Small-molecule antibiotics inhibit tRNA regulated gene expression in Staphylococcus aureus and work synergetically with aminoglycoside antibiotics

We previously demonstrated that a small molecule drug PKZ18 targets the T-box mechanism to inhibit bacterial growth. Here we show that novel analogs of PKS18 have improved bactericidal effects against Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). RNA sequencing showed that the analog PKS18-22 affects expression of most T-box controlled genes, but not other 5' UTR regulated genes in MRSA.