Press Conference for Anti-virulence Compound NP-16
The concepts of antibiotics involves the broad spectrum of killing/ inhibiting bacteria and has lead to the rapid emergence of Multidrug Resistant (MDR) bacteria (Super-bugs). One of the most notorious super-bug is the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, it can cause many different type of infections, but is killing them with antibiotics the only solution? Apart from antibiotics, what could be done? What about antivirulence compound? We are delighted to share our lab's finding on the discovery of a small molecule compound, NP-16, which can inhibit the production of staphyloxanthin in S. aureus. NP-16 was identify through our high-through put screening platform of the 50,000 chemical library. It can act against CrtN to prevent the staphyloxanthin production, stripping the golden color pigment of S. aureus. Losing staphyloxanthin also reduces the ability of S. aureus to resist reactive oxygen species (ROS), bacterial invasiveness and their survival in neutrophil- based killings.
For more detail of the press conference feel free to read more: https://www.hku.hk/press/press-releases/detail/16738.html http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2110183/superbug-breakthrough-hku-researchers-fight http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=187233&sid=11