
A US researcher has ventured deep underwater in the search for a cure for deadly infectious diseases like Tuberculosis.
Brian Murphy, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is collecting actinomycete bacteria from water throughout the world in a hunt for new antibiotics.
Advertisement
He and Scott Franzblau, director of UIC's Institute for Tuberculosis Research, are lead investigators on a new, three-year 1.1 million-dollar grant from the Defense Department to find compounds to fight tuberculosis, a disease that killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide in 2011.
As a killer, tuberculosis-caused by a bacterium that most often attacks the lungs-is second only to HIV among infectious agents, according to the World Health Organization.
The bacteria lie dormant in about one-third of the population, and 8 million new cases are reported annually.
US military personnel face a much higher risk of tuberculosis than American civilians, due to their frequent deployment in developing countries where infection rates are higher, Murphy said.
Some units are stationed in locations where the spread of tuberculosis is a major hazard.
"Novel drug scaffolds that can reduce the spread of tuberculosis throughout the military and quickly address a tuberculosis epidemic are in serious need," he said.
Murphy has so far collected a "library" of nearly 1,000 actinomycete strains, and 1,200 samples of biochemicals they produce, from marine waters off Massachusetts, Maine, the Florida Keys and Vietnam, and from the freshwater of the Great Lakes.
From his collection, he and Franzblau have identified eight aquatic actinomyces strains that target non-replicating tuberculosis.
A promising new class of compounds with drug-like potency emerged from their screenings and is the focus of the new grant, Murphy said.
It was isolated from sediment collected 260 feet below the surface of Lake Michigan.
"Freshwater environments are a new frontier for drug-lead discovery," Murphy said.
"Actinomycetes have the ability to produce molecules that have a high potential for use as medicines, and very little is known about these bacteria in such environments," he said.
The UIC team will be the first to explore each of the five Great Lakes for antibiotic-producing actinomycete bacteria and will evaluate the viability of freshwater systems as a source for drug-lead discovery.
Source: ANI
Advertisement
The bacteria lie dormant in about one-third of the population, and 8 million new cases are reported annually.
US military personnel face a much higher risk of tuberculosis than American civilians, due to their frequent deployment in developing countries where infection rates are higher, Murphy said.
Some units are stationed in locations where the spread of tuberculosis is a major hazard.
"Novel drug scaffolds that can reduce the spread of tuberculosis throughout the military and quickly address a tuberculosis epidemic are in serious need," he said.
Murphy has so far collected a "library" of nearly 1,000 actinomycete strains, and 1,200 samples of biochemicals they produce, from marine waters off Massachusetts, Maine, the Florida Keys and Vietnam, and from the freshwater of the Great Lakes.
From his collection, he and Franzblau have identified eight aquatic actinomyces strains that target non-replicating tuberculosis.
A promising new class of compounds with drug-like potency emerged from their screenings and is the focus of the new grant, Murphy said.
It was isolated from sediment collected 260 feet below the surface of Lake Michigan.
"Freshwater environments are a new frontier for drug-lead discovery," Murphy said.
"Actinomycetes have the ability to produce molecules that have a high potential for use as medicines, and very little is known about these bacteria in such environments," he said.
The UIC team will be the first to explore each of the five Great Lakes for antibiotic-producing actinomycete bacteria and will evaluate the viability of freshwater systems as a source for drug-lead discovery.
Source: ANI
Advertisement
Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Recommended Readings
Latest Research News

New study sheds light on the intrinsic, yet often overlooked, role of sleep preparation as a hardwired survival strategy.

Microgravity-induced bone loss in space, can be reduced by systemic delivery of NELL-1, a protein required for bone growth and its maintenance.

Researchers establish connections between Alzheimer's-linked genetic alterations and the functioning of brain cells.

Team at NeuroRestore introduces a groundbreaking gene therapy that has effectively promoted nerve regrowth and reconnection, post spinal cord injury.

Scientists aim to pinpoint particular functional pathways affected by these bacteria that may have an impact on skeletal health.