
‘Stealth bomb’ antibiotic vanquishes drug-resistant bacteria in mice - DrScump
http://www.nature.com/news/stealth-bomb-antibiotic-vanquishes-drug-resistant-bacteria-1.18696
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Cogito
This is a new technique for me, very interesting!

 _Genentech... borrowed a concept used in cancer treatment, in which an
antibody — a protein designed to attach to particular cells — is connected to
a cancer-fighting drug.

Sanjeev Mariathasan, an immunologist at Genentech, and a large team of co-
workers adapted this strategy — which they tested in mouse cells — by gluing
an antibody against Staphylococcus aureus (Staph) bacteria to an antibiotic, a
modified version of the drug rifampin, which is used to treat tuberculosis_

They start with two ineffective drugs, an antibody that needs to be used in
very localised locations to work (like inside a cell), and an antibiotic that
can bind to the bacteria in any location in the body but is not effective at
killing the bacteria by itself.

They glue these two together in a way that still enables the antibiotic to
bind to the bacteria and travel along with it wherever it goes. Once the
entire group enters a cell, enzymes within the cell break the connection
between antibiotic and antibody, releasing the antibody into an environment
that it is effective within.

Extremely interesting stuff, hopefully they have success applying it to the
relevant cells etc in humans.

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nonbel
Figure 2f and "Extended Data" figure 3a show dose responses to the Rifampicin
and Rifalogue antibiotics. These are INSANELY steep dose response curves. Can
anyone explain what the mechanism of these compounds is supposed to be?

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skosuri
Wow, lots of moving parts, but it seems to work great. Actual paper here:
[http://rdcu.be/eHrW](http://rdcu.be/eHrW)

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hamiltonsPple
What a waste of time and money when we've had the solution all along: its in
9th Century Anglo-Saxon literature!!!!

[http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-
nottinghamshire-32117815](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-
nottinghamshire-32117815)

</sarcasm>

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pazimzadeh
I think there's at typo:

 _" First, the antibiotic component docks onto Staph bacteria that are
floating freely in the mouse's body."_

should probably be "the antibody component"

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stephengillie
IANAMD, how does a TB drug help against Staph?

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mikeyouse
The Microbiology 101 version:

Bacterial infections are broadly categorized into two classifications based on
their cell wall, Gram Positive and Gram Negative. Very generally, if you know
what type of infection you're treating (Gram+ or Gram-), you can prescribe a
class of antibiotics that works on that type of bacteria. In this broad
classification, Staph and TB can be treated with similar drugs.

More specifically the drug in question, Rifampin, targets a specific RNA
binding site that both Staph and TB use to replicate themselves. By inhibiting
this binding site, the bacteria stop reproducing and your immune system can
fight off the infection.

