National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center researchers yesterday announced the discovery of a detox mechanism of typhoid bacteria, which allows the bacteria to repel antibiotics and develop drug resistance, while the findings could help develop medicine to inhibit drug resistance.
Researchers Chen Chun-jung (陳俊榮) and Jean Yuch-cheng (簡玉成) analyzed the structure of Salmonella enterica and discovered a channel-like structure on the bacteria’s membrane protein, which could capture antibiotics and toxins inside the bacteria and remove them via the channel structure.
The channel structure is 300,000 times narrower than a human hair, Chen said, adding that the team discovered it by subjecting the protein crystals — assemblages of protein cultivated for study by X-ray or other light sources — of the bacteria to synchrotron radiation at both the Taiwan Light Source synchrotron in Hsinchu City and the SPring-8 synchrotron in Harima, Japan.
The synchrotron is a type of particle accelerator that allows for the observation of atomic structure through a sustained beam of electromagnetic waves on different wavelengths brighter than that from an X-ray tube.
Twenty-one million new cases of typhoid fever and more than 200,000 deaths occur annually worldwide and antibiotic therapy is the major treatment for typhoid fever, while it often has limited effect due to the bacteria’s ability to “pump out” antibiotics, Chen said.
The same channel structure has also been discovered on other bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, which could cause serious food poisoning and post-surgery infections respectively, Chen said, adding that the team’s work could enable pharmaceutical companies to design drugs that block the channel to reduce the bacteria’s drug tolerance.
Traditional medicine development selects about 250 types of compounds from 5,000 to 10,000 kinds of small molecules for animal testing before narrowing down to less than 10 compounds for human trials, which generally take 15 years, as traditional X-ray devices take a day to analyze the atomic structure of a molecule, while the Taiwan Photon Source synchrotron in Hsinchu could lower the analysis time to 30 seconds and the entire development process to three weeks, Jean said.
“Over the past 18 years, there have been six Nobel Prizes awarded to scientists who use synchrotron in combination with protein crystallography to understand the structure of proteins. The Taiwan Photon Source synchrotron is expected to boost Taiwan’s number of Nobel Prize winners,” Jean said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
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