Synthetic antimicrobials based on natural toxins

结核病仍然是地球上最致命的细菌疾病，每年导致约150万人死亡。它是可以治疗的，但对抗生素的耐药性正在增加。结核分枝杆菌可以通过使用结核细胞内产生的自然产生的毒素来减缓其生长速度，从而在抗生素治疗后存活下来。其中一些毒素的目标是在DNA复制后解开DNA的基本过程。我们已经确定了分离新DNA染色体的酶的特征，并表明毒素抑制了它的作用。现在我们的目标是生成毒素活性的原子解析模型，这样我们就可以生成用于治疗感染的抗菌剂模拟物。

Tuberculosis remains the deadliest bacterial disease on the planet, killing around 1.5 million people each year. It can be treated, but antibiotic resistance is increasing. Mycobacterium tuberculosis can survive antibiotic treatment by slowing down its growth using naturally occurring toxins made inside tuberculosis cells. Some of these toxins target the essential process of untangling DNA after it replicates. We have characterised the enzyme that performs the activity of separating new DNA chromosomes, and have shown that toxins inhibit its action. Now we aim to generate atomic resolution models of toxin activity, so we can generate antimicrobial mimics for treating infections.