Featuring teixobactin – A new class of 21st century antibiotics

Pioneering research into a “game-changing” new antibiotic by a team of scientists at the University of Lincoln has been featured in a leading microbiology journal.

Led by Dr Ishwar Singh from the University’s School of Pharmacy, the team is working to test and develop teixobactin – a new antibiotic hailed as the “last line of defence” in the battle against drug-resistant superbugs such as MRSA and VRE.

An editorial feature by the team has now been published in Future Microbiology. The article highlights the current challenges, opportunities and forward directions for realising and utilising the therapeutic potential of Teixobactin.

The authors state: “There has been no detectable resistance reported against natural teixobactin. Therefore, the resistance barrier for natural teixobactin is seemingly high. The diversity of synthetic teixobactin could push it even higher because such diversity is not known to bacteria. Understanding potential resistance mechanisms and lipid II-teixobactin interactions in native membrane would be extremely useful for designing a new generation of the antibiotic.”

The feature is available to read in full online: https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/10.2217/fmb-2019-0056

Dr Singh’s work also featured recently in a major article in The Observer. In a feature exploring the worldwide increase of antibiotic resistance, Dr Singh is celebrated as one of scientists “fighting back in the battle against infection”.

The Observer article is also available to read online: https://www.theguardian.com/global/2019/mar/24/the-drugs-dont-work-what-happens-after-antibiotics