Ribosomes As Antibiotic Targets

Introduction to Ribosomes as Antibiotic Targets

Ribosomes are essential molecular machinery responsible for protein synthesis in cells. Their main function is to convert information from RNA templates into protein sequences. Because bacterial and human ribosomes have structural and functional differences, there is a class of antibiotics that target bacterial ribosomes. These antibiotics, known as ribosome inhibitors, effectively inhibit bacterial proliferation and growth, thereby achieving the goal of treating infections. Currently broad-spectrum antibiotics targeting ribosomal targets are the most diverse antibacterial drugs approved by international pharmacovigilance organizations such as the FDA. According to the information studied, bacterial ribosomes are composed of two subunits: the smaller 30S subunit and the larger 50S subunit. Clinically relevant antibiotics that act on ribosomes interfere with transfer RNA-related processes on the 30S subunit or peptide formation on the 50S subunit, while exploiting the structural and functional differences between bacterial and eukaryotic ribosomes to exert their effects.

Fig. 1 The target of peptides antibiotics during the proteins synthesis cycle.¹

Peptide Antibiotics Targeting the Small Ribosomal Subunit

Ribosomal subunits are important components in protein synthesis, making them an important target for antibiotics. In recent years, some peptide antibiotics targeting ribosomal subunits have been found to have excellent antibacterial effects, demonstrating outstanding ability to kill multiple drug-resistant bacteria strains, such as edeine, GE81112, and tuberactinomycin. These peptide antibiotics have advantages such as low toxicity, fast-acting properties, and single-target specificity, and also help slow the development of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, peptide antibiotics targeting ribosomal subunits are considered one of the important development directions for future antibacterial drugs.

Peptide Antibiotics Targeting the Large Ribosomal Subunit

Peptide antibiotics are a group of natural products derived from living organisms that possess relatively stable and efficient structures, and can target bacterial targets to exert antibiotic effects. Among them, peptide antibiotics targeting the ribosomal large subunit are an important class of antibiotics that mainly act by binding to the target protein, inhibiting bacterial protein synthesis and effectively killing bacteria, such as streptogramin A, klebsazolicin, and thiostrepton. Due to their high efficiency and low resistance, peptide antibiotics targeting the ribosomal large subunit have become one of the most promising antibiotics currently available. Furthermore, through continuous research and development, they have been optimized and improved to better meet the antibacterial needs.

In summary, as an important molecular machine in cells, the ribosome has attracted the attention of many researchers and has been extensively studied and applied as a target for antibiotics. In clinical practice, ribosome inhibitors have been widely used as antibiotics for the treatment of infectious diseases, including pneumonia, diarrhea, and urinary tract infections. Creative Biolabs has assembled a professional team dedicated to ribosome research, providing customized services for global customers, including but not limited to Ribosomal Transcriptome service and Ribosomal Proteomics service. If you are interested in our ribosome services, please contact us immediately to obtain more information for free.

References

1. Polikanov, Yury S., et al. "The mechanisms of action of ribosome-targeting peptide antibiotics." Frontiers in molecular biosciences 5 (2018): 48.