Breakthrough could help combat superbugs
Scientists have worked out a key mechanism that protects bacteria against stress in a major discovery that could lead to new ways of killing superbugs like C. difficile and MRSA.
In a paper published in the journal Science, the researchers describe for the first time the mechanism of a ‘bacterial pressure-release valve or channel’ that helps to safeguard bacteria.
The findings of the two teams from the University of Aberdeen, led by professor Ian Booth, and the University of St Andrews, led by professor James Naismith, could pave the way for new chemicals to combat potentially deadly bugs by acting on these channels.
All bacteria have tiny channels in their walls that operate like the valve on a pressure cooker – they open to release material when the pressure in a bacterial cell gets too great. If the channel didn't open to relieve pressure the bacteria would explode and die.
The work is the culmination of molecular studies at Aberdeen combined with structural studies at St Andrews. The two groups have been working together for several years and this type of partnership is encouraged by the SULSA initiative of the Scottish Funding Council.
Professor Booth said: "Channels in bacteria perform absolutely key roles in cell survival. We have been able to show how this channel opens and closes. Understanding how they work will play a major role in inhibiting the survival of bacteria and could have applications as basic as cleansing hospital equipment and wards or helping to make food safer. These channels are found in MRSA and C. difficile and this knowledge has not yet been exploited. The future path is to find new chemicals and processes that exploit the importance of the channels to these bacteria."
The research was carried out with the help of a £1.5M grant from the Wellcome Trust as well as funding from the Medical Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Scottish Funding Council and Unilever plc.