Recent research conducted at the University of Illinois Chicago suggests that fruit flies could hold the key to the development of innovative antibiotics.
The findings, which have been published in the esteemed journal Nature Chemical Biology, highlight the fruit fly’s ability to fend off bacterial infections due to a naturally occurring peptide called drosocin. This peptide effectively binds to ribosomes within bacteria. Ribosomes play a crucial role in protein synthesis within cells, and drosocin disrupts this process by preventing ribosomes from carrying out their primary function—producing new proteins vital for cellular functions.
The manipulation of various stages of translation, the process by which DNA is transformed into protein molecules, can impede protein synthesis. The research carried out by the University of Illinois Chicago reveals that drosocin obstructs translation termination when the ribosome encounters the stop signal at the end of a gene.
Study author Alexander Mankin explains, “Drosocin is only the second peptide antibiotic known to inhibit translation termination.” The first, apidaecin, was discovered in honeybees by UIC researchers back in 2017. Mankin and Nora Vázquez-Laslop, a research professor in the College of Pharmacy at UIC, jointly oversee the laboratory responsible for successfully synthesizing not only the fruit fly peptide but also hundreds of its variants within bacterial cells.
“This project was the outcome of outstanding collaboration within our team,” states Vázquez-Laslop in the 2017 study.
The researchers assert that their findings can now be applied to develop new drugs capable of eliminating bacteria through a similar mechanism. Mankin further explains that drosocin, along with the active mutants it generated within bacteria, prompts the self-destruction of bacterial cells. While drosocin and apidaecin peptides share similar functionalities, the researchers have discovered distinct differences in their chemical structures and their modes of binding to ribosomes.
Mankin concludes, “By comprehending the mechanisms of action of these peptides, we aim to harness the same principles to design potential novel antibiotics. By comparing and combining the components of these two peptides, we can engineer antibiotics that leverage the best attributes of each.”
Source : UIC today. Honeybees could play a role in developing new antibiotics
Nature Chemical Biology. Inhibition of translation termination by the antimicrobial peptide Drosocin