Some antibiotics literally deliver a killer punch when they fight disease, according to research by University of Melbourne scientists. They effectively destroy bacteria by 'punching' holes in the cell wall. Water flows in, the bacteria swell and eventually burst. The discovery was made by a School of Chemistry research team studying the structure of antibiotic peptides and how they kill cells.
Peptides are small proteins that play a key role in body chemistry.
Amphibians and bacteria produce antimicrobial peptides as protection against disease. Scientists have not fully understood why some of them can act as antibiotics. According to research team leader, Professor Frances Separovic, this may be because conventional studies have looked at peptide antibiotics in solution instead of observing their action directly in cell membranes. Together with collaborators at the University of Adelaide, Professor Separovic has been studying antimicrobial peptides in membranes and in live bacteria using NMR spectroscopy, a technique for determining molecular structure. A in solution showed it to be comprised of two tightly intertwined strands.