Targeting Bacterial Suicide Pathways for the Development of Novel Antibiotics

摘要

The invention provides methods for identifying an agent which prevents or partially prevents an antitoxin from forming a complex with its cognate toxin, comprising contacting a potential agent with a labeled substrate in solution, whereby detection of the label indicates presence of an agent that prevents an antitoxin from forming complex with a toxin. The invention also provides agents capable of interfering with formation of a toxin-antitoxin complex. Such agents act as novel, non-conventional antibiotics against human pathogenic bacteria.