In a study aimed at combating increasing numbers of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens, researchers report that bithionol, a clinically approved antihelminthic drug, disrupted bacterial cell membranes and killed nongrowing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) persister cells without affecting mammalian cell membranes, suggesting that such compounds may be potentially useful in treating recalcitrant MRSA persister-caused infections, according to the authors.
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Article #19-04700: "A selective membrane-targeting repurposed antibiotic with activity against persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus," by Wooseong Kim et al.
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences