Marine substance found to curb growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Químics de l’IRB Barcelona, en col·laboració de l'empresa BioMar, han obtingut per síntesi la baringolina procedent d’un microorganisme de les costes alicantines.
By Biocat
The Combinatorial Chemistry laboratory at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) has synthesized a compound that, in very low concentrations, inhibits reproduction of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Its structure has been certified from baringolin, a molecule from a microorganism from the coast off Alicante. This microorganism was isolated previously by pharmaceutical company BioMar, which participated in the research.
The results of the study allow us to better understand how this substance works, opening the door to extracting derivatives and is “the first step towards a new drug in the future,” according to Dr. Fernando Albericio, head of the team and professor at the University of Barcelona (UB). The study was published in Angewandte Chemie, the scientific journal for chemistry par excellence.
IRB Barcelona PhD candidate Xavier Just-Baringo has studied the structural composition of baringolin for the past four years and has reconstructed the molecule in the laboratory as if it were a three-dimensional puzzle of atoms that can be joined up in many different ways. Researchers already have the organic synthesis of the natural molecule and various analogues to study their biological activity and improve pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties. In collaboration with the Barcelona Hospital Clínic Pharmacology Department, they will test the analogues on four different strains of bacteria.
This discovery is important, as it is a breakthrough in fighting antibiotic-resistant organisms, which force pharmaceutical companies to constantly seek out new antibiotics. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), resistance is the result of misuse of antibiotics. For the past thirty years, the sea bottom has yielded many substances that can end up being transformed into drugs. As explained by scientists involved in this research, “synthesis of natural products in the lab has a double justification. One is environmental, to protect species that hold substances of pharmacological interest, and the other is commercial, as manufacturing a drug on a large scale is viable only if its production can be ensured on an industrial scale.”
IRB Barcelona presented the study in June and it has been one of the most important for the center: in addition to the synthesis of baringolin, they also announced their participation in a €6-millions European projects to research the ageing of stem cells and a pioneering breakthrough in chemical nanoengineering in collaboration with the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC).
Article:
- Just-Beringo X, Bruno P, K. Ottesen L, Cañedo LM, Albericio F, Álvarez M. Total Synthesis and Stereochemical Assignment of Baringolin. Angewandte Chemie doi: 10.1002/anie.201302372 (20 june 2013)
More information is available on the IRB Barcelona website.