The number of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains has been continuously increasing over the last few decades. Non-traditional routes to combat bacteria may offer an attractive alternative to the ongoing problem of drug discovery in this field. Herein, we describe the development of bacterial D-amino acid Antibody Recruitment Therapy (DART). DART represents a promising antibiotic strategy by exploiting the promiscuity of bacteria to incorporate unnatural D-amino acids and subsequently recruit antibodies to the bacterial surface. The conjugation of 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP) to various D-amino acids led to the discovery of an immune stimulant D-amino acid that specifically tags the surface of <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> and <i>Staphylococcus aureus </i>for the recruitment of anti-DNP antibodies (a highly abundant antibody in human serum).

Remodeling of bacterial cell surfaces using unnatural D-amino acids

249th National Meeting (2015)

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