Real-time measurements of aminoglycoside effects on protein synthesis in live cells

To address the public health challenges caused by the spread of antibiotic resistance, it is critical to enhance our understanding of the mechanisms of action of these compounds. In the present study, we use superresolved single-molecule tracking techniques, to investigate the effect of three aminoglycoside drugs on protein synthesis kinetics directly inside live bacterial cells. Our results imply that these drugs do not completely inhibit bacterial protein synthesis, but only make it slower. Hence, the bactericidal effect of these drugs is likely due to a disturbed, rather than inhibited, protein synthesis process.