Professor Kim Lewis and his team developed a novel approach for treating chronic infections, which account for more than 20,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Photo by Len Rubenstein
Lewis’ team presents a novel approach to treat and eliminate methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA
Recent work from University Distinguished Professor of Biology Kim Lewis promises to overcome one of the leading public health threats of our time. In a groundbreaking study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, Lewis’ team presents a novel approach to treat and eliminate methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a potent bacterium whose resistance to antibiotics has kept it one step ahead of researchers. That is, until now.
The so-??called “superbug” infects 1 million Americans each year. A major problem with MRSA is the development of deep-??seated chronic infections such as osteomyelitis (bone infection), endocarditis (heart infection), or infections of implanted medical devices. Once established, these infections are often incurable, even when appropriate antibiotics are used.
Bacteria such as MRSA have evolved to actively resist certain antibiotics, a fact that has generated significant interest among the scientific and medical communities. But Lewis, Director of Northeastern’s Antimicrobial Discovery Center, suspected that a different adaptive function of bacteria might be the true culprit in making these infections so devastating.
The new work represents the culmination of more than a decade of research on a specialized class of cells produced by all pathogens called persisters. According to Lewis, these cells evolved to survive. “Survival is their only function,” he said. “They don’t do anything else.”
Lewis and his research team posited that if they could kill these expert survivors, perhaps they could cure chronic infections—even those resistant to multiple antibiotics such as MRSA. Furthermore, said Brian Conlon, a postdoctoral researcher in Lewis’ lab and first author on the paper, “if you can eradicate the persisters, there’s less of a chance that resistance will develop at all.”
Lewis, who was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in 2011 for his scholarship in the field, has found that persisters achieve their singular goal by entering a dormant state that makes them impervious to traditional antibiotics. Since these drugs work by targeting active cellular functions, they are useless against dormant persisters, which aren’t active at all. For this reason, persisters are critical to the success of chronic infections and biofilms, because as soon as a treatment runs its course, their reawakening allows for the infection to establish itself anew.
In the recent study, which also includes contributions from assistant professor Steve Leonard of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, Lewis’ team found that a drug called ADEP effectively wakes up the dormant cells and then initiates a self-??destruct mechanism. The approach completely eradicated MRSA cells in a variety of laboratory experiments and, importantly, in a mouse model of chronic MRSA infection.
Coupling ADEP with a traditional antibiotic, Conlon noted, allowed the team to completely destroy the bacterial population without leaving any survivors.
As with all other antibiotics, actively growing bacterial cells will likely develop resistance to ADEP. However, Lewis said, “cells that develop ADEP resistance become rather wimpy.” That is, other traditional drugs such as rifampicin or linezolid work well against ADEP-??resistant cells, providing a unique cocktail that not only kills persisters but also eliminates ADEP-??resistant mutant bacteria.
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus
- Intraoperative Vancomycin Pharmacokinetics in Cardiac Surgery With or Without Cardiopulmonary Bypass
Since 2007, our Hospital Infection Control Committee reported some cases of S. aureus isolates in patients who underwent cardiac surgery having vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC ...
- Intraoperative Vancomycin Pharmacokinetics in Cardiac Surgery With or Without Cardiopulmonary Bypass
Since 2007, our Hospital Infection Control Committee reported some cases of S. aureus isolates in patients who underwent cardiac surgery having vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus
Go deeper with Bing News on:
MRSA
- 'Man v. Food' Star Adam Richman Says He Nearly Died After Getting an Infection in His Mustache
I'm Very Lucky' The Straight Up Tasty author was diagnosed with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection which "is caused by a type of staph bacteria that's become resistant to ...
- Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Testing Systems Market Size Is Expected To Grow At A CAGR Of Approx. 12% From 2022 To 2032
12% From 2022 To 2032. There are several driving factors in Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Testing (MRSA) Market that are vital to consider. Not only are hospitals getting better at ...
- How to reduce your risk of catching MRSA
MRSA is a super bacteria that can cause serious infections which are resistant to antibiotic treatments. The superbug is particularly prevalent in hospitals because patients often have an entry ...
- Man v Food star Adam Richman says he almost DIED after his moustache follicle contracted deadly MRSA
Man v. Food star Adam Richman has revealed that he contracted the deadly MRSA infection from a moustache follicle - and that he almost died from the bug. The famous foodie, 47, said in a podcast ...
- Man v. Food's Adam Richman 'almost died from MRSA moustache follicle infection'
MRSA is a bacteria superbug that can be difficult to treat because of its resistance to most antibiotics, meaning it can lead to sepsis and even death. Read more: Ola and James Jordan say mum and ...