Vancomycin Resistance: Small Molecule Approaches Targeting the Bacterial Cell Wall Biosynthesis

Overcoming bacterial defenses: Vancomycin resistances so far described are mainly based on the alteration of a precursor of cell wall biosynthesis. The D-Ala–D-Ala peptide motif of this precursor is changed into D-Ala–D-Lac or D-Ala–D-Ser (see scheme). Two recent approaches represent new ways toward potent small-molecule compounds in order to overcome this type of resistance.