In what is being heralded as a groundbreaking discovery, scientists led by Monash and Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researcher, Thomas Naderer and James Vince, have shown that drugs, originally developed to kill cancer cells, can also prevent infectious diseases that are difficult to treat with common antibiotics.
The team led by Dr Thomas Naderer, from the Monash University Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Dr James Vince from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, used imaging technology to watch, in real time, how pathogens (in this case the Legionellabacteria) infect the cells of the immune system.
In 2014 the World Health Organization released its first global report on antibiotic resistance to common bacteria, calling antibiotic resistance a major threat to public health.
Bacteria often evade killing by antibiotics by “hiding” within the patient’s own cells, most often in macrophages – the immune cells that are actually programmed to fight bacterial infections.
Most research aimed at antibiotic resistant bacteria has focused on attacking the bacteria, developing new antibiotics. Dr Naderer and Dr Vince, together with their colleagues from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and The University of Melbourne, instead have come at the problem from the host, looking at ways the patient’s immune system can be rejigged to prevent vulnerability to infection.
The research team revealed that two host proteins, MCL-1 and BCL-XL, are critical to keep infected macrophage alive, which in turn enables bacteria within it to grow, spreading the infection.
The team has now shown that Legionella disarm the macrophage, but by doing so one of the two crucial proteins, MCL-1, is lost. This means that the other protein, BCL-XL, is now the Achilles’ heel, keeping the host cell alive and thus enabling bacterial growth.
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute has world leading expertise in how cell death is controlled by proteins such as MCL-1 and BCL-XL and how they can be targeted with new drugs.
Importantly the researchers now used these insights possible to kill infected macrophages and its pathogen by utilising the very same drugs. According to Dr Naderer, these drugs developed to kill cancer cells could be used to prevent bacterial infections such as Legionnaires’ disease, as they only induce death of infected cells, but leave uninfected immune cells alive.
Learn more: Major breakthrough in fighting antibiotic resistance
The Latest on: Antibiotic resistance
via Google News
The Latest on: Antibiotic resistance
- Health officials worried pandemic may be contributing to spike in antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs'on January 21, 2021 at 3:20 pm
A new study published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal analyzed thousands of hospitalized kids across the country who had been prescribed antibiotics in 2016 and 2017. It found 26% either ...
- As More Bacteria Grow Resistant to Antibiotics, Scientists Are Fighting Backon January 21, 2021 at 2:43 pm
USC experts search for answers to deadly superbugs and ways to keep them from spreading to you and the ones you love.
- The Pandemic Is Exacerbating Antibiotic Resistance, Says Concerned Wash U Physicianon January 21, 2021 at 2:24 pm
A study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases finds that in addition to up to half of adults being wrongfully prescribed antibiotics in hospital settings, one in ...
- Antibiotic resistance may spread even more easily than expectedon January 21, 2021 at 4:49 am
Pathogenic bacteria in humans are developing resistance to antibiotics much faster than expected. Now, computational research at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows that one reason could ...
- Antibiotic resistance may be more widespread than previously expectedon January 20, 2021 at 11:40 pm
Pathogenic bacteria in humans are developing resistance to antibiotics much faster than expected. Now, computational research at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows that one reason could ...
- Overuse of antibiotics for meat production drives resistance in humanson January 20, 2021 at 8:05 pm
Mention antibiotic resistance and few people would link what is increasingly being recognised as a growing global health crisis with a Big Mac. But in the US, animals farmed for food account for most ...
- Origins of Antibiotic Resistanceon January 20, 2021 at 8:09 am
As the use of antibiotics increases, as does antibiotic resistance. It is vital to understand how antibiotic resistance has emerged and the ways to prevent it.
- CBD Kills Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Such As Gonorrhea, According To Studyon January 20, 2021 at 7:10 am
Antibiotic resistance currently poses a major threat to global healthcare systems, but a new study in the journal Nature Communications Biology suggests th ...
- Unlocking 'the shape of water' in mechanisms of antibiotic resistanceon January 19, 2021 at 12:55 pm
Researchers captured and comparted hi-res images of ribosome structures from sensitive and resistant bacteria and report that a water molecule needed for antibiotic binding was not present in the ...
- Oxford research tackles threat of antibiotic resistanceon January 18, 2021 at 5:58 pm
Oxford University is opening a new research institute dedicated to tackling resistance to antibiotics. The university says this is one of the the biggest rising threats to global health, already ...
via Bing News