title: Empirical antibacterial drug discovery--foundation in natural products.
abstract: Natural products have been a rich source in providing leads for the development of drugs for the treatment of bacterial infections. However, beyond the discovery of the natural product, thienamycin and the synthetic lead, oxazolidinone in the 1970s, there has been a dearth of new compounds. This commentary provides an overview of current antibiotic leads and their mechanism of action, and highlights tools that can be applied to the discovery of new antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Natural Products Chemistry, RY80Y-350, Merck Research Laboratories, P.O. 2000, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA. sheo_singh@merck.com
authors.forename: Sheo B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Barrett
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001688:Biological Products / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015195:Drug Design; D036262:Empirical Research; D006801:Humans; D008519:Medicine, Traditional
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001688:Biological Products