Bacteria have spent decades evolving resistance to virtually every antibiotic we have thrown at them. To stay ahead, new drugs must hit targets that existing antibiotics have never touched. A research team at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) has now developed a series of synthetic drug candidates that do exactly that: By blocking an essential molecular supply system, these molecules cut off the bacteria's supply of essential vitamins and starve them to death. The team published its findings in two studies in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

Like all living cells, bacteria need vitamins to survive and cause infection. Unlike humans, many bacteria rely on specialized membrane transporters—called energy-coupling factor transporters, or ECF transporters—to actively and efficiently import vitamins from their surroundings into the cell. Block these transporters, and the bacteria run out of essential nutrients and die.

What makes ECF transporters particularly attractive as a drug target is that human cells do not have them. A drug designed to block these transporters would therefore attack the bacteria while leaving human cells largely unaffected, substantially reducing the risk of side effects.