Researchers from the University of Sydney and the Centenary Institute have discovered how a promising class of experimental antibiotics disrupts the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), paving the way for urgently needed new treatments.
Globally, TB remains a major health crisis, claiming around 1.2 million lives each year and ranking among the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. The rise of drug-resistant strains, including in the Asia-Pacific region, has made the search for new treatment strategies increasingly urgent.
In a study published in Nature Communications, the team investigated how three naturally occurring antibiotic compounds – ecumicin, ilamycin and cyclomarin – act on a vital protein degradation machine inside Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB.
The…