Bacteria are not stupid. In fact, they have a nasty habit of outwitting the scientists who develop drugs to combat them.
But with the help of a $1 million grant from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, researchers here are poised to begin fighting a smarter war against diseases caused by bacteria such as E. coli by combining nanotechnology – a field this university has been a consistent leader in – with microbiology.
“The Deutsch grant will allow us to pursue this research at a very substantial rate,” said Dr. Gary W. Rubloff, Director of the Maryland Center for Integrated Nano Science and Engineering “I think we are definitely on the cutting edge of this.”
The Nano-Bio Initiative, as it is called, focuses on using nanotechnology – which is the science of working with materials on an extraordinarily small scale – to test drugs that could disrupt the enzymes that allow bacteria to communicate and release toxins.
Scientists and engineers are taking aim at the communication networks that allow bacteria to coordinate and poison the body, Bioengineering Director Dr. William Bently said, surpassing what he described as an outdated approach to dealing with bodily bacteria.
“When I learned microbiology, bacteria used to just respond to wherever they were and that was the way it was,” he said. “In fact, they actually secrete small signal molecules and there is communication between the bacteria.”
Due to a mutation that takes place, Bently said, bacteria has in some cases overcome traditional antibiotics and become more resistant. The drugs are often unable to overcome the mutation, he said.
In the last 50 years, antibiotics such as penicillin have saved countless lives since their development decades ago, but their widespread use has also sped the evolution of more versatile bacteria as they have become more antiquated.
“There’s a lot of antibiotic resistance out there,” Bently said. “We read about it every day.”
He said the drugs being tested as a part of the Nano-Bio Initiative will avoid breeding resistance in bacteria by targeting the enzymes that allow bacteria to talk to each other rather than the bacteria itself.
The effort has brought together a diverse group of researchers from the A. James Clark School of Engineering, the Maryland Biological Institute and the School of Pharmacy in Baltimore.
Researchers are also able to test for drugs that disrupt bacteria by tethering the enzymes they use for communication to microchips. In that process, the drug is exposed to the enzymes, a process that bypasses any need for animal or human testing.
“What’s really neat about it is that it’s not guesswork,” said Rubloff. “Usually when you talk about testing a drug on a disease, you’ve had some success with a drug and then you try the next drug. We can do all that just by looking at the biochemistry.”
Rubloff said he was especially impressed by the generosity of the grant that has allowed research to proceed: “It’s very exciting to see a private foundation investing in something that will benefit society,” he said.
The grant will also benefit the university by improving cooperation between different departments, Bently said.
“It catalyzes all sorts of activities that are on campus already,” he said. “There’s synergy going on and this is adding to that synergy.”
Contact reporter Andrew Vanacore at vanacoredbk@gmail.com
