出版日期：2014年6月23日

　　自然期刊的新研究揭示了包裹著耐藥性細菌細胞的防御屏障的唯一致命弱點。

　　The findings pave the way for a new wave of drugs that kill superbugs by bringing down their defensive walls rather than attacking the bacteria itself. It means that in future, bacteria may not develop drug-resistance at all.

　　這項研究為新一波的藥物鋪平道路，通過瓦解它們的防御墻而不是攻擊細菌本身殺死超級細菌。這意味著，在未來，細菌根本不會出現耐藥性。

　　Outer membrane

　　外膜

　　Researchers investigated a class of bacteria called 'Gram-negative bacteria' which is particularly resistant to antibiotics because of its cells' impermeable lipid-based outer membrane. This outer membrane acts as a defensive barrier against attacks from the human immune system and antibiotic drugs. It allows the pathogenic bacteria to survive, but removing this barrier causes the bacteria to become more vulnerable and die. Until now little has been known about exactly how the defensive barrier is built. The new findings reveal how bacterial cells transport the barrier building blocks (called lipopolysaccharides) to the outer surface.

　　研究人員研究一種稱為“革蘭氏陰性菌”的細菌，這種細菌尤其能對抗生素產生抗性，因為它有脂質的不透水的細胞外膜。這種外膜作為對抗來自于人類免疫系統和和抗生素藥物攻擊的防御屏障。它可以讓致病細菌生存，但是，消除這一障礙會導致細菌變得更加脆弱和死亡。到現在為止，對于防御屏障如何建成的確切信息仍然甚少。這些新的發現揭示了細菌細胞如何將屏障構建塊(稱為脂多糖)運輸到細胞外表面。

　　Current antibiotics are useless

　　當前的抗生素是無效的

　　Group leader Prof Changjiang Dong, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "We have identified the path and gate used by the bacteria to transport the barrier building blocks to the outer surface. Importantly, we have demonstrated that the bacteria would die if the gate is locked. This is really important because drug-resistant bacteria is a global health problem. Many current antibiotics are becoming useless, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year".

　　研究組組長、東英吉利大學的諾維奇醫學院董長江教授說：“我們已經確定了細菌細胞將屏障構建塊運輸到細胞外表面所使用的通路和閘門。重要的是，我們已經證明，如果閘門被鎖住，這個細菌一定會死。” “這是非常重要的，因為耐藥性細菌是一個全球性的健康問題。目前許多抗生素都變得一無是處，每年造成數百萬人死亡。”

　　Antibiotic use in animals

　　動物使用的抗生素

　　Antibiotic use in livestock is often named as the main reason for antibiotic resistance bacteria and hence the problems caused for human health. Antibiotics in general must be used judiciously in animals and humans because both uses contribute to the emergence, persistence, and spread of resistant bacteria. Livestock may serve as a reservoir of resistant pathogens and resistance mechanisms that can directly or indirectly result in antibiotic resistant infections in humans, but also the use of antibiotics in humans are causing the worldwide increase of resistant bacteria.

　　家畜中使用的抗生素被認為是抗生素耐藥菌產生的主要原因，它可引發人類的健康問題。一般來說抗生素必須明智地使用到動物和人身上，因為這兩個應用都會引發耐藥性細菌的發育、持留和蔓延。家畜可能是耐藥性病原體和耐藥性機制的“蓄積地”，它可直接或間接地引發人體的耐抗生素疾病，但是人類使用抗生素也會提高全球耐藥性細菌的增長。

　　This research was funded by Wellcome Trust. Research collaborators included the University of St Andrews, Dr of Diamond Light Source (UK), Dr from the University of Oxford, and Prof Wenjan Wang of Sun Yat-sen University (China).

　　本研究由惠康基金會贊助。研究的合作者包括圣安德魯大學的，英國“鉆石光源”(Diamond Light Source)的Neil Paterson博士，牛津大學的Phillip Stansfield博士，以及中山大學（中國）的王文建教授。

　　來源: Sciencedaily.com

　　譯者：畜牧人編輯IRIS