Extended Data Fig. 10: Oligomeric teixobactin – Lipid II complexes thin the membrane by displacing lipids.
From: Teixobactin kills bacteria by a two-pronged attack on the cell envelope
a) MD simulation of the teixobactin – Lipid II complex after 248 ns of free evolution. The membrane surface is shown in light orange, and the phosphate-atoms of phospholipids are shown as orange spheres. The complex is not shown for clarity but is localised centrally on the upper membrane leaflet where membrane distortions are most pronounced. Lipids below the complex, for which the tails show major distortions, are shown in stick representation and in different colours. Polar headgroups of distorted lipids avoid the hydrophobic underbelly of the teixobactin β-sheet, which causes lipid tails to orient almost parallel to the membrane plane, resulting in a thinning of the membrane. The high concentration of non-lamellar C55-tails of Lipid II (not shown) likely also contributes to membrane perturbations at the complex site. Permeability assays with Bacillus subtilis: Bacterial assays with Bacillus subtilis were used to study b) membrane depolarization and c) membrane damage caused by teixobactin (in blue), nisin (magenta), plectasin (orange), vancomycin (yellow), and sans antibiotic (gray). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
