• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Tuberculosis virulence factor identified, may be target for new drug

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
December 16, 2016
in Science News
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Scientists have discovered the mechanism that hijacks the immune system's response to tuberculosis, revealing an important new drug target for the disease that kills more than 1 million people each year.

Herman Sintim, Purdue University's Drug Discovery Professor of Chemistry, collaborated with scientists at Johns Hopkins University to determine how tuberculosis turns off a human cell's signal to mount an immune response to the bacteria. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that results in coughing, fever, night sweats, weight loss and sometimes death.

When Mycobacterium tuberculosis enters a human cell, the presence of its DNA and a molecule that it makes called c-di-AMP alert the cell to the bacteria's presence. The human cell responds by creating a messenger molecule, cGAMP, which signals nearby cells to mount an immune response to kill the tuberculosis bacteria.

The human cell also produces another molecule, ENPP1, which degrades the cGAMP. That key step turns off the call for an immune response.

"Immune response can involve reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, which can kill the bacteria but at the same time cause collateral damage and also damage or kill the host cells as well," Sintim said. "There is a very delicate response to bacteria and stopping that response once bacteria have been taken care of."

But the tuberculosis bacterium has found a way to turn off the call for help. By producing a protein called cyclic dinucleotide phosphodiesterase (CdnP), the bacterium reduces the concentration of the cell's messenger molecule, cGAMP, a nucleic acid. This accentuates the effect of the human phosphodiesterase ENPP1, an enzyme that cleaves nucleic acids, to quickly degrade any already-made cGAMP and turn off the immune response early.

"The host cGAMP never gets to a high enough concentration to activate the immune response," Sintim said. "This is a very effective strategy the bacteria have developed to suppress an immune response."

Sintim and colleagues tested their hypothesis by creating a mutant of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that lacked the CdnP protein and tested it in a mouse model. On average, the mice with the mutant bacteria lived more than two times longer than mice with the wild type, suggesting that CdnP played a role in suppressing immune response.

They then artificially synthesized the cGAMP molecule and investigated if it was a substrate for CdnP. The CdnP degraded the human molecule as predicted.

Sintim said the CdnP protein in the tuberculosis bacteria now becomes an attractive target for a new drug. If a molecule could be developed that would inactivate or inhibit CdnP, it would improve immune response in tuberculosis patients.

Sintim's team identified several molecules that would bind with and inhibit CdnP, but they have not reached the potency level needed to create drugs. They will continue looking for new compounds that could potently inhibit this newly discovered CdnP drug target.

###

The National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Science Foundation, and Camille and Dreyfus Foundation funded the research.

Media Contact

Amy Patterson Neubert
[email protected]
765-494-9723
@PurdueUnivNews

http://www.purdue.edu/

############

Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag

Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

Man in Black Jacket and Black Backpack Riding Bicycle on Road

New research: Up to 540,000 lives could be saved worldwide by targeting speed and other main areas

June 29, 2022
Group Leader in Chemical Proteomics, Dr. Guillaume Médard, and his research group in the lab.

Shining some light on the obscure proteome

June 29, 2022

Romantic partners can influence each other’s beliefs and behaviors on climate change, new Yale study finds

June 29, 2022

The world’s rivers are changing, here’s how

June 29, 2022
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Pacific whiting

    Oregon State University research finds evidence to suggest Pacific whiting skin has anti-aging properties that prevent wrinkles

    37 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 9
  • University of Miami Rosenstiel School selected for National ‘Reefense’ Initiative focusing on Florida and the Caribbean

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9
  • Saving the Mekong delta from drowning

    37 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 9
  • Sharks may be closer to the city than you think, new study finds

    34 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

VehiclesViolence/CriminalsUrbanizationUrogenital SystemVirusWeaponryVaccinesZoology/Veterinary ScienceUniversity of WashingtonVirologyVaccineWeather/Storms

Recent Posts

  • New research: Up to 540,000 lives could be saved worldwide by targeting speed and other main areas
  • Shining some light on the obscure proteome
  • Romantic partners can influence each other’s beliefs and behaviors on climate change, new Yale study finds
  • The world’s rivers are changing, here’s how
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Posting....