New Enzyme To Arrest Bacterial Growth Discovered By CCMB Scientists
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New Enzyme To Arrest Bacterial Growth Discovered By CCMB Scientists

Center for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) Scientists has found a new enzyme which helps in breaking cell walls of bacteria and consequently, offers a potential for a new drug delivery route to arrest the anti-bacterial resistance through existing antibiotic drugs.

In a press conference held on Tuesday, CCMB Director Rakesh Mishra and Seniors scientist Manjula Reddy explained – that for research it is vital to understand how the cells grow in bacteria to comprehend the resistance to antibiotics that were currently available.

Scientists all around the world are trying to understand this phenomenon. Dr. Reddy Labs has been analyzing the way e.coli bacteria cells operate, split and grow to understand diseases like cholera, leprosy, tuberculosis and so on.

Dr. Reddy along with her research scholar Ch. Pavan Kumar has been working on how the cell governs the machinery to construct the cell wall in the first place, identified the players on the other side of the process and discovered that the mechanism or enzyme through which the cell regulates the growth of its wall.

Other bacteria, also, have the enzyme since the cell wall is fundamental for bacterial growth

and division. By blocking this ‘scissors’ enzyme’ from working – effective ways to target microbes can be figured out leading to the development of novel antibiotics.

In contrast, existing antibiotic drugs functions by targeting the last stages in cell development to block cell growth like penicillin that hits on the machinery that creates the cell wall – a mesh-like structure of sugars and peptides.

Dr. Mishra and Dr. Reddy Concluded that – The Research done till now is very innovative. Now further they have to find out the molecule of the enzyme endo-pepcidine and it needs to undergo drug trials to unravel a new mix of drugs to replace existing antibiotics though it’s tough to forecast a timeframe.

The above research by CCMB can be read at the latest issue of Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, USA.