Co-translational protein aggregation and ribosome stalling as a broad-spectrum antibacterial mechanism

Drug-resistant bacteria pose an urgent global health threat, necessitating the development of antibacterial compounds with novel modes of action. Protein biosynthesis accounts for up to half of the energy expenditure of bacterial cells, and consequently inhibiting the efficiency or fidelity of the bacterial ribosome is a major target of existing antibiotics. Here, we describe an alternative mode of action that affects the same process: allowing translation to proceed but causing co-translational aggregation of the nascent peptidic chain. We show that treatment with an aggregation-prone peptide induces formation of polar inclusion bodies and activates the SsrA ribosome rescue pathway in bacteria. The inclusion bodies contain ribosomal proteins and ribosome hibernation factors, as well as mRNAs and cognate nascent chains of many proteins in amyloid-like structures, with a bias for membrane proteins with a fold rich in long-range beta-sheet interactions. The peptide is bactericidal against a wide range of pathogenic bacteria in planktonic growth and in biofilms, and reduces bacterial loads in mouse models of Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter baumannii infections. Our results indicate that disrupting protein homeostasis via co-translational aggregation constitutes a promising strategy for development of broad-spectrum antibacterials.