Tarocin

Chemical structures of tarocin A (top) and tarocin B (bottom)

Tarocin A and tarocin B are two structurally unrelated compounds that inhibit the TarO enzyme involved in teichoic acid biosynthesis in bacteria.

Using either of them with β-lactam antibiotics seems to be effective in mice against some β-lactam-resistant bacteria.

Because the tarocins lack activity when used alone it may simplify the clinical trials for approval for medical use.

Further reading

• S. H. Lee; et al. (2016). "TarO-specific inhibitors of wall teichoic acid biosynthesis restore β-lactam efficacy against methicillin-resistant staphylococci". Science Translational Medicine. 8 (329): 329ra32. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aad7364. PMID 26962156. S2CID 293094.
• Swoboda, J. G; Campbell, J; Meredith, T. C; Walker, S (2010). "Wall Teichoic Acid Function, Biosynthesis, and Inhibition". ChemBioChem. 11 (1): 35–45. doi:10.1002/cbic.200900557. PMC 2798926. PMID 19899094.