Ribosome crystallography is a highly complex science. Here at Rib-X, we have assembled some of the best people in the world to work together to make improvements in this field. Expertise in areas such as bacterial growth, purification and crystallization of the ribosome, and elucidation of their 3-dimensional structures enables Rib-X to execute a structure-based drug discovery program. Antibiotics and other ribosomal inhibitors, soaked into crystals or co-crystallized with the ribosomes, are solved to very high resolution. This enables our scientists to identify, characterize, and prioritize the interaction each compound makes with the ribosome. Each structure solved further improves our understanding of how known antibiotics work and inspires us to design novel compounds with enhanced affinity. Our ability to discern how an antibiotic interacts at the atomic level (Figure 1) demonstrates the superiority of Rib-X technology which will help us to surpass our competitors in the field of anti-infective drug discovery.


Figure 1. A close-up view of Carbomycin A making a covalent bond with the ribosomal RNA as seen in the co-crystal structure. [Image adapted from Hansen et al., Mol. Cell (2002), 10, 117-128.]