Nucleoside Derived Antibiotics to Fight Microbial Drug Resistance: New Utilities for an Established Class of Drugs?
Novel antibiotics are urgently needed to combat the rise of infections due to drug-resistant microorganisms. Numerous natural nucleosides and their synthetically modified analogues have been reported to have moderate to good antibiotic activity against different bacterial and fungal strains. Nucleoside-based compounds target several crucial processes of bacterial and fungal cells such as nucleoside metabolism and cell wall, nucleic acid, and protein biosynthesis. Nucleoside analogues have also been shown to target many other bacterial and fungal cellular processes although these are not well characterized and may therefore represent opportunities to discover new drugs with unique mechanisms of action. In this Perspective, we demonstrate that nucleoside analogues, cornerstones of anticancer and antiviral treatments, also have great potential to be repurposed as antibiotics so that an old drug can learn new tricks.
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University , Redwood Building, King Edward VII Avenue, CF10 3NB Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Michaela
M
Serpi
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University , Redwood Building, King Edward VII Avenue, CF10 3NB Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Valentina
V
Ferrari
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University , Redwood Building, King Edward VII Avenue, CF10 3NB Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Fabrizio
F
Pertusati
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009705:Nucleosides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D009705:Nucleosides