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TB Bacterium's Natural Resistance Secret Penetrated

The secret of the tuberculosis bacterium's natural resistance to drugs may have been identified, opening up new targets for medicines, according to US researchers speaking today at the bi-annual meeting of the Society for General Microbiology at the University of East Anglia in the UK.

"We have known the basic chemical composition of the TB bacterium's cell walls for twenty years, but only now can we see how the molecules are assembled to make such an extraordinarily tough, water and drug resistant wall," says Prof. Patrick Brennan of Colorado State University.

According to the researchers, the most distinctive feature of the TB bacterium's cell wall is a type of long-chain branched fatty acid, called mycolic acid, which gives the cell wall an oil- and water- resistant veneer naturally impermeable to most of the common anti-bacterial drugs.

The US team also identified a unique sugar compound called arabinogalactan in the cell walls that has five-armed sugar rings rather than the usual six. This unique structure, the unusual way the bacteria put together their cell walls, and other newly identified genetic markers make ideal targets for new drug development.

"Tuberculosis is now a global epidemic, often appearing with HIV and AIDS, affecting up to 8 million new cases per year," says Prof. Brennan. "We have a drug resistance problem compounded by the few drugs available. Moreover, the only treatment is long-term chemotherapy, which requires careful monitoring. We urgently need shorter treatment regimes and new drugs to counter resistance."

"We are addressing new drug development rationally by looking closely at the cell wall, the most distinctive feature of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, understanding how it is manufactured and using this information to screen for new drugs funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in cooperation with Professor G.S. Besra of the University of Newcastle and the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline," Professor Brennan says.

(Editor's Note: Full program details of this meeting can be found on the Society’s website at this URL.)

[Contact: Prof. Patrick Brennan]

10-Sep-2001

 

 

 

 

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