In Bioconjugate Chemistry, Brussels-based researchers describe synthetic, nanobody-derived peptides that bind a top-priority pathogen. This could enable new ways to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  

Antibiotic resistance is a serious, fast-growing problem. New antimicrobials entering the market are sparse, while the number of multidrug-, extensively drug- and even pandrug-resistant bacterial strains is only increasing.   

New strategies to treat these unruly pathogens are urgently needed, for example through focusing on small peptides (cell-penetrating peptides, CPPs, or antimicrobial peptides, AMPs) that can aspecifically bind to bacterial membranes, penetrate them or disrupt them via electrostatic interactions. It is precisely the aspecific nature of these peptides that makes them much less likely to induce resistance.