Dr Mark Blaskovich … the number of patients dying from vancomycin-resistant bacteria prompted his team to look at revitalising old antibiotics.
An old drug supercharged by University of Queensland researchers has emerged as a new antibiotic that could destroy some of the world’s most dangerous superbugs.
The supercharge technique , led by Dr Mark Blaskovich and Professor Matt Cooper from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), potentially could revitalise other antibiotics.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria – superbugs – cause 700,000 deaths worldwide each year, and a UK government review has predicted this could rise to 10 million by 2050.
Dr Blaskovich said the old drug, vancomycin, was still widely used to treat extremely dangerous bacterial infections, but bacteria were becoming increasingly resistant to it.
“The rise of vancomycin-resistant bacteria, and the number of patients dying from resistant infections that cannot be successfully treated, stimulated our team to look at ways to revitalise old antibiotics,” Dr Blaskovich said.
“We did this by modifying vancomycin’s membrane-binding properties to selectively bind to bacterial membranes rather than those of human cells, creating a series of supercharged vancomycin derivatives called vancapticins.”
The rebooted vancomycin has the potential to treat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE).
Professor Cooper said pharmaceutical companies had departed the antibiotic discovery field because new antibiotics were difficult to find and were not as lucrative as cholesterol-lowering medications or cancer treatments.
“Hence many scientists are re-engineering existing drugs to overcome bacterial resistance, rather than searching for new drugs,” he said.
“Drug development is normally focused on improving binding to a biological target, and rarely focuses on assessing membrane-binding properties.
“This approach worked with the vancapticins, and the question now is whether it can be used to revitalise other antibiotics that have lost effectiveness against resistant bacteria.
“Given the alarming rise of multi-drug resistant bacteria and the length of time it takes to develop a new antibiotic, we need to look at any solution that could fix the antibiotic drug discovery pipeline now,” Professor Cooper said.
Learn more: Supercharged antibiotics could turn tide against superbugs
The Latest on: Supercharged antibioticx
November 27, 2018 - The JPL researchers compared their antibiotic resistance to that of the three clinical strains, and found that the space Enterobacter were resistant to cefazolin, cefoxitin, oxacillin, penicillin and rifampin, and had varying degrees of resistance to ...November 21, 2018 - Under the antibiotic therapy segment defined for the asymptomatic bacteriuria treatment market, sulfisoxazole, followed by ampicillin, accounts a significant revenue share in the global asymptomatic bacteriuria treatment market. Quinolone antibiotics ...
NanoString Targets Infection Dx, Drug Susceptibility Testing for Hyb & Seq Platform - GenomeWeb
November 12, 2018 - The company believes Hyb & Seq may offer clear advantages over existing platforms in certain areas, including rapid detection of infectious pathogens and testing of their antibiotic susceptibility and resistance. During a conference call last week ...
How the Top Nutrition Trends of 2019 Will Impact Your Training - Runner's World
November 8, 2018 - ... like Teton Waters Ranch, offer lean-protein products that are both antibiotic- and hormone-free, which can benefit your performance thanks to their higher concentrations of conjugated linoleic acid (which can improve body composition and lower your ...Using biosensors to deliver personalized doses of antibiotics - Phys.Org
September 7, 2018 - Their device can provide precise measurements of the amount of vancomycin, an antibiotic used as a last-resort treatment, in a patient's blood plasma. This information will help doctors deliver exactly the amount of drug needed and therefore reduce the ...New superbug breaks through the last line of antibiotic defense - New Atlas
September 5, 2018 - Superbugs that have evolved to resist our current crop of antibiotics threaten to return the world back into the "dark ages of medicine," according to one UK government report. That same report predicts that if action is not taken, superbugs could kill ...Team reports technology to enable precision antibiotics - Phys.Org
June 27, 2018 - Screening of this chemical enhanced library against live bacteria produced powerful, highly-selective probes to target two deadly antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and colistin-resistant Acinetobacter ...New antibiotic approved for drug-resistant infections - Medical Xpress
June 27, 2018 - Dr. Tim Jinks, Head of Wellcome's Drug-Resistant Infections Programme said: "This new antibiotic will be a vital last-resort treatment for patients with complicated and life-threatening urinary tract infections. As with any new antibiotic, ensuring ...Fighting superbugs with 'supercharged' antibiotics - FierceBiotech
January 8, 2018 - Scientists at the University of Queensland in Australia are attacking antibiotics-resistant bacteria by teaching an old drug new tricks. The drug is the antibiotic vancomycin, and the team has early evidence that their revamped version could be used to ...
- Super bugs “supercharging” on the International Space Station on November 28, 2018 at 10:28 pm
Earlier studies had shown that stay in space altered the bugs in ways and caused them to be “supercharged” as they adapted to ... On earth these bacteria develop resistance to the antibiotics and can ... […]
- Could superbugs on the International Space Station mutate into a new breed of 'supercharged' killer? on November 27, 2018 at 11:15 am
Previous studies have shown that when exposed to conditions in space, bacterial mutation can become 'supercharged' as they adapt to ... intensive care wards - and they have high resistance to antibiot... […]
- Genetic study of soil organisms reveals new family of antibiotics on February 12, 2018 at 4:00 pm
Much more testing with the new family of antibiotics is required before clinical trials, of course, but for now, the researchers are optimistic, suggesting many more members of the family are likely t... […]
- Supercharged antibiotics on January 13, 2018 at 6:22 am
There's a lot of worry in the medical community about antibiotic resistant bugs - these bacteria cause 700,000 deaths a year and that number's expected to get a lot worse in the years to come. So a re... […]
- New supercharged antibiotics could help win war against superbugs on January 11, 2018 at 8:15 pm
An old drug supercharged by researchers at the University of Queensland may be a new weapon in the battle against some of the world’s most dangerous superbugs, with researchers claiming it could destr... […]
- Supercharged antibiotics could turn tide against superbugs on January 4, 2018 at 4:00 pm
Dr Mark Blaskovich. The number of patients dying from vancomycin-resistant bacteria prompted his team to look at revitalising old antibiotics. Credit: University of Queensland An old drug supercharged ... […]
- Drugs Supercharged With Quantum Dots Could Reverse Antibiotic Resistance on October 3, 2017 at 5:00 pm
Bacteria that are resistant to current antibiotics are a growing—and alarming—problem. A new solution comes from an unexpected place: light-activated chemicals that supercharge antibiotics so that bac... […]
- Take That, Superbug! New Supercharged Antibiotic to the Rescue on May 31, 2017 at 11:45 am
There's a new antibiotic in town and superbugs are running scared. That's welcome news, because lately we've been witnessing a nightmare scenario unfolding before our eyes: bacteria that can not be ki... […]
- Scientists supercharge old antibiotic in fight against bacterial resistance on May 29, 2017 at 9:08 pm
Researchers have supercharged a commonly used antibiotic making it incredibly difficult for bacteria to develop a resistance(Credit: Zentilia/Depositphotos) In a world where apocalyptic scenarios invo... […]
via Google News and Bing News