The Role of Mass Spectrometry in the Discovery of Antibiotics and Bacterial Resistance Mechanisms: Proteomics and Metabolomics Approaches.

The abuse and incorrect administration of antibiotics has resulted in an increased proliferation of bacteria that exhibit drug resistance. The emergence of resistant bacteria has become one of the biggest health concerns globally, and an enormous effort has been made to combat them. However, despite the efforts, the emergence of resistant strains is rapidly increasing, while the discovery of new classes of antibiotics has lagged.

A Novel Phospholipase A2 Isolated from Possesses Neurotoxic Activity.

Zoanthids of the genus are distributed worldwide in shallow waters around coral reefs. Like all cnidarians, they possess nematocysts that contain a large diversity of toxins that paralyze their prey. This work was aimed at isolating and functionally characterizing a cnidarian neurotoxic phospholipase named A2-PLTX-Pcb1a for the first time.

Cnidarian Neurotoxic Peptides Affecting Central Nervous System Targets.

Natural products from animal venoms have been used widely in the discovery of novel molecules with particular biological activities that enable their use as potential drug candidates. The phylum Cnidaria (jellyfish, sea anemones, corals zoanthids, hydrozoans, etc.) is the most ancient venomous phylum on earth.