Study discovers enzyme that may prevent streptococci infection

Washington: Researchers have found an enzyme that could prevent a deadly streptococci infection that causes around 500,000 deaths worldwide each year.
Group A Streptococcus can lead to illnesses such as strep throat, scarlet fever, sepsis, and toxic shock syndrome as well as several long-term autoimmune diseases with high mortality rates.
Working with colleagues at the University of Edinburgh and the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Dundee researchers found an enzyme that is required to produce a carbohydrate on the surface of the streptococcal bacterium which enables it to infect humans and animals.
The team, led by Dr Helge Dorfmueller, is based in the Division of Molecular Microbiology at the University’s School of Life Sciences. Their research reveals new opportunities to inhibit this enzyme and, ultimately, fight Group A Streptococcus infections.
The fact this enzyme works through a novel mechanism of action that can also be found in other streptococcal species increases the impact and relevance of this finding.
“Strep throat is the most common Group A Streptococcus infection and can often be fought by the body’s immune system. Unfortunately, the very same bacterium also causes a plethora of severe and potentially fatal illnesses, such as sepsis and toxic shock syndrome,” said Dr Dorfmueller.