Russian researchers develop tool to accelerate discovery of new antibiotics

Researchers from Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, a partner of TV BRICS, and other Russian scientific centres have developed an advanced reporter system to accelerate the discovery of new antibiotics. The technology enables scientists to identify compounds that disrupt RNA synthesis in Gram-negative bacteria, including multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major cause of hospital-acquired infections, according to the Skoltech website.

The growing resistance of bacteria to existing antibiotics has become one of the main challenges in modern medicine. Researchers believe that targeting RNA synthesis offers strong potential because only a small number of antibiotics currently work in this way, meaning many bacteria have not yet adapted to this mechanism. Another widespread bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, has also developed resistance to several commonly used antibiotics.

The scientific supervisor of the project, Dmitry Lukyanov, Assistant Professor at Skoltech's Centre for Biomedical Technologies, explained that determining the molecular mechanism of action is a key stage in antibiotic development. He noted that understanding how a compound works enables researchers to optimise its chemical structure and improve its effectiveness, even when bacteria have already developed resistance to related substances.

The upgraded reporter system is designed to detect compounds that interfere specifically with RNA biosynthesis, an essential process for bacterial survival. At present, only a limited number of antibiotics, including rifampicin and fidaxomicin, target this mechanism, making it a promising direction for the development of new antimicrobial medicines.

The lead author of the study, biologist Anton Izzi, said the system allows scientists not only to determine whether a candidate compound kills bacteria, but also to identify how it does so. The platform distinguishes substances that inhibit RNA synthesis from those acting on ribosomes or DNA synthesis, helping researchers evaluate promising antibiotic candidates more efficiently.

The technology is based on a specially engineered laboratory strain of Escherichia coli. When RNA synthesis is disrupted, a specific gene becomes more active, producing a measurable signal that is detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). According to the research team, the reporter system significantly reduces the number of additional laboratory tests required during the screening process, increasing the efficiency of identifying new drug molecules against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.