( UCL scientists have found a protein tha...)Protein discovery could unlock the secret to better TB treatment

UCL scientists have found a protein that could unlock the secret to quicker, more effective treatment of TB by waking TB bacteria in the body. Once the TB bacteria are active again, the disease becomes treatable using common drugs like antibiotics. Scientists believe that uncovering the molecular structure of this protein will lead the way to designing drugs which enable treatment of dormant and multidrug resistant TB.

In England and Wales around 400 people die each year from the disease. The top challenge for TB control in the European region is multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). Eight per cent of the bacteria causing TB in patients are resistant to one or more drugs and one per cent show multidrug resistance. Left untreated, a person with infectious TB of the lungs infects around 10 to 15 people every year.

In a study published on 1st March 2005 in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, a combined team discovered the structure of a protein known as resuscitation promoting factor (Rpf). Five versions of the Rpf protein exist in TB bacteria. The paper's unveiling of the molecular structure of Rpf could be crucial to the treatment of TB in the future.

Dr John Ward, Dept of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UCL, said: "The discovery of Rpf in the TB bacteria could allow the development of methods to 'wake-up' all dormant bacteria in a patient allowing antibiotics to kill the bacteria and cure the disease."

The team includes Prof Brian Henderson at the UCL Eastman Dental Institute, Nicholas Keep from Birkbeck, University of London, and John Ward at UCL as well as researchers from INSERM Montpellier.

'"/>

Source:University College London


Page: 1
Related biology news :

1. Quantum Dots Research Leads to New Knowledge about Protein Binding in Plants
2. Researchers Uncover Key Step In Manufacture of Memory Protein
3. An HIV Protein Plays a Surprising Role in Gene Activation
4. Protein Packages Found To Activate Genes; May Be What Regulates Development And Disease
5. New SARS Protein Linked To Important Cell Doorway
6. The Shapes Of Life: NIGMS Project Yields More Than 1,000 Protein Structures
7. PANTHER Protein Classification System Database 5.0
8. Duke Chemists Isolating Individual Molecules Of Toxic Protein In Alzheimers, Parkinsons Disease
9. Newly Discovered Compound Blocks Known Cancer-Causing Protein
10. UF Researchers Map Bacterial Proteins That Cause Tooth Loss
11. Protein offers way to stop microscopic parasites in their tracks