NIH grant to help UI team counter antibiotic resistance
A research effort in the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy aims to disrupt the ability of tuberculosis-causing bacteria to mutate and become ever more resistant to antibiotics. The project has been funded by a five-year, nearly $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
(Media-Newswire.com) - A research effort in the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy aims to disrupt the ability of tuberculosis-causing bacteria to mutate and become ever more resistant to antibiotics. The project has been funded by a five-year, nearly $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
The study's principal investigator is Robert Kerns, Ph.D., UI associate professor of medicinal and natural products chemistry. The goal is to develop novel inhibitors of certain proteins ( called topoisomerases ) in order to severely restrict the ability of the bacteria to mutate and become resistant.
There are now forms of tuberculosis, as well as other diseases, that are resistant to current drug treatments. Antibiotic resistance has been recognized for more than a decade as a major threat to public health worldwide, with patients dying from once-treatable infections and few new compounds in the drug pipeline.
While the UI effort is focused on tuberculosis, the findings might eventually help with efforts to develop improved antibiotics for other diseases.
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