Histidine Kinase Inhibitors as Novel Anti-infectives

The growing problem of antibiotic resistance and the lack of newly discovered antibiotics poses a major threat to human and animal health. We have previously identified a panel of inhibitors targeting bacterial histidine kinases in bacteria that block expression of activities required to cause disease and cope with environmental stresses. Inhibiting the processes in disease-causing bacteria offers some clear advantages, as the drugs would disarm the pathogen, enabling the host innate immune system to eradicate them from the body. As only infectious bacteria will be affected the community of beneficial bacteria which compete with pathogens in the intestine, upper respiratory tract and urogenital tract and should be relatively unaffected. This Transnational Network will meet to aligning research activities and devise a strategy to develop new anti-infective drugs targeted to histidine kinases in multidrug resistant pathogens.