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ANTIBIOTICS

A positive positive to negative

The structure of an antibiotic that is effective against Gram-positive bacteria, but not against Gram-negative bacteria, has now been modified to improve its effectiveness against Gram-negative bacteria. The approach could help broaden the spectrum of activity of other antibiotics.

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Fig. 1: The antibiotic mechanism of the arylomycins involves inhibition of the signal peptidase.

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Correspondence to Shahriar Mobashery.

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Fisher, J.F., Mobashery, S. A positive positive to negative. Nature Chem 10, 998–1000 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-018-0148-y

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