Scientists have turned to nature once again for help in fighting deadly infections. Reporting in the Dec. 7 issue of Science, Rockefeller University researchers show that a natural enzyme derived from tiny viruses that live inside bacteria can successfully target and kill disease bacteria, including those that are resistant to drugs.
This novel approach may be used to prevent infections and, when used in combination with antibiotics, may provide a more efficient strategy for attacking bacterial invaders.
"A nasal spray containing this enzyme would prevent infections before they start," says Vincent A. Fischetti, Ph.D., principal investigator of the paper and co-head of the Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis at Rockefeller University. "We would no longer have to wait for an infection to arise in order to treat it."
"Resistance to antibiotics is rapidly becoming a serious public health concern. These enzymes offer an alternative method for combating resistant pathogens," he adds.
Traditional antibiotics primarily attack bacteria that reside inside cells, while the recently discovered "bacteriophage" enzymes only kill disease bacteria that lie on the surface of cells. In this study, Fischetti and his colleagues used these enzymes to eliminate Streptococcus pneumoniae present in the nasopharynx, an area between the back of the nose and throat, of mice. In addition, the researchers demonstrated that these enzymes can kill penicillin-resistant strains of this bacterium in a test tube.
S. pneumoniae normally lives on mucous membranes in the nose and throat of humans. It is from here that they strike out and cause infections, including ear infections, pneumonia and bacterial meningitis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this pathogen is among the leading causes worldwide of illness and death in young children, persons with underlying medical conditions and the elderly. It is a special concern
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Contact: Whitney Clavin
clavinw@rockefeller.edu
212-327-7900
Rockefeller University
6-Dec-2001