Drug-Resistant Bacteria Hits a Wall

July 24, 2014- As a follow-up to our recent blog titled "CDC Addresses Growing Threat of Antibiotic Resistance," we are pleased to share reports of a new approach to solving that pressing problem. 
In a news release, doctors from the University of East Anglica (UEA) point to their new research, which found an Achilles heel in the defensive barrier that surrounds drug-resistant bacteria.

The intriguing results stem from investigations into Gram-negative bacteria, which is highly resistant to antibiotics due to its impermeable, lipid-based outer membrane.

Simply removing this barrier would make the bacteria more vulnerable to current antibiotic drugs, and also creates the possibility that bacteria may not develop any drug resistance. The new research points to how that may be accomplished.

The key turned out to be a better understanding of how the outer membrane is built. Group leader Professor Changjiang Dong and other doctors from UEA’s Norwich Medical School learned how bacterial cells transport the barrier building blocks, lipopolysaccharides, to the outer surface.
 "We have identified the path and gate used by the bacteria to transport the barrier building blocks to the outer surface," writes the professor. "Importantly, we have demonstrated that the bacteria would die if the gate is locked." 
The researchers say the discovery doesn’t come a moment too soon, noting that the World Health Organization has warned that antibiotic-resistance in bacteria is spreading globally, causing severe consequences.

Even common infections, which have been treatable for decades, can once again kill.  "This is really important because drug-resistant bacteria is a global health problem," the report stated. "The numbers of super-bugs are increasing at an unexpected rate. Many current antibiotics are becoming useless, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. This research provides the platform for urgently-needed new generation drugs."


"The really exciting thing about this research is that new drugs will specifically target the protective barrier around the bacteria, rather than the bacteria itself," writes lead author, PhD student Haohao Dong. "Because new drugs will not need to enter the bacteria itself, we hope that the bacteria will not be able to develop drug resistance in future."


Read the full UEA post here. The research, titled "Structural Basis For Outer Membrane Lipopolysaccharide Insertion," was published in the scientific journal Nature on June 18, 2014.

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