title: Unraveling the physiological complexities of antibiotic lethality.
abstract: We face an impending crisis in our ability to treat infectious disease brought about by the emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and a decline in the development of new antibiotics. Urgent action is needed. This review focuses on a less well-understood aspect of antibiotic action: the complex metabolic events that occur subsequent to the interaction of antibiotics with their molecular targets and play roles in antibiotic lethality. Independent lines of evidence from studies of the action of bactericidal antibiotics on diverse bacteria collectively suggest that the initial interactions of drugs with their targets cannot fully account for the antibiotic lethality and that these interactions elicit the production of reactive oxidants including reactive oxygen species that contribute to bacterial cell death. Recent challenges to this concept are considered in the context of the broader literature of this emerging area of research. Possible ways that this new knowledge might be exploited to improve antibiotic therapy are also considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742; email: djdwyer@umd.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Dwyer
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: Graham C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000378:metabolism; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide / Q000378:metabolism; D050296:Microbial Viability / Q000187:drug effects*; D016296:Mutagenesis / Q000187:drug effects; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000378:metabolism; D016877:Oxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D049490:Systems Biology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D009711:Nucleotides; D016877:Oxidants; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide
keywords: antibiotics; cell death; metabolism; pathogens; reactive oxygen species