Antimicrobial Agents

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Introduction: The widespread emergence of drug resistance is a major public health concern as it can lead to serious problems. CDC report shows that antimicrobial resistance killed at least 1.27 million people worldwide and is associated with about 5 million deaths in 2019. There is an urgent need to develop new antimicrobials, especially those against a new target, to overcome drug resistance and ensure infections are properly treated and controlled. Technology: Georgia State University researchers have synthesized new rose Bengal (RB) analogues as SecA inhibitors that can potentially be used to treat and prevent microbial and bacterial infections. SecA is responsible for the secretion of many vital proteins, important toxins, and other virulence factors, and is essential for bacterial survival. As SecA is conserved in a wide range of bacteria and has no counterpart in mammalian cells, it is an ideal potential antibacterial drug target. The antimicrobial effects of these SecA inhibitors are confirmed in experiments using E. coli and B. subtilis.