxins in some cells, inactivating its function and leading to the death of the cells you want to kill."