Invention could help overcome developmental stagnation of antibiotics due to antimicrobial resistance
Chennai:
If you’re among those who believes toxicity and good health can never go together, you could be in for a pleasant surprise as researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur have found an anti-microbial disinfectant from one of the most toxic substances in the world – snake venom.
The scientists at IITJ have conceptualized, designed, and synthesized an antimicrobial peptide molecule SP1V3_1 that can kill gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria like E. coli, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, and MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). The peptide was also found to promote wound healing in the murine model and prevent on-site post-surgical infections by MRSA.
According to a release, the strategy adopted in developing the peptide was to gradually reduce toxicity of the snake venom without losing its anti-microbial property. Thus, they truncated the snake venom peptide and eliminated the toxic part of venom.
Why is this important?
Bacterial antibiotic resistance is a prevailing global menace that scientists are grappling with globally. Most naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides have varying hydrophobicities and charge compositions, limiting their use as human therapeutic molecules despite their potent bacteria-killing ability.
This invention, however, takes care of two major problems: Firstly, the non-specific nature of the membranolytic ability of the peptides gives the bacteria very little chance to generate resistance against it, and going further, it also has a broad spectrum of activity i.e., it can effectively kill both gram-negative and gram-positive organisms like E. coli, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, and MRSA, maintaining good biocompatibility.
Snake venom used to develop antimicrobial, wound-healing medicine
People behind this invention
Researchers at IIT Jodhpur, Dr. Surajit Ghosh, Professor, Department of Bioscience & Bioengineering and Smart Healthcare Department along with Dr. Samya Sen, Mr. Ramkamal Samat, Dr. Moumita Jash, Mr. Satyajit Ghosh, Mr. Rajsekhar Roy, Ms. Nabanita Mukherjee, Mr. Surojit Ghosh and Dr. Jayita Sarkar have published this paper in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01150?urlappend=%3Fref%3DPDF&jav=VoR&rel=cite-as)
Speaking on the end application of the invention, Dr. Surajit Ghosh, Professor, Department of Bioscience & Bioengineering and Smart Healthcare Department, IIT Jodhpur, said, “In the era of developmental stagnation of antibiotics due to the ever-increasing problem of antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial peptides are exciting leads in the development of novel biocidal agents. The invented antimicrobial peptide holds the potential to be developed into a marketable pharmaceutical product, as and when it passes the requisite trials.”
“In the era of developmental stagnation of antibiotics due to the ever-increasing problem of antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial peptides are exciting leads in the development of novel biocidal agents. The invented antimicrobial peptide holds the potential to be developed into a marketable pharmaceutical product, as and when it passes the requisite trials.”
While snake bites continue to be among the leading causes of death in rural and semi-rural India even in this day age and the reptile among the most feared animal species, snake venom has, for decades now, been considered a natural biological resource containing several components that have potential therapeutic value. They have been largely used in ayurveda, homeopathy and even western medicine.
It is well known that snake venom is a complex mixture of peptides, enzymes and various proteins with rare chemical and biological properties. Snake venom contains several neurotoxic, cardiotoxic, cytotoxic, nerve growth factor, lectins, disintrigrins, haemorrhagins and many other different enzymes which, while have the potency to inflict death, could also be harnessed for treatment of thrombosis, arthritis, cancer and several other other diseases. Researchers at IIT Jodhpur have now taken this a step further with their peptide SP1V3_1.