Bacterial cell division as a target for new antibiotics
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Updated: May 9, 2026

Fission Yeast as a Platform for Antibacterial Drug Screens Targeting Bacterial Cytoskeleton Proteins
Published on: April 26, 2024
Peter Sass1, Heike Brötz-Oesterhelt
1Institute for Pharmaceutical Biology and Biotechnology, University of Düsseldorf, Universitätsstrasse 1, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
Abstract:
Bacterial resistance to currently applied antibiotics complicates the treatment of infections and demands the evaluation of new strategies to counteract multidrug-resistant bacteria. In recent years, the inhibition of the bacterial divisome, mainly by targeting the central cell division mediator FtsZ, has been recognized as a promising strategy for antibiotic attack. New antibiotics were shown to either interfere with the natural dynamics and functions of FtsZ during the cell cycle or to activate a bacterial protease to degrade FtsZ and thus bring about bacterial death in a suicidal manner. Their efficacy in animal models of infection together with resistance-breaking properties prove the potential of such drugs and validate the inhibition of bacterial cell division as an attractive approach for antibiotic intervention.
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