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Discovery Suggests New Targets for Novel Drugs

Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2004;292:2071-2072.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In the search for new ways to fight bacterial infections, especially those caused by antibiotic-resistant strains, scientists are always on the lookout for essential components of bacterial life cycles that might be good targets for novel drugs. Now, scientists have discovered clues into the details of iron metabolism of Staphylococcus aureus, findings that could open up new avenues for antibacterial drug development to treat the wide range of infections that S aureus can cause, from pneumonia to urinary tract and surgical wound infections (Science. 2004;305:1626-1628).

Staphylococcus aureus steals iron from the heme of oxygen-carrying proteins. (Photo credit: http://www.sciencesource.com)

AN APPETITE FOR IRON

Bacteria, like humans, require iron, and iron is considered the primary limiting nutrient for bacteria during an infection. Crippling S aureus’s means of using the mineral could be a death sentence for the microbe. Although animals have adapted to strictly limit the availability of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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