New Mechanism Inhibits Bacteria’s Resistance to Antibiotics

Ten pills of the antibiotic "Amoxicillin 1000mg" are seen at a pharmacy in Hanau, Germany, May 31, 2018. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Ten pills of the antibiotic "Amoxicillin 1000mg" are seen at a pharmacy in Hanau, Germany, May 31, 2018. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
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New Mechanism Inhibits Bacteria’s Resistance to Antibiotics

Ten pills of the antibiotic "Amoxicillin 1000mg" are seen at a pharmacy in Hanau, Germany, May 31, 2018. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Ten pills of the antibiotic "Amoxicillin 1000mg" are seen at a pharmacy in Hanau, Germany, May 31, 2018. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Instead of waiting years to develop new antibiotics, a research team from the University of New York designed an early-stage therapeutic that sabotages ‘the pump of antibiotics’ mechanism used by the staphylococcus aureus bacteria to escape drugs.

S. aureus is a major cause of death among hospitalized patients when infections become severe. ‘Efflux pumps’ represent one mechanism by which S. aureus has evolved resistance to fluoroquinolones, a group of more than 60 approved antibiotics that includes norfloxacin (Noroxin), levofloxacin (Levaquin), and ciprofloxacin (Cipro).

During the study published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Chemical Biology, the team designed efflux pump inhibitors, which will allow people to keep using the currently available antibiotics.

"Instead of trying to find a new antibiotic, we hope to make the most widely used antibiotics over the last few decades, rendered ineffective by bacterial resistance, highly effective again," says Doug Brawley, first study author and professor at the medicine school in the University of New York.

During their study, the team realized that the part of the antibody most deeply embedded in NorA's binding cavity was a segment of protein building blocks of peptide NPI-1.



Swiss Village's Loss in Rockslide Puts Focus on Alpine Disaster Readiness in Kandersteg

A drone view shows the Oeschiwand (Oeschi Wall) in the Oeschibach River, protecting the village from flash floods and rock falls from Spitzen Stein at Oeschinensee, as climate change and warming permafrost pose increasing challenges in Kandersteg, Switzerland, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
A drone view shows the Oeschiwand (Oeschi Wall) in the Oeschibach River, protecting the village from flash floods and rock falls from Spitzen Stein at Oeschinensee, as climate change and warming permafrost pose increasing challenges in Kandersteg, Switzerland, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
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Swiss Village's Loss in Rockslide Puts Focus on Alpine Disaster Readiness in Kandersteg

A drone view shows the Oeschiwand (Oeschi Wall) in the Oeschibach River, protecting the village from flash floods and rock falls from Spitzen Stein at Oeschinensee, as climate change and warming permafrost pose increasing challenges in Kandersteg, Switzerland, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
A drone view shows the Oeschiwand (Oeschi Wall) in the Oeschibach River, protecting the village from flash floods and rock falls from Spitzen Stein at Oeschinensee, as climate change and warming permafrost pose increasing challenges in Kandersteg, Switzerland, June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

In the Swiss Alpine resort of Kandersteg, officials have been closely monitoring a deteriorating mountain peak that towers above its picturesque homes and hotels, after a glacier collapse and massive rockslide buried a neighboring village last month.

The destruction in late May of Blatten, a village of around 300 people in the Loetschental valley, threw into sharp relief concern about the impact of melting permafrost as temperatures trend higher on Alpine mountain ranges.

Blatten was evacuated before a chunk of a glacier broke off, triggering a dangerous cascade of ice, earth and rock towards the village, in a manner similar to what Kandersteg has been preparing for.

"Of course, Blatten really upset us," said Kandersteg's mayor Rene Maeder. "It really gets under your skin. You're speechless when you see those images of the violence of nature."

Still, Maeder was confident Kandersteg's dams and daily monitoring prepared it well to avert disaster, with researchers checking the mountain via GPS, radar and drone, Reuters reported.

There has been a heightened threat of rockslides in Kandersteg since 2018, when paragliders noted that Spitzer Stein, a distinctive rocky peak crowning a lush Alpine landscape, was losing height and that bits had broken off it.

That discovery made the village a testing ground for technology that monitors what some experts believe is the likely impact of climate change on the Alps, where thawing permafrost has weakened rock structures that were long frozen solid.

Seismic activity and geological instability are also risks for the region's mountains.

THAWING PERMAFROST

Kandersteg was a prime example of an area with historical structural instability that could be aggravated by many factors, including permafrost, said Robert Kenner at the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos.

"What calmed down for about 3,000 years is now reactivated," he said.

Sensors monitoring GPS locations on the Spitzer Stein showed the mountain shifting by up to 70 centimeters (2.3 feet) a day, Maeder said.

In the event of major rock movement, residents should receive warnings at least 48 hours in advance.

Blatten was evacuated 10 days before the deluge, which caused insurance losses of 320 million Swiss francs ($400 million), an initial estimate by the Swiss insurance association showed.

There are about 48 Swiss Alpine peaks of at least 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) in height, and several hundred at least 3,000 meters high.

In 2017, a landslide killed eight hikers in the southern village of Bondo, despite prior evacuations. Monitoring there has since been ramped up.

'TIP OF THE ICEBERG'

Kandersteg, with a population of about 1,400, has spent over 11 million Swiss francs ($13.81 million) on disaster preparedness, including dams to slow flooding, Mayor Maeder said.

Residents, who get regular updates on the mountain's movements via email and WhatsApp, have faith in the technology.

"We still sleep well," said Patrick Jost, head of Kandersteg's tourism office, whose home is one of the most exposed to a potential Spitzer Stein collapse.
He lives with his two children in the red zone, the village's most high-risk area, where no new construction is allowed.

Despite the shock of Blatten, life is largely unchanged, including vital tourism, locals say.

Kandersteg will perform its first ever full evacuation drill next year, Maeder said, observing: "Blatten and Kandersteg, that's just the tip of the iceberg."

Residents like 77-year-old Rudi Schorer know they will have to move fast in an emergency, and have set aside identification details, spare clothes and a few belongings.

"These are ready in a suitcase at home," Schorer said. "That's what we were advised to do, and that's what we did."