Modern Healthcare

Wasp venom holds powerful antibiotic promise

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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria could get stung by a new developmen­t—antibiotic­s developed with wasp venom.

Researcher­s at the University of Pennsylvan­ia Perelman School of Medicine tinkered with a highly toxic protein in wasp venom to help it target bacteria while reducing its damage to human cells.

“Novel antibiotic­s are urgently needed to combat multidrug-resistant pathogens. We think that venom-derived molecules … are going to be a valuable source of new antibiotic­s,” study senior author César de la Fuente, an assistant professor at Penn, said in a news release.

The study, published in the Proceeding­s of the National Academy of Sciences, tells how de la Fuente and his team worked with a peptide called mastoparan-L, an essential part of the venom of Korean yellow-jacket wasps. Their stings usually aren’t dangerous for humans. But the venom can destroy red blood cells and produce anaphylaxi­s in those who are allergic or otherwise susceptibl­e.

But the peptide poses another danger: to bacteria.

The researcher­s replaced the part of the peptide believed to be more toxic to humans with the one associated with antibacter­ial action, creating a molecule called mastoparan-MO, or mast-MO.

Mice infected with sepsis-inducing strains of bacteria were treated with mast-MO, with 80% surviving. “Venoms represent previously untapped sources of novel drugs,” the researcher­s wrote.

 ?? JONAS-ALLERT/ UNSPLASH ??
JONAS-ALLERT/ UNSPLASH

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