UK university makes antibiotic resistance breakthrough

According to research published yesterday, experts at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have discovered an “Achilles heel” in the defensive barrier which surrounds drug-resistant bacterial cells.

Scientists have suggested the findings could pave the way for the development of drugs that are capable of eliminating superbugs by bringing down their defensive walls, rather than attacking the bacteria itself.

“This is really important because drug-resistant bacteria is a global health problem

UEA’s Changjiang Dong

Antibiotic resistance, which many believe is fast-becoming a global threat, means that even more commonplace infections, that have been easily treatable for decades, once again pose a greater risk to human health.

To combat this, UEA researchers investigated a class of bacteria known as “Gram-negative bacteria” which is particularly resistant to antibiotics because of its “cells’ impermeable lipid-based outer membrane”, a university statement said.

This outer membrane acts as a defensive barrier against attacks from the human immune system and antibiotic drugs. It allows the pathogenic bacteria to survive, but removing this barrier causes the bacteria to become more vulnerable and die.

Until now, very little has been understood about exactly how the defensive barrier is built.

UEA research group leader Changjiang Dong said: “We have identified the path and gate used by the bacteria to transport the barrier building blocks to the outer surface. Importantly, we have demonstrated that the bacteria would die if the gate is locked.

“This is really important because drug-resistant bacteria is a global health problem.”

Likewise, lead author Haohao Dong said: “The really exciting thing about this research is that new drugs will specifically target the protective barrier around the bacteria, rather than the bacteria itself.

“Because new drugs will not need to enter the bacteria itself, we hope that the bacteria will not be able to develop drug resistance in future.”

The research was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.