On November 16th, a joint research team led by Professor Kim Kyeong-kyu of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at SKKU and Doctor Lee Seung-seo at the University of Southampton succeeded in finding a new antitoxic infection-treating material without antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance happens when a virus adapts to antibiotics which are designed to directly kill the virus through modification, which inevitably occurs when using current antibiotics.
Therefore, to avoid the development of resistant bacteria, new antibiotic material has been necessary. Moreover, according to a report by the Green Climate Fund (GDF) of Sweden in 2018, antibiotic resistance is one of the 10 dangers which currently threaten the survival of human beings.
The research team found out that xanthoangelol from Angelica Utilis Makino deters the synthesis of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)’s virulent gene, and thus, the virus disappears without causing diseases. Furthermore, through S. aureus, the research team gained the superior antitoxic material called PM56. PM56 does not kill the virus but removes its toxicity, which fundamentally blocks the occurrence of resistant bacteria. Professor Kim mentioned that through verifying the potential for new mechanism of antibiotics, inventing new medicine for infection without tolerance would become possible. The research was reported in the international medical journal, the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, on November 15th.