New TB drugs possible with understanding of old antibiotic

Tuberculosis could be fought more effectively with future drugs - thanks to new research into an old antibiotic by University of Warwick and Francis Crick Institute. Deeper understanding of how simple but effective drug D-cycloserine attacks bacteria opens up possibility of development of new, desperately needed antibiotic drugs Bacterial infections are becoming increasingly resistant to drugs - new drugs needed to curb this deadly global crisis Tuberculosis, and other life-threatening microbial diseases, could be more effectively tackled with future drugs, thanks to new research into an old antibiotic by the University of Warwick and The Francis Crick Institute. Led by Professor David Roper at Warwick's School of Life Sciences and Dr Luiz Pedro Carvalho from The Francis Crick Institute, a paper published today reveals a deeper understanding of how the antibiotic D-cycloserine uniquely works at a molecular level. This could lead to more effective future antibiotics - which are desperately needed to fight increasingly drug-resistant and deadly bacteria. D-cycloserine is an old antibiotic drug which is effective against many microbial diseases such as tuberculosis, but is often used as a second line treatment, because of some adverse side-effects. The researchers have now discovered that it acts chemically in very different ways on multiple bacterial targets - possibly the only antibiotic in the world to do so. The drug attacks bacteria by inhibiting two separate enzymes ( D-alanine racemase and D-alanine—D-alanine ligase ) each required to build and maintain the structural integrity of bacterial cell walls.