Items tagged with Scientific research

New imaging method reveals if antibiotics reach bacteria hiding in tissues (post)

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and the University of Western Australia have developed a new imaging method to see where antibiotics have reached bacteria within tissues. The method could be used to help develop more effective antibiotic treatments, reducing the risk of antibiotic resistance.

Not as simple as thought: How bacteria form membrane vesicles (post)

Tsukuba, Japan - Bacteria have the ability to form membrane vesicles to communicate with each other, but also to defend themselves against antibiotics. In a new study, researchers from the University of Tsukuba discovered a novel mechanism by which mycolic acid-containing bacteria, a specific group of bacteria with a special type of cell membrane, form membrane vesicles.

Proposing a new drug to treat TB utilizing state-of-the-art computer simulations (post)

The research team of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Toyohashi University of Technology and the Institute of Food Biotechnology and Genomics at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine have proposed a new drug to treat tuberculosis (TB), utilizing the state-of-the-art molecular simulations. This drug may inhibit the cell division of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) and suppress its growth. In addition, because this drug acts on the enzymes secreted by M. tuberculosis instead of acting on M. tuberculosis itself, M. tuberculosis has very little chance of mutation and develops no drug resistance. Therefore, it is expected that this drug will lead to a novel drug that will keep its effectiveness for a long time.

Novartis and GSK announce collaboration to support scientific research into genetic diversity in Africa (post)

-- Project Africa GRADIENT calls on local researchers to submit proposals exploring the link between genetic diversity and response to malaria and tuberculosis drugs in African patients

-- Combined funding commitment of GBP 2.8 million (USD 3.6 million) over five years

-- Researchers based at universities, science councils and other public research organizations across Africa are invited to express ‘intent to submit’ by March 1, 2021

Latest TB research publications (post)

Latest TB research publications (post)

ZebiAI and TB Alliance announce collaboration to apply ML-driven discovery platform to TB targets (post)

TB Alliance to leverage ZebiAI’s platform to discover novel probe compounds for important tuberculosis targets, with options for drug discovery.

WPI awarded NIH grant to identify sweet wormwood plant compounds effective against tuberculosis bacteria (post)

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $434,787 to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) to identify and assess compounds from the sweet wormwood plant that kill the bacteria that causes tuberculosis.

Blocking the spread of HIV or favouring the spread of the tuberculosis bacteria, the flip side of the Siglec-1 protein's absence (post)

In 2016, the Retrovirology and Clinical Studies group at IrsiCaixa discovered how the absence of the Siglec-1 protein, involved in modulating the immune system, blocks the spread of HIV throughout the body. Now, a study led by the same research group and the Experimental Tuberculosis Unit of the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) has shown that, on the other hand, this same deficiency favours the dissemination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the tuberculosis-causing agent. Thus, the absence of this protein helps to understand its role in different infectious contexts, and to shed light on its function in infected individuals. The study has also counted with the participation of the IVECAT research group, led by Francesc Borràs at the IGTP, as well as with the participation of more than 10 international research groups.

New imaging technique follows antibiotics directly into TB-infected cells (post)

Before the advent of antibiotics, an infected paper cut could be deadly. Now we can use antibiotics to treat bacterial meningitis, strep throat and even tuberculosis. However, unlike most antibiotic prescriptions, tuberculosis treatment requires a regime of three different antibiotics and takes between six months and a year. This type of prolonged exposure to antibiotics drives the development of antibiotic resistance.