Unveiling antibiotics hidden in ancient microorganisms through the use of artificial intelligence.

In a groundbreaking development, a team of researchers led by César de la Fuente at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered over 12,000 potential antibiotic candidates from Archaea, Earth's oldest life forms. This significant find could pave the way for next-generation antibiotics to combat antibiotic resistance.

The study, published in Nature Microbiology, involves Michael Schäffer, Sarah Müller, Thomas Becker, and Fangping Wan, a postdoctoral fellow in de la Fuente's lab who is one of the co-first authors of the paper.

Traditional efforts to find new antibiotics have primarily focused on fungi, bacteria, and animals. However, Archaea, which can thrive in harsh environments where few other organisms can, such as under crushing pressures, toxic chemicals, and extreme temperatures, offer a unique and largely untapped source of new molecular tools.

The researchers used artificial intelligence to identify previously unknown compounds in Archaea that could potentially be used in antibiotic development. Wan stated that AI speeds up the process by identifying where the potential candidates are likely to be. Without AI, the testing process is described as akin to looking for needles in a haystack.

The researchers selected 80 archaeasins for testing against actual bacteria. The newly discovered compounds are named "archaeasins," which differ from known antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in their distribution of electric charge.

The testing process revealed that many of these archaeasins exhibited potent antibacterial activity. This finding underscores the potential of Archaea in the development of next-generation antibiotics, as these compounds could operate differently from those currently in use.

De la Fuente, a Presidential Associate Professor in multiple fields including bioengineering, chemical and biomolecular engineering, psychiatry, microbiology, and chemistry, expressed his excitement about the findings, stating that this is just the beginning of a new era in antibiotic discovery. The team is now working on further characterising these promising candidates and exploring their potential therapeutic applications.

This study marks a significant step forward in the fight against antibiotic resistance, offering a new hope for the development of effective antibiotics that can combat the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Unveiling antibiotics hidden in ancient microorganisms through the use of artificial intelligence.