Over time, many antibiotics have become less effective in treating bacterial infections because the bacteria have mutated and developed resistance. Consequently, chemists are looking for novel ways of combating bacterial infections.
One approach is to use a 'Trojan Horse' strategy.3 This involves attaching the antimicrobial agent to a siderophore, so that the antibiotic is taken up along with the siderophore when the bacterium is sequestering iron. The backbone of the siderophore is not directly involved in the recognition of the iron complex by the receptor protein, so it can be attached to an antibiotic without affecting cellular uptake. In this way, the antimicrobial agent can be smuggled into the cell. If the bacteria mutate to block the entry of the siderophore-linked antibiotic, they will suffer from iron starvation and die. There is no reason why even highly resistant bacterial strains or 'superbugs' would not respond to such a strategy.