New Imagining Technique Could Lead to Better Antibiotics and Cancer Drugs
Bacteria produce many small molecules as both communication and warfare with other bacteria, but until new imaging techniques were recently developed, scientists only saw a small fraction of them, according to Dr. Paul Straight, Texas AgriLife Research scientist. In the center of this graphic is a photograph of two colonies of bacteria. On either side are images in false-color made with a mass spectrometer showing some of the molecules that are produced. At the top of the graphic are representations of the molecules. (Graphic by Jeramie Watrous, University of California, San Diego)
By Robert Burns
A recently devised method of imaging the chemical communication and warfare between microorganisms could lead to new antibiotics, antifungal, antiviral and anti-cancer drugs, said a Texas AgriLife Research scientist.
“Translating metabolic exchange with imaging mass spectrometry,” was published Nov. 8 in Nature Chemical Biology, a prominent scientific journal. The article describes a technique developed by a collaborative team that includes Dr. Paul Straight, AgriLife Research scientist in the department of biochemistry and biophysics at Texas A&M University in College Station, Dr. Pieter Dorrestein, Yu-Liang Yang and Yuquan Xu, all at the University of California, San Diego.
“Microorganisms encode in their genomes the capacity to produce many small molecules that are potential new antibiotics,” Straight said. “Because we do not understand the circumstances under which those molecules are produced in the environment, we see only a small fraction of them in the laboratory.” (more…)
Possibly Related Posts:
- Princeton Scientists Say Einstein’s Theory Applies Beyond the Solar System
- New Asteroid Threat Reports Highlight Legal and Institutional Issues
- Wikipedia Quality Depends on How Authors Collaborate
- Can We Detect Quantum Behavior in Viruses?
- Scavenging Energy Waste to Turn Water Into Hydrogen Fuel
Researchers to Develop Antibiotics Against Potential Bioterrorism Agents
Michael Johnson, professor and director of the UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have received a $4 million federal grant to develop new antibiotics to treat anthrax, tularemia and plague.
Anthrax, tularemia and plague are caused by naturally occurring bacteria classified as “category-A” agents that could be used in bioterrorism and biowarfare.
These microorganisms pose a risk to national security because they can be easily transmitted and disseminated, result in high mortality, have potential major public health impact and could cause panic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These infections can be treated with current antibiotics, but none is ideal, says Michael Johnson, professor and director of the UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and lead researcher on the two-year grant. Only one antibiotic, doxycycline, can be used to treat more than one of the three diseases, he said.
Worse, it may be possible for terrorists to develop multi-drug resistant strains for all three diseases, Johnson said. (more…)
Possibly Related Posts:
- Princeton Scientists Say Einstein’s Theory Applies Beyond the Solar System
- New Asteroid Threat Reports Highlight Legal and Institutional Issues
- Wikipedia Quality Depends on How Authors Collaborate
- Can We Detect Quantum Behavior in Viruses?
- Scavenging Energy Waste to Turn Water Into Hydrogen Fuel
New Transatlantic Task Force on Global Antibiotic Resistance Threat
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, representing the European Union (EU) Presidency.
Experts on both sides of the Atlantic applaud President Barack Obama and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, representing the European Union (EU) Presidency, for establishing a transatlantic task force to address antibiotic resistance, an urgent and growing problem that threatens patient safety and public health worldwide. During a summit held this week in Washington, D.C., President Obama and Prime Minister Reinfeldt joined forces to address the urgency of the problem and the need for solutions by signing an international agreement that seeks cooperative ways in which the United States and EU countries can help combat the global health crisis.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified antimicrobial resistance as one of the three greatest threats to human health. Antimicrobial drugs are used around the world to fight viral diseases, like 2009 H1N1 influenza; bacterial infections, like Staphylococcus aureus and tuberculosis; parasitic infections, like malaria; and fungal infections. Many of these pathogens are becoming increasingly resistant to antimicrobials. (more…)
Possibly Related Posts:
- Aquatic ‘Dead Zones’ Contributing to Climate Change
- New Study Debunks Myths About Amazon Rain Forests
- ARS Sends Third Seed Shipment to Norway Seed Vault
- Carbon Emissions ‘Outsourced’ to Developing Countries
- Environmental Engineers Receive Award for Investigation of Lead Poisoning of Washington D.C. Children
Non-Antibiotic Drugs Could Counter Hospital Infections
When worms (Caenorhabditis elegans) ate the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa that were raised on low levels of phosphates, unexpected large red spots appeared in their intestinal tracts. The worms then died, so researchers dubbed the condition "Red Death." They theorized that providing P. aeruginosa with phosphate would protect weakened or immunosuppressed hospital patients from this lethal pathogen. (Image courtesy of John Alverdy, University of Chicago Medical Center)
Lack of an adequate amount of the mineral phosphate can turn a common bacterium into a killer, according to research to be published in the April 14, 2009, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings could lead to new drugs that would disarm the increasingly antibiotic-resistant pathogen rather than attempting to kill it.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most serious hospital-acquired pathogens. A common cause of lung infections, it is also found in the intestinal tract of 20 percent of all Americans and 50 percent of hospitalized patients in the United States. (more…)
Possibly Related Posts:
- Princeton Scientists Say Einstein’s Theory Applies Beyond the Solar System
- New Asteroid Threat Reports Highlight Legal and Institutional Issues
- Wikipedia Quality Depends on How Authors Collaborate
- Can We Detect Quantum Behavior in Viruses?
- Scavenging Energy Waste to Turn Water Into Hydrogen Fuel
Loading... 
