Belgian researchers have developed a potential treatment for anthrax that breaks down the bacteria’s thick protein armor.
Anthrax is a deadly type of bacteria famous for its use in terrorist attacks in 2001. Although anthrax infections can be treated with antibiotics, they can prove hard to treat when the bacteria are inhaled or ingested.
Scientists at the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology in Ghent and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel have devised a new potential treatment for anthrax using fragments of antibodies called nanobodies. In a study published in Nature Microbiology, the researchers had initially designed nanobodies to block the formation of a protein ‘armor’ on the surface of anthrax bacteria, but unexpectedly found that the nanobodies are also able to break apart armor that has already formed.
“This armor is made of cell surface proteins like a wall is made of bricks,” Antonella Fioravanti, a postdoc in the institute and one of the leading researchers on the project, told me. “The nanobodies can penetrate and destroy this wall, which is a novelty.”
To test the potential of the treatment, the scientists injected anthrax-infected mice with the nanobodies. The team found that all mice given these nanobodies survived the deadly infection. “That was a really big thing,” Fioravanti said to me.
The researchers have patented the treatment and are now searching for a licensing partner to take the treatment to the clinic. One idea they have is to combine the nanobodies with conventional antibiotics, which could shorten the time taken to clear anthrax infections and reduce the costs. This could be appealing for developing countries where anthrax infections are commonplace, such as in South America and Africa.
Nanobodies are being developed by other organizations for other applications. Also based in Ghent, the biotech Ablynx is developing nanobodies for different conditions, with one treatment approved by the EMA for a rare autoimmune disease last year.
Furthermore, this treatment could help to tackle the crisis of antibiotic resistance in many types of bacteria, including Clostridium difficile. “We are targeting something that is on the cellular surface,” Fioravanti said. “This circumvents the usual mechanism of resistance to antibiotics, which usually need to enter the cell to take effect.”
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Watafiti wa Ubelgiji wamebuni tiba inayoweza kutibu ugonjwa wa chembe za urithi (anthrax) ambayo huvunja kifuniko kikubwa cha protini cha bakteria hiyo. Anthrax ni aina ya bakteria inayosababisha vifo ambayo ilitumiwa katika mashambulizi ya kigaidi mwaka 2001. Ingawa maambukizo ya chembe za urithi yaweza kutibiwa kwa dawa za kuua viini, yanaweza kuwa magumu kutibu wakati bakteria hizo zinapopumuliwa au kumeng'enywa. Wanasayansi wa Taasisi ya Flanders ya Bioteknolojia huko Ghent na Chuo Kikuu cha Vrije Universiteit Brussel wamebuni tiba mpya ya ugonjwa wa anthrax kwa kutumia vipande vya antibodi vinavyoitwa nanobodies. Katika utafiti uliochapishwa katika Nature Microbiology, watafiti waliunda nanobodies kuzuia malezi ya protini ya sufu kwenye uso wa bakteria ya anthrax, lakini kwa kushangaza waligundua kwamba nanobodies pia zinaweza kuvunja sufu ambayo tayari imeundwa. "Kifuniko hiki kimefanyizwa na protini za uso wa seli kama ukuta unafanywa kwa matofali", Antonella Fioravanti, postdoc katika taasisi na mmoja wa watafiti wakuu kwenye mradi huo, aliniambia. "Nanobodies zinaweza kupenya na kuharibu ukuta huu, ambayo ni jambo jipya. ""Kuchunguza uwezo wa matibabu, wanasayansi waliingiza panya walioambukizwa anthrax na nanobodies. Timu hiyo iligundua kwamba panya wote waliopewa viungo hivyo vya nanobodies waliokoka maambukizo hayo yenye kuua. "Hiyo ilikuwa jambo kubwa sana", Fioravanti aliniambia. Watafiti wamepata hati miliki ya matibabu na sasa wanatafuta mshirika wa leseni ya kuchukua matibabu kwa kliniki. Kwa mfano, kuna uwezekano wa kutumia nanobodies na dawa za kawaida za kuua viini, na hivyo kupunguza muda unaotumiwa kuondoa maambukizi ya anthrax. Hii inaweza kuwa ya kuvutia kwa nchi zinazoendelea ambapo maambukizi ya anthrax ni ya kawaida, kama vile katika Amerika Kusini na Afrika. Vitu vya nanobody vinatengenezwa na mashirika mengine kwa ajili ya matumizi mengine. Kampuni ya biotech Ablanx, ambayo pia iko Ghent, inaendeleza nanobodies kwa hali tofauti, na matibabu moja yalithibitishwa na EMA kwa ugonjwa wa autoimmune wa nadra mwaka jana. Kwa kuongezea, matibabu haya yanaweza kusaidia kukabiliana na mgogoro wa upinzani wa antibiotic katika aina nyingi za bakteria, pamoja na Clostridium difficile. "Tunalenga kitu kilicho kwenye uso wa seli", Fioravanti alisema. <unk>Hii hupuuza utaratibu wa kawaida wa upinzani wa viuavijasumu, ambavyo kwa kawaida huhitaji kuingia ndani ya chembe ili kuathiri. <unk> Picha kutoka Shutterstock