Bacterial enzymes blueprint- Scientists at the Trinity College Dublin, researches to produce the first detailed bacterial enzyme blueprint. The team calls it “Lit (lipoproteins intramolecular transacylase)”, and they say that these enzymes play a major role in weakening the immune response. And it further worsens the disease spread. But with the help of this discovery, medical science is expected to deal with the dreaded antibiotic resistance in a better way. Now, antibiotic resistance is one of the main causes of a large number of deaths every year. Unusual, irregular, frequent, and unmonitored intake of antibiotics lead to antibacterial resistance. This causes the bacteria to develop resistance against a particular drug and thus it gets tough to control bacterial growth even with broad-spectrum antibiotics.
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Bacterial enzymes blueprint: What are lipoproteins and Lit?
Lipoproteins make an important part of a bacterial cell for their survival in many ways. They also interfere with the human immune response mechanism only to let the bacteria flourish more. But the team that consists of Martin Caffrey, the senior researcher of the study along with his colleagues, has developed an understanding of how the Lit works at the molecular level. And they have used a strong combination of analytical techniques, molecular simulations, and quantum mechanics to know its functioning at the molecular level. They used commonly found bacteria Bacillus cereus as a sample to know such insights. And are thus hopeful that deeper analysis of the given data sets will help medical science. It will inhibit the lit functioning and also fight bacterial resistance.
Martin quotes:
That, “We believe Lit is very likely a virulence factor, negatively impacting host immune response to infection. As such, it could well turn out to be an important target for the development of critically needed antibiotics. And against which resistance is much less likely to evolve. And it is no exaggeration to say that antibiotic resistance poses a genuine, growing threat to our society.”
