Technologies

Background

In recent years, antimicrobial resistance has become a global health threat. Furthermore, infections from drug-resistant strains of the bacteriumStaphylococcus aureushave reached pandemic proportions.Staphylococcus aureusis the cause of most skin and soft tissue infections and it is becoming more resilient to antibiotics. Currently, the National Institutes of Allergy and Infection Diseases propose anti-virulence strategies to disarm bacteria to reduce pathogenesis, along with approaches to harness the host immune system to better fight infections. By disarming the bacterial pathogen, it has been proposed that infections could be managed without creating environmental pressure to develop resistance. However, there is presently a lack of small-molecule drug leads for such treatments.

There is a crucial need for small molecules that inhibit bacterial virulence in order to limit pathogenesis. A vast majority of pathogenic bacteria use a communication system called quorum sensing to coordinate gene expression. InStaphylococcus aureus, quorum sensing is regulated by the accessory regulator gene (agr) operon, which controls virulence factor production leading to invasive infection. Therefore, pathogenesis in the host system can be limited by targeting the agr system, thus disrupting quorum sensing and virulence factor expression.

Technology Description

University of New Mexico researchers, along with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the University of Iowa have identified compounds that inhibitStaphylococcus aureusquorum sensing in an animal model. These compounds can be a prophylaxis and treatment ofStaphylococcus aureusinfections, wound infections and pneumonia, through limiting progression and clinical signs of infection.

About STC.UNM

As the technology-transfer and economic-development organization for the University of New Mexico, STC.UNM protects and commercializes technologies developed at the University of New Mexico (UNM) by filing patents and copyrights and transferring the technologies to the marketplace. We connect the business communication (companies, entrepreneurs and investors) to these UNM technologies for licensing opportunities and the creation of startup companies. Visit www.stc.unm.edu.