Scientists uncover the exact mode of action of five antibi...( Rehovot IsraelOctober 24 2001Research...)

Rehovot, IsraelOctober 24, 2001Researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science and Germanys Max-Planck Society have discovered how five antibiotic drugs function by binding to the bacterial ribosome the cells "protein factory" and shutting off all protein production. Proteins are the cells primary component and the basis of all enzymatic reactions. Blocking their production kills the bacterium.

The research team headed by Prof. Ada Yonath of the Weizmann Institutes Structural Biology Department and the Max-Planck Research Units for Ribosomal Structure in Hamburg and Berlin uncovered the exact mode of action of these drugs. Prof. Yonath recently revealed the complex structure of the ribosome, culminating 20 years of scientific research in a study described by the prestigious journal Science, as one of the most important scientific discoveries of the year 2000. The goal of elucidating the structure of the ribosome a notoriously unstable, giant nucleoprotein complex had challenged scientists for years.

Using their extensive understanding of ribosomal structure, Prof. Ada Yonath, Dr. Anat Bashan and Ph.D. Student Raz Zarivach, decided to examine how different antibiotics bind to the ribosome and shut off its protein production. To do so they treated bacteria with one of five different antibiotics and then created crystals capturing the individual complexes formed between the bacterial ribosome and each drug.

To examine these microscopic structures, the scientists bombarded the crystals with high intensity X-ray beams, analyzed how the rays diffract, and then worked backward to decipher the crystals exact structure a technology known as X-ray crystallography. Using this method, the researchers were able, for the first time, to view how the antibiotic drugs bind to a specific site of action on the ribosome, shutting off its machinery. These findings are reported today in Nature.

A better understanding of the mode of action of
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Contact: Jeffrey Sussman
jeffrey@acwis.org
212-895-7951
American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science
24-Oct-2001

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