title: Virulence as a target for antimicrobial chemotherapy.
abstract: Bacterial resistance to present day antibiotics has become a dangerous threat to public health. Consequently, the pharmaceutical industry must provide new agents and novel classes to combat bacterial disease and to stay a step ahead of the rapid evolution of bacterial resistance mechanisms. The need for novel antibacterials has resulted in a search for previously unexplored targets for chemotherapy, utilising the new techniques of genomics to identify them. Several targets currently under investigation are involved in the process of bacterial virulence. These targets are unique in that their inhibition, by definition, should interfere with the process of infection rather than with bacterial viability. If successful, virulence inhibition may represent a 'kinder, gentler' approach to chemotherapy in which the pathogen is disarmed rather than killed outright.
authors.affiliation: Wyeth Research, 401 North Middletown Road, Pearl River, NY 10965, USA. alksnel@wyeth.com
authors.forename: Lefa E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Alksne
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D015195:Drug Design; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D014774:Virulence / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents