Killer Weapons

A group of researchers from the University of Michigan, in collaboration with colleagues from Harvard University, studied the specific mechanism of action of T-lymphocytes that destroy bacteria.

There is a difference between how immune cells destroy bacteria and how antibiotics do it. While the latter affect only one process in a bacterial cell, T-lymphocytes simultaneously affect a whole group of processes.

T-killers (cytotoxic lymphocytes) are a type of T–lymphocytes that kill microorganisms through the enzyme granzyme-B synthesized by them. Exactly how this enzyme causes cell death was not completely clear.

Methods of proteomics (a section of biology devoted to proteins and their functions) and computer modeling allowed researchers to observe granzyme-B in action. They studied the attack of T-killers on three different pathogens: Mycobacterium (the causative agent of tuberculosis), E. coli and listeria.

It was found that granzyme-B disrupts the synthesis of some proteins, denatures others, inhibits the production of enzymes necessary for bacteria to exist, thus triggering a multi-stage process of cell death. The resistance of bacteria to granzyme-B has not been formed for several generations.

Granzyme-B affects several vital processes of the bacterial cell at once.

Currently, the authors of the article are engaged in a deeper study of the reaction of bacteria to granzyme-B and the possible formation of protective mechanisms against it.

The study opens up a lot of opportunities for the development of new methods of antibacterial therapy, from the creation of completely new drugs to the addition of existing antibacterial drugs with granzyme-B molecules.

In light of the growing problem of antibiotic resistance of microorganisms, this study is more relevant than ever, because according to forecasts, 10 million people will die from infectious diseases annually by 2050 if approaches to antibacterial therapy do not change.

Article by Farokh Dotiwala et al. Granzyme B Disrupts Central Metabolism and Protein Synthesis in Bacteria to Promote an Immune Cell Death Program published in the journal Cell.

Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru according to The Michigan Engineer News Center: Closest look yet at killer T-cell activity could yield a new approach to tackling antibiotic resistance.