CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Nov. 28 (UPI) -- The synthesis of an antibiotic in a non-native host by a team of U.S. scientists may lead to the creation of new treatments for bacterial infections.
The University of Illinois scientists, led by Professor Huimin Zaho, report the first synthesis of fosfomycin -- a natural antibiotic approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of various bacterial infections that have become resistant to the often prescribed antibiotics penicillin and vancomycin.
Fosfomycin is a member of a class of compounds called phosphonic acids because they contain a carbon-phosphorous bond. Fosfomycin functions by inactivating an essential enzyme involved in the formation of the bacterial cell wall.
"Phosphonic acids are underexploited bioactive compounds with great potential for treating human disease," said Zhao, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. "We hope to understand the complete pathway for how fosfomycin is made."
Zaho, chemistry Professor Wilfred van der Donk, and graduate students Joshua Blodgett, Zengyi Shao, Paul Thomas and Ryan Woodyer report their research in the current issue of the journal Chemistry and Biology.
