Thomas Steitz, PhD, Sterling professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University and co-founder of New Haven, CT-based Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and colleagues have discovered ribosomal structures of antibiotics that may enable the creation of novel treatments for drug-resistant infections, including resistant tuberculosis (TB). Rib-X is a development-stage antibiotics company whose platform is based on Steitz’s research. Steitz and colleagues in Yale’s department of molecular biophysics and biochemistry identified two structures of tuberactinomycins (antibiotics used to treat TB) bound to the ribosome. The identification of these structures provides insight for the design of novel antibiotic derivatives that could be effective against a variety of drug-resistant microorganisms. The researchers described their finding in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
In December 2009, Rib-X expanded its license agreement with Yale in the area of ribosomal antibiotic structure and function. Under the agreement, Rib-X will further explore the high-resolution crystal structure of new ribosome technology elucidated by Steitz’s team. “It’s very exciting to continually add to our knowledge of the ribosome,” says Steitz, who was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work determining a high-resolution crystal structure of the 50S subunit of the ribosome, which has proved to be a major target for antibiotic development. “These structures of viomycin and capreomycin bound to the ribosome allowed us to identify an important new ribosome binding site and to better understand how these antibiotics inhibit ribosome function.” Rib-X has a pipeline of antibiotics targeting multi-drug-resistant infections in the $25 billion antibiotics market. The foundation of its product portfolio is its proven discovery technology, the Ribosome Antibiotic Binding (RAB) platform.
Source: Business Wire