Researchers Reveal how Bacteria Behind Hospital Infections Block Out Antibiotics
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Drug-resistant bacteria responsible for deadly hospital-acquired infections shut out antibiotics by closing tiny doors in their cell walls.
The new finding by researchers at Imperial College London could allow researchers to design antibiotics into bacterial cells. The result is published today in Nature Communications.
The bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae causes infections in the lungs, blood and wounds of those in hospitals, and patients that have compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable. More than 20,000 K. pneumoniae infections were recorded in UK hospitals in the past year.
Like many bacteria, K. pneumoniae is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, particularly a family of drugs called Carbapenems. Carbapenems are used as antibiotics in hospitals when others have failed or are ineffective.
[...] Now, the team from Imperial has discovered one mechanism by which K. pneumoniae is able to resist Carbapenems. Antibiotics usually enter the K. pneumoniae bacteria through surface doorways known as pores. The team investigated the structure of the pores and showed that by shutting these doorways K. pneumoniae becomes resistant to multiple drugs, since antibiotics cannot enter and kill them.
[...] The closed doors aren't all good news for bacteria. They also mean that the bacteria can take in fewer nutrients, and tests in mice showed that the bacteria grow slower as a result.
However, the advantage in terms of avoiding antibiotics outweighed the negative impact of slower growth for the bacteria, allowing them to maintain a high level of infection.
Journal Article: (Open Access) Joshua L. C. Wong, Maria Romano, Louise E. Kerry; OmpK36-mediated Carbapenem resistance attenuates ST258 Klebsiella pneumoniae in vivo Nature Communications, Vol. 10 Issue1. (2019)
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