Breukink Eefjan
Department of Biochemistry of Membranes, Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, Padualaan 83584 CH, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Mol Microbiol. 2006 Jul;61(2):271-3. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2006.05239.x. Epub 2006 Jun 12.
The combined activity of the constituents of two-component antibiotic systems is always significantly higher than the sum of the activities of the individual pieces. Understanding the principles behind this phenomenon might provide new ways to design new antibiotics. In this issue of Molecular Microbiology, Wiedemann and coworkers have made a big step towards understanding the mechanism of action of the two-component lanthionine-containing antibiotic lacticin 3147. It has now become clear that this two-component system specifically targets the bacterial cell wall precursor Lipid II. This makes this essential bacterial lipid one of the most sought-after targets in nature. Surprisingly, in view of its small size (MW 1875 Da), this is now the fifth different way that this key molecule is known to be targeted.
双组分抗生素系统各成分的联合活性总是显著高于各成分单独活性之和。了解这一现象背后的原理可能会为设计新型抗生素提供新方法。在本期《分子微生物学》中，维德曼及其同事在理解含羊毛硫氨酸的双组分抗生素乳酸链球菌素3147的作用机制方面迈出了重要一步。现在已经清楚，这个双组分系统特异性靶向细菌细胞壁前体脂磷壁酸（Lipid II）。这使得这种必需的细菌脂质成为自然界中最受追捧的靶点之一。令人惊讶的是，鉴于其分子量较小（1875道尔顿），这是已知该关键分子的第五种不同靶向方式。
