TEIXOBACTIN: A POWERFUL ANTIBIOTIC FROM NATURALRESOURCEParichat Phumkhachorn and PongsakRattanachaikunsoponAbstract Antibiotics have been introduced and employed as therapeutic agents against bacteria since 1930s. However, most bacterial strains resistant to a particular antibiotic have emerged a few years after its discovery. Therefore, after 1960s, new antibiotics have rarely been introduced. At present, drug resistance has become a major global concern urging many countries to conscientiously enforce antibiotics policies and regulations to control the drug resistance problems. In the midst of hopelessness about antibiotics, a new antibiotic from a soil bacterium, teixobactin, has recently been discovered and claimed not to produce drug resistance in bacteria. In this review, some interesting aspects of teixobactin are discussed including isolation method, structure, mechanism of action and challenges for further development. If the technical problems about teixobactin analogs synthesis and a huge clinical trials expense are solved, it might be a new magic bullet to fight with drug resistant bacteria. |