Fishing for new antimicrobials.
The discovery of antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents in the 1930s is arguably the most significant therapeutic advance in medical history. Penicillin and the sulfa drugs touched off the search for and discovery of countless derivative compounds and several new antibiotic classes. However, the pace of discovery has slowed down, and there is growing appreciation that much of the low-lying fruit accessible to traditional methods of antimicrobial discovery has been harvested. Combating emerging drug-resistant strains of infectious agents may require the adoption of fresh approaches to drug target validation, small-molecule discovery and safety assessment. The recent development of several infectious disease models in zebrafish raises the possibility of a new paradigm in antimicrobial discovery.
Mukhopadhyay
Arpita
A
Developmental Biology Laboratory, Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.
Peterson
Randall T
RT
D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000379:methods*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents