Authors
Daniel J. Hassett and Thomas J. Meyer
Overview
DNA and Cell Biology.Sep 2020.1473-1477. https://doi.org/10.1089/dna.2020.5824
Abstract
Global antibiotic resistance, driven by intensive antibiotic exposure/abuse, constitutes a serious challenge to all health care, particularly in an era when new antimicrobial development has slowed to a trickle. Recently, we published work demonstrating the discovery and partial mechanism of action of a novel bactericidal agent that is effective against both gram-positive and gram-negative multidrug-resistant bacteria. This drug, called AB569, consists of acidified nitrite (A-NO2−) and EDTA, of which there is no mechanism of resistance. Using both chemistry-, genetic-, and bioinformatics-based techniques, we first discovered that AB569 was able to generate bactericidal levels of nitric oxide (NO), while the EDTA component stabilized S-nitrosyl thiols, thereby furthering NO and downstream reactive nitrogen species production. This elegant chemistry triggered a paralytic downregulation of vital genes using RNA-seq involved in the synthesis of DNA, RNA, ATP, and protein in the representative ESKAPE pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa.