title: Advances in the arsenal of tools available enabling the discovery of novel lantibiotics with therapeutic potential.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lantibiotics are ribosomally synthesised peptides, which undergo extensive post-translational modification. Their mode of action and effectiveness against multi-drug-resistant pathogens, and relatively low toxicity, makes them attractive therapeutic options.
  
  
  METHODS
  This article provides background information on the four classes of lanthipeptides that have been described to date. Due to the clinical potential of these agents, specifically those from Class I and II, it is essential to identify organisms that harbour potentially interesting clusters encoding novel lantibiotics. Multiple emerging technologies have been applied to address this issue, including genome mining and specific bioinformatics programs designed to identify lantibiotic clusters present within the genome sequences. These clusters can then be effectively expressed using optimised heterologous expression systems, which are ideally amenable to large-scale production.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The continuing expansion of publicly available genomes, particularly genomes from microorganisms isolated from under-explored environments, combined with powerful bioinformatics tools able to accurately identify clusters of interest are of paramount importance in the discovery of novel lantibiotics. Detailed analysis of clusters drastically reduces dereplication time, which was often problematic when using the traditional method of isolation, purification and then identification. Allowing a more focused direction of 'wet lab' work, targeting the most promising agents, greatly increases the chance of novel lantibiotic discovery and development. High-throughput screening strategies are also required to enable the efficient analysis of these potentially clinically relevant agents.
authors.affiliation: Leiden University, Institute of Biology, Molecular Biotechnology, Sylvius Laboratories , Wassenaarseweg 72, 2333 BE, Leiden , The Netherlands +31 71 527 4759 ; +31 71 527 4900 ; sandifordsk@chem.leidenuniv.nl.
authors.forename: Stephanie Kate
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sandiford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001430:Bacteriocins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019295:Computational Biology; D055808:Drug Discovery; D013058:Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001430:Bacteriocins