Czech scientists have developed a new generation of antibiotics that are highly effective against a broad range of bacteria but also effectively prevent the development of bacterial resistance. The ground-breaking discovery, made in collaboration with China, has been published in the prestigious journal Advanced Materials.
Increasing bacterial resistance against antibiotics, caused by persistent misuse and overprescription, presents a major threat to public health. The World Health Organisation has warned that by 2050, almost 10 million deaths could be directly linked to bacterial resistance.
Scientists from Palacký University in Olomouc and the University of Mining and Metallurgy in Ostrava, working with Chinese colleagues, have now come up with a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics.
By employing atomic engineering, the team transformed manganese, a trace element vital for human health, into a powerful antibiotic by embedding it in the structure of chemically modified graphene.
Radek Zbořil, one of the members of the research team, says tests on animal models showed great potential, particularly for local therapies such as wound healing:
"What is very important and what fills us with great optimism is the result of in vivo tests, that is, in real mouse models. They have shown that skin infections caused by staphylococcus aureus are extremely successfully treated by this atomic antibiotic in a matter of days, even better than by existing commercial antibiotics."
Scientists have used the substance to target one of the strongest defences of bacteria -- the carbohydrates in their cell walls and membranes, which are crucial for their survival, explains Mr. Zbořil:
"Polysaccharides in the bacterial cell membrane are as essential to bacteria as the heart is to our body. It works as a sort of reservoir of energy for the bacteria and it also has a signalling role in communicating with the environment.
"By binding those manganese atoms very tightly chemically to a number of key components of those polysaccharide molecules, they basically kill the bacterium. In short, the polysaccharide can no longer function and the cell dies."
One of the advantages of the newly developed antibiotic is that it operates at low concentrations, which are completely harmless to human cells. Moreover, bacteria cannot develop resistance to it, unlike with conventional antibiotics.
According to Mr. Zbořil, atomic antibiotic could find use not only in the production of ointments, but also in the antibacterial treatment of surfaces of artificial materials in healthcare, for example rubber gloves, catheters or artificial substitutes.
"We want to develop a technology that will enable the coating of these medical devices to prevent the formation of bacterial infections, in cooperation with selected companies. We would then like to license this technology so that it is on the market as soon as possible and reaches patients quickly."
If everything goes according to plan, this could happen within the next few years, says Mr. Zbořil.