ALL ROADS LEAD TO HYDROXYL RADICALS

摘要

The major classes of bacteria-killing antibiotics may not be as different as previously thought Antibiotics are usually classified by theirrnprimary target—DNA replication, protein synthesis, or cell-wall synthesis. James J. Collins, professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, and coworkers now report that these seemingly different antibiotics trigger a common cell death mechanism downstream of their initial targets, generating hydroxyl radicals that damage DNA, proteins, and lipids (Cell 2007,130,797). The findings point the way to improving existing antibiotics.