New antibiotic holds promise against antibiotic-resistant infections | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › New antibiotic holds promise against antibiotic-resistant infections New antibiotic holds promise against antibiotic-resistant infections Published: February 13, 2015 Author: Gene Stowe Mayland Chang, left, and Shahriar Mobashery Estimates of deaths from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the United States range upwards of 19,000 annually. Around 1960, when Staphylococcus aureus developed resistance to first-generation penicillin, methicillin and other second-generation beta-lactam antibiotics were adopted to fight the illness. The modern variants of the bacterium have developed resistance to the four drugs now used to treat it. A team of researchers led by Shahriar Mobashery and Mayland Chang at the University of Notre Dame has discovered a promising new antibiotic, a vital weapon against disease as pathogens evolve to develop resistance to long-used drugs. The antibiotic proved effective in a mouse model infected with MRSA, a bacterium that emerged in hospitals in the 1960s and has spread to the larger population since the 1990s. Mobashery and Chang adopted an unprecedented strategy in inhibiting the way the pathogen builds its cell wall. They conducted a rapid computational screening of 1.2 million drug-like compounds that might interfere with the process, then refined the filtering in stages until they identified 118 lead compounds to test for antibacterial activity against a range of species. The lead quinazolinone compound that emerged from these efforts underwent additional rounds of synthesis and evaluation, producing the antibiotic, which exhibited activity in a mouse infection model. The researchers said the discovery has implications beyond MRSA as pathogens continue to evolve resistance to existing drugs. “Antibiotics are losing effectiveness,” Mobashery said. “This means that infections cannot be treated effectively. Some infections by pathogens kill as many as 50 percent of the patients. But the problem goes way beyond this. We depend on antibiotics to a degree that often might not be intuitively obvious. Without antibiotics, we could not perform many medical treatments. One could not have a hip surgery, or an athlete could not have a knee repaired.” Cancer treatment would be virtually nonexistent, and most elective surgeries and some essential ones could no longer be performed in the absence of antibiotics. Mobashery said, “We assume that antibiotics will always be there, but this is not for certain.” The breakthrough was published this week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in an article titled, “Discovery of Antibiotic (E)-3-(3-Carboxyphenyl)-2-(4-cyanostyryl)quinazolin-4(3H)-one.” Contact: Shahriar Mobashery, 574-631-2933, mobashery@nd.edu Posted In: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Research Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related September 12, 2022 Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street … in different countries? September 12, 2022 Hurricane Harvey’s hardest hit survivors five times as likely to experience anxiety from COVID-19 pandemic August 29, 2022 Gender-diverse teams produce more novel, higher-impact scientific discoveries, study shows August 23, 2022 In race against hurricane season, engineers launch survey to study incentives for climate-resilient homes August 16, 2022 Early childhood lead exposure, exacerbated by structural racism, results in lower reading scores For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn