{"id":1162,"date":"2018-11-26T09:50:12","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T09:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/in-abstract\/?p=1162"},"modified":"2019-09-16T14:31:28","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T13:31:28","slug":"a-vitamin-k-dependent-carboxylase-is-involved-in-antibiotic-biosynthesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/in-abstract\/a-vitamin-k-dependent-carboxylase-is-involved-in-antibiotic-biosynthesis\/","title":{"rendered":"A vitamin K-dependent carboxylase is involved in antibiotic biosynthesis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists discover a new route to antibiotics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scientists at the University of Manchester have discovered a new pathway in bacteria that produces an unusual antibiotic. The new pathway includes a carboxylase enzyme that adds CO2<\/sub>\u00a0to the structure of an antibiotic called malonomycin. The addition of the CO2<\/sub>\u00a0group is essential for the antimicrobial activity – precursors lacking the CO2<\/sub>\u00a0group exhibit no antibiotic properties.<\/p>\n

The malonomycin carboxylase is like no other enzyme that has been characterised in bacteria so far. It is most similar to a carboxylase enzyme in human cells, which uses vitamin K to add CO2<\/sub>\u00a0to proteins in our bodies, triggering essential physiological responses including blood coagulation. Clinically important anticoagulant drugs, such as warfarin, work by blocking the function of the human vitamin K-dependent carboxylase.<\/p>\n

The discovery of an antibiotic-producing carboxylase enzyme in bacteria that is similar to the human carboxylase responsible for blood clotting was a major surprise. The findings might lead to the discovery of new antibiotics and may also provide new ways of making antibiotics, which are urgently needed to combat emerging drug-resistant pathogens.<\/p>\n

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