NIH Grant for Researching New Antibiotics
Widespread problems of Salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7 are not only rooted in food safety. There have also been issues lately with the treatment of infections due to these and other pathogens. More and more strains are becoming resistant to traditional antibiotics, bringing the need for new drugs and treatments to the forefront of the issue. The National Institutes of Health has awarded the University of Texas Southwestern a $6.5 million grant to explore new treatments to combat a variety of pathogens.
Current antibiotics are developed to attack the process of DNA replication in bacteria, or protein synthesis, or cell wall synthesis. UT Southwestern is researching another area.
“We are investigating a new target area in bacteria that appears to be vulnerable to a small molecule that has never before been used as a drug,” said Dr. Vanessa Sperandio, associate professor of microbiology and principal investigator on the new grant. “The drug compound has shown promise in fighting at least three different bacterial species including Salmonella, E. coli and Francisella tularensis, which causes tularemia.”
Sperandio also says that the five-year grant will allow her research to be ready at the preclinical level. Early tests have been positive, but only further research will determine if the treatment can be used to treat human disease. The research focuses on how bacteria like E. coli communicate biochemically inside the body, especially among good and bad strains for human health. The research also targets any signals E. coli 0157:H7 sends that would trigger disease.