{"id":7243,"date":"2016-10-19T11:16:29","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T17:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canadianglycomics.ca\/?p=7243"},"modified":"2019-07-31T16:02:09","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T22:02:09","slug":"developing-new-leads-in-the-fight-against-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianglycomics.ca\/fr\/developing-new-leads-in-the-fight-against-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria\/","title":{"rendered":"Developing new leads in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria"},"content":{"rendered":"

A unique cell wall target yields promising results against Staphylococcus aureus<\/p>\n

By Alexandria Daum<\/em><\/p>\n

Project Investigators: Dr. Eric Brown, Dr. Natalie Strynadka and Dr. Gerard Wright<\/span><\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-9-16-18-am\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Eric Brown and his co-investigators\u00a0have several promising leads in their novel\u00a0approach to targeting methicillin-resistant\u00a0Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).<\/p>\n

MRSA is a bacterial infection that is resistant\u00a0to most antibiotic treatments, often occurring\u00a0in healthcare settings such as hospitals or\u00a0nursing homes, and also in the community.\u00a0It is one of the leading causes of health-care\u00a0associated infections worldwide.<\/p>\n

The approach of Brown and his co-investigators\u00a0is unique in that they are\u00a0targeting a component of the cell wall that\u00a0has not been targeted before called wall\u00a0teichoic acid (WTA), a glycopolymer on the\u00a0bacterial cell wall that is essential for the\u00a0organism to survive and thrive. WTA plays a\u00a0key role in resistance to antibiotics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just think this pathway is ripe for more discovery,\u201d explains Brown, a professor at McMaster University. \u201cWe can run chemical screens just looking for inhibition of growth of bacteria, but that doesn\u2019t give us a lot of information. You want to put effort into something that is very selective.\u201d<\/p>\n

The synthesis of WTA consists of numerous steps \u2013 the idea is that by inhibiting one of these steps and disrupting the synthesis, the bacteria will become more sensitive to antibiotics.<\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-9-18-34-am\"<\/a>This approach has already proved successful, as the team previously identified two drugs capable of reducing drug resistance in MRSA: clomiphene, a fertility drug; and ticlopidine, which can be used to prevent stroke. The next step will be optimizing these leads for potential clinical use.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think they\u2019re not quite as potent as they need to be,\u201d says Brown. \u201cAfter all, these are cryptic activities. We think they\u2019re great leads, though they might not be the end game, but they\u2019re good starting points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the team is doing more screening, both of synthetic and natural compounds, and Brown is hopeful that they will find more leads in this area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s already one known natural product that targets the first step in WTA synthesis but it\u2019s not an ideal lead,\u201d says Brown. \u201cBut it\u2019s kind of proof-of-principle that natural products out there can halt WTA synthesis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team is working on optimizing both clomiphene and ticlopidine in an effort to make the drugs more potent against MRSA. They are currently engaged in discussions with the U.S. National Institutes of Health on the potential of ticlopidine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a real crisis in terms of drug resistance that\u2019s really changing modern medicine. There\u2019s been no truly new drugs discovered for at least 30 years\u2026 If we take on truly new targets, we believe that will generate new chemical matter that will get around resistance mechanisms.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A unique cell wall target yields promising results against Staphylococcus aureus<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[203],"tags":[59,60,61,62,63,64],"class_list":["post-7243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-highlight","tag-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria","tag-eric-brown","tag-gerard-wright","tag-mrsa","tag-natalie-strynadka","tag-wta","wpbf-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t