Researchers from the Hebrew University deciphered the initial stages leading to the development of the increased violence of the predatory bacteria
The bacterium "streptococcus pyogenes" is responsible every year for hundreds of millions of cases of throat infections and skin rashes, relatively minor diseases that pass on their own or disappear after the administration of antibiotics. But when the same bacterium penetrates soft tissues and the bloodstream, it is capable of causing serious and life-threatening infections, such as "toxic shock syndrome", which causes a rapid drop in blood pressure and multisystem damage, and "predator bacterium syndrome" which manifests itself in the rapid destruction of the soft tissues.
He did not know what turns the streptococcus from a bacterium that lives with us in relative peace into a particularly deadly agent that manages to spread in our bodies in an unstoppable way and cause 25% mortality among the 650,000 people who suffer from its violent version every year in the world. Now Prof. Emanuel Hansky together with research student Moshe Baruch and the laboratory team in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics in the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University have succeeded in deciphering how the streptococcus succeeds with quite a bit of sophistication in turning itself into a deadly poison. The discovery paves the way for the development of medical treatment to prevent the serious infectious diseases caused by the bacterium when it penetrates soft tissues and the bloodstream. The "Yishom" company, the research development company of the Hebrew University, is looking for commercial partners to continue the development of the invention.
The team of researchers showed that in the first stages of the bacterial infection, a molecular dialogue takes place between the bacteria and the body cells in which it settled. In order to create a supportive environment for himself that will help him spread and grow stronger, the bacterium injects into the cells toxins known as streptolysins, which disrupt the activity of the system that is responsible for controlling the correct folding of proteins in the cells. As a result, the production of the amino acid asparagine is increased in the cells, which the bacterium uses to make itself more virulent and to increase the rate of its spread in the human body.
In order to prevent the spread of the bacterium, the researchers used an enzyme called asparaginase that breaks down asparagine and is currently used as a medicine against several types of cancer, which indeed prevented the spread of the bacterium after it entered the blood. The researchers registered a patent for the discovery through the technology commercialization arm of the Hebrew University "Yishom" in the hope that revealing the mechanism will lead to the development of effective treatments against invasive streptococcal infections.
According to Prof. Hansky, "In its normal state, this bacterium does not possess sufficient abilities to overcome the body's defense mechanisms, but it is sophisticated enough to change the metabolism of the cells so that they eventually lead to its strengthening. Furthermore, it manages to act gently enough so that on the one hand it manages to cause a small but controlled damage to the cells, which allows it to then use up its full pathogenic potential." The research findings were published this week in the prestigious journal CELL.
