Researchers at Rice University have found a way to kill cancer or
bacteria cells while deactivating their ability to be drug-resistant.
Their findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). After looking at studies regarding anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) they concluded they should focus their research on the chain of amino acids that kill Gram-negative bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria include drug-resistant bacteria that cause problems, such as pneumonia.
“AMPs are produced naturally by a number of animals to fight bacteria,” says Ben-Jacob, professor of biochemistry and cell biology at Rice and the Maguy-Glass Chair in Physics of Complex Systems and professor of physics and astronomy at Tel Aviv University. “AMPs are corkscrew-shaped. They do not harm the animals’ own cells, but they penetrate and shred the double-layered membranes of Gram-negative bacteria.”
Since some animals have a natural genetic mutations to avoid AMP attacks, researchers created a synthetic AMP called KLAKLAK-2 which has a left-handed twist. Then, a similar synthetic AMP was created, D-KLAKLAK-2 which has a right-handed twist. This makes it harder for cancer cells to fight, since they have developed mechanisms to fight the left-handed twist.
For the full article, visit http://www.aalatimes.com/2013/02/14/combining-synthetic-natural-toxins-could-disarm-cancer-drug-resistant-bacteria/.
Their findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). After looking at studies regarding anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) they concluded they should focus their research on the chain of amino acids that kill Gram-negative bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria include drug-resistant bacteria that cause problems, such as pneumonia.
“AMPs are produced naturally by a number of animals to fight bacteria,” says Ben-Jacob, professor of biochemistry and cell biology at Rice and the Maguy-Glass Chair in Physics of Complex Systems and professor of physics and astronomy at Tel Aviv University. “AMPs are corkscrew-shaped. They do not harm the animals’ own cells, but they penetrate and shred the double-layered membranes of Gram-negative bacteria.”
Since some animals have a natural genetic mutations to avoid AMP attacks, researchers created a synthetic AMP called KLAKLAK-2 which has a left-handed twist. Then, a similar synthetic AMP was created, D-KLAKLAK-2 which has a right-handed twist. This makes it harder for cancer cells to fight, since they have developed mechanisms to fight the left-handed twist.
For the full article, visit http://www.aalatimes.com/2013/02/14/combining-synthetic-natural-toxins-could-disarm-cancer-drug-resistant-bacteria/.
No comments:
Post a Comment