Kickin' Drug Resistant Bacteria to the Curb

Hello once again!

A new study conducted by Dr. Gee Lau at the University of Illinois could help to prevent new drug resistant, particularly antibiotic resistant, bacteria from forming and reproducing!

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a bacterium that can cause pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis. It shares its antibiotic resistant DNA with other bacteria. This can lead to more reproduction of the antibiotic resistant bacteria. If these bacteria continue to multiply, then antibiotic drugs will not be of much use in treating various illnesses and infections.

But despair not, for as I have previously stated there is yet hope!

Researchers have been working to develop a reliable method for shutting down the spread of drug resistant bacteria by interrupting the cellular events that allow S. Pneumoniae to swap their DNA. Dr. Lau and his colleges at the University of Illinois have been focusing on blocking the protein that, as it binds to a receptor in the bacterial cell membrane, spurs the cell to events that allows the bacterium to receive new genetic material. This will cause more drug resistant bacteria to form rendering our beloved antibiotics useless. However, by interfering with the CSP protein, they hypothesize this will hinder the ability for promoting genetic transfer between the bacteria.

These researchers have constructed lab-made CSP-like proteins that block bacterial CSPs' access to the receptors, reduce the bacterial competence, and reduce the infectious capacity of S. Pneumoniae. These researchers then fine-tuned the structure of the amino acid and tested how well the inhibited the S. Pneumoniae CSPs. They also tested the inability to mimic the activity of CSPs in bacterial cells.

This was a success! The researchers found that many of the artificial CSP inhibited the bacterial CSP and reduced the S. Pneumoniae competence by more than 90 percent!

So, watch out all you microscopic pathogens! We will find you....and we will annihilate you!