The research group of Professor Daisuke Hagiwara, Associate Professor Satoshi Watanabe, and Professor Katsuhiko Kamei of the Chiba University School of Medicine Research Center is to nullify the drug resistance mechanism of pathogenic fungi (molds) that cause severe lung infections by genetic mutation. Was successful for the first time.The research results were published in the English scientific journal "Scientific Report".It seems to be a momentum for the development of new drugs against drug-resistant bacteria.
According to Chiba University, it is a fungus called Aspergillus fumigatus that has nullified drug resistance, causing lung infections that can be fatal if treatment is delayed.Strains showing a system for antifungal drugs have been discovered in Europe, and this type of drug-resistant strain was also found in Japan in 2013, which poses a threat.
This drug-resistant strain has abnormally high expression of proteins targeted by antifungal drugs.Therefore, when the research group created a new strain in which the genes of factors involved in protein expression were disrupted, it was found that the sensitivity to antifungal drugs was 8 to 64 times higher than that of drug-resistant strains.With this increased sensitivity, antifungal drugs can be effective.
It is believed that drug-resistant fungi have already spread all over the world, but the drugs that can be used are limited and sufficient measures have not been taken.If a drug that inhibits the function of a factor involved in the expression of a targeted protein is developed, the effect of the antifungal drug will be dramatically enhanced, leading to the establishment of a treatment method when infected with resistant bacteria.
Furthermore, if this research is applied, it can be expected to be used as a countermeasure against phytopathogens that cause great damage to crops.
