Dr. P. Andrew Evans and Collaborators Uncover a New Method to Deliver Antibiotics
Professor P. Andrew Evans in collaboration with Dr. Grahame Mackenzie at the University of Hull and Professor Rebecca Goss at St Andrews recently reported an innovative way for the isolation and photoprotection of the potent light-sensitive antibiotic, marinomycin A. This natural product is a member of a new family of macrodiolides, which are potent inhibitors of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF). In work reported in the Royal Society of Chemistry flagship journal Chemical Science, they demonstrated that encapsulating the agent in sporopollenin exine capsules, derived from Lycopodium clavatum, renders the agent almost indefinitely stable (>7 hrs). This work has attracted significant media attention and was recently highlighted in the Times (UK) and the Queen's Gazette.
