The NDM-1 Gene Makes Bacteria Antibiotic Resistant

In this article, The NDM-1 Gene Makes Bacteria Antibiotic Resistant, we discuss how Scientists have discovered a gene that allows bacteria to resist antibiotics and give links to more information and sources.

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The NDM-1 Gene Makes Bacteria Antibiotic Resistant

This is a summary of an article from the Argonne National Laboratory one of the US Department of Energies largest and most famous laboratories. You can read the original article in its entirety by clicking on this link:The NDM-1 Gene Makes Bacteria Antibiotic Resistant

The NDM-1 Gene Makes Bacteria Antibiotic Resistant Must Know Summary:

In a just released study a team of scientists led by Andrzej Coachman, an Argonne Distinguished Fellow who co-authored the study, along with colleagues at the Midwest Center for Structural Genomics and Texas A&M University, identified a gene called NDM-1. The gene codes for a protein that latches onto part of the antibiotic molecule: the β-lactam ring that gives the family its name. The rings are rigid, and once they break apart, the antibiotic is useless. "That's why bacteria with NDM-1 genes are so deadly,” explained Andrzej Joachimiak, an Argonne Distinguished Fellow who co-authored the study.

The study, "Structure of Apo- and Monometalated Forms of NDM-1—A Highly Potent Carbapenem-Hydrolyzing Metallo-β-Lactamase”, was funded by the National Institutes of Health and has been published online in the journal PLoS ONE.

The team managed to capture the NDM-1 enzyme in three different states. They found that NDM-1's active site, where it latches onto the antibiotic, is abnormally enormous, and flexible—like a mouth that is so large that it can capture the rings from a dozen different antibiotics, no matter their shape.

Decoding the structure allows scientists and companies to study the molecule for weaknesses: places where the structure could be attacked to disrupt its function. Joachimiak and the team are already beginning another study to test one way to neutralize the enzyme.

The NDM-1 Gene Makes Bacteria Antibiotic Resistant – Background

β-lactam antibiotics are the most widely used antibacterials in the world because they effectively kill bacteria, but are minimally toxic to human cells—which means they have few side effects. But 1999 sounded the end of the reign of β-lactams. That year, a patient died in a Swedish hospital from an infection that didn't respond to antibiotics.

Penicillin was the original β-lactam, but as bugs evolved to fight it, scientists developed an entire family of related antibiotics, including amoxicillin, cephalexin and imipenem. The drugs work by blocking the bacteria's cell walls from growing normally. The latest class, called carbapenems, is generally held as the last line of defense against the toughest drug-resistant infections, like MRSA.

But bugs resistant even to carbapenems have begun spreading across the world, and they can trade this ability not only among each other but to other species of bacteria as well.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations,

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