{"61483":{"#nid":"61483","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Technique Identifies Best Enzymes for Attacking Superbugs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith the worrying rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs like MRSA, scientists from a wide range of disciplines are teaming up to identify alternative therapies to keep them at bay.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOne long-considered solution is the use of lytic enzymes, which attack bacteria by piercing their cell walls.  Lytic enzymes are proteins that are naturally present in viruses, bacteria and in body fluids such as tears, saliva and mucus.  However, until now, largely ad-hoc methods have been used to calculate the enzymes\u0027 killing abilities.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENew research published October 4, 2010 in IOP Publishing\u2019s \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Biology\u003C\/em\u003E by scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Maryland describes a pioneering method that can identify lytic enzymes for optimum bacteria killing characteristics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 1923, five years before discovering penicillin and laying the path for the development of antibiotics, Alexander Fleming had already noticed that a substance in mucus samples, lytic enzymes, could kill bacteria.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, the success of antibiotics left the development of this finding in the shadows.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith the rise of antibiotic resistant superbugs, partially a result of antibiotics being a \u0027one-size-fits-all\u0027 therapy, Fleming\u0027s early discovery has been reinvigorated and lytic enzymes are back in the spotlight.  Encouragingly, most lytic enzymes kill only a limited range of bacteria, unlike antibiotics, which allows researchers to target superbugs while potentially leaving beneficial bacteria intact.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo identify the bacteria-killing characteristics of lytic enzymes, Georgia Tech School of Biology assistant professor Joshua Weitz and graduate student Gabriel Mitchell teamed up with Daniel Nelson, an assistant professor in the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, to identify, on a microscopic scale, the rate at which these enzymes pierce cell walls leading to bacterial death. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe piercing of cell walls can be fatal to bacteria because of a bacterium\u0027s internal pressure; the piercing is analogous to removing the wire on a shaken-up bottle of champagne. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022While lytic enzymes and their associated antimicrobial activity have been studied for decades, their use as therapeutics has only recently been investigated in detail,\u0022 explained Weitz. \u0022We measured the amount of light passing through a bacterial solution, in much the same way as astrophysicists use light measurements for far-away galaxies: to infer processes at a far different scale based on interpreting the information contained in the light coming from them.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy measuring how lytic enzymes chemically clear a cloudy solution of living bacteria, the team was able to predict the cell level processes underlying bacterial death.  In doing so, the researchers used the mathematical theory of inverse problems to overcome technical challenges in quantifying, for the first time, the microscopic killing properties of lytic enzymes.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team was also able to estimate the extent to which genetically identical bacteria may be differentially susceptible to death via lytic enzymes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We believe we have taken the first step down a road which will allow us to identify more enzymes, choose those with the best activity, and engineer even higher activity, to develop an effective therapy against a wide range of dangerous superbugs,\u0022 added Weitz. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers hope their quest will result in \u0022push button technology\u0022 to hasten the development of engineered enzymes for clinical use.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E Joshua Weitz (jsweitz@gatech.edu; 404-385-6169)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Joe Winters\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew research published Oct. 4 in IOP Publishing\u0027s Physical Biology by scientists from Georgia Tech and the University of Maryland describes a pioneering method that can identify lytic enzymes for optimum bacteria-killing characteristics.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New method identifies lytic enzymes for optimum bacteria killing."}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2010-10-05 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:34","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-10-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-10-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"61484":{"id":"61484","type":"image","title":"Joshua Weitz Biology","body":null,"created":"1449176337","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:57","changed":"1475894536","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:16","alt":"Joshua Weitz Biology","file":{"fid":"191366","name":"tol85505.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tol85505_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tol85505_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1079558,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tol85505_0.jpg?itok=eU6SL6-5"}},"61485":{"id":"61485","type":"image","title":"Joshua Weitz","body":null,"created":"1449176337","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:57","changed":"1475894536","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:16","alt":"Joshua Weitz","file":{"fid":"191367","name":"tet85505.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tet85505_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tet85505_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":809910,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tet85505_0.jpg?itok=QjiTlAuL"}}},"media_ids":["61484","61485"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1088\/1478-3975\/7\/4\/046002","title":"Physical Biology journal article"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/people\/index.php?id=joshua-weitz","title":"Joshua Weitz"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Biology"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7077","name":"bacteria"},{"id":"7735","name":"enzyme"},{"id":"1112","name":"MRSA"},{"id":"171030","name":"superbug"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}