Abstract

Target-mechanism based whole cell screen for mycobacterial proteome disruptors

Thomas Dick, Associate Professor, National University Of Singapore

Multidrug resistant tuberculosis presents a global health threat. New chemotherapeutics - with new mechanisms of action - are urgently needed. The genomics-driven approach using isolated targets to lead finding did not deliver, and the field is moving back to black-box whole cell approaches employed in the ‘golden era’ of antibacterial drug discovery during the middle of last century. Although this approach delivered a few candidates, its efficiency is neither acceptable nor sustainable. Here I will discuss these issues and a way forward based on target-mechanism based whole cell screens.