Sass Peter
Interfaculty Institute for Microbiology and Infection Medicine, Microbial Bioactive Compounds, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
Methods Mol Biol. 2017;1520:3-22. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6634-9_1.
Antibiotics represent a first line of defense of diverse microorganisms, which produce and use antibiotics to counteract natural enemies or competitors for nutritional resources in their nearby environment. For antimicrobial activity, nature has invented a great variety of mechanisms of antibiotic action that involve the perturbation of essential bacterial structures or biosynthesis pathways of macromolecules such as the bacterial cell wall, DNA, RNA, or proteins, thereby threatening the specific microbial lifestyle and eventually even survival. However, along with highly inventive modes of antibiotic action, nature also developed a comparable set of resistance mechanisms that help the bacteria to circumvent antibiotic action. Microorganisms have evolved specific adaptive responses that allow appropriately reacting to the presence of antimicrobial agents, ensuring survival during antimicrobial stress. In times of rapid development and spread of antibiotic (multi-)resistance, we need to explore new, resistance-breaking strategies to counteract bacterial infections. This chapter intends to give an overview of common antibiotics and their target pathways. It will also discuss recent advances in finding new antibiotics with novel modes of action, illustrating that nature's repertoire of innovative new antimicrobial agents has not been fully exploited yet, and we still might find new drugs that help to evade established antimicrobial resistance strategies.
抗生素是多种微生物的第一道防线，这些微生物产生并利用抗生素来对抗天敌或竞争附近环境中的营养资源。对于抗菌活性，自然界发明了多种多样的抗生素作用机制，这些机制涉及干扰细菌的基本结构或大分子（如细菌细胞壁、DNA、RNA或蛋白质）的生物合成途径，从而威胁特定的微生物生存方式，最终甚至危及生存。然而，伴随着高度创新的抗生素作用模式，自然界也发展出了一套相当的耐药机制，帮助细菌规避抗生素的作用。微生物已经进化出特定的适应性反应，使其能够对抗菌剂的存在做出适当反应，确保在抗菌压力下生存。在抗生素（多重）耐药性迅速发展和传播的时代，我们需要探索新的、突破耐药性的策略来对抗细菌感染。本章旨在概述常见抗生素及其靶标途径。还将讨论寻找具有新作用模式的新抗生素的最新进展，说明自然界创新的新型抗菌剂库尚未得到充分利用，我们仍有可能找到有助于规避现有抗菌耐药策略的新药。
