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The University of Southampton
Medicine

New studies give insight into how to treat and prevent gonorrhoea

Published: 18 July 2018
Gonorrhoeae
Green Fluorescent Protein-N.gonorrhoeae (Green) binding to human endometrial cells (Red)

Research carried out at the University of Southampton has given new insight into the biology of the superbug Neisseria gonorrhoeae(gonococcus), the causative agent of the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea.

In a study published in PLOS Pathogens, postdoctoral researcher Dr Victoria Humbert identified two proteins called Ng_1063 and Adhesin Complex Protein (ACP) that are produced by gonococci and inhibit the function of human lysozyme (HL). HL is an important molecule that is part of the body’s normal defences and has the inherent ability to lyse bacteria. The production of Ng_1063 and ACP allows gonococci to evade killing by HL and thereby leads to bacterial colonization of the reproductive tract.

Targeting these proteins could be used as an antimicrobial therapy that would allow the body’s immune system to combat gonococci but also could be used as a vaccine antigen to prevent infection.

In another study by Dr Humbert, published in in Vaccine, a protein from the sister organism Neisseria meningitidis was found to produce antibodies that cross-reacted with gonococci and killed the pathogen in vitro. 

A third commentary paper has also been published in a special issue in Antibiotics (Basel) on research by Victoria Dolange, a visiting undergraduate student from Agro Paris Tech University, France. The paper describes the growing threat of gonococcal blindness and the potential use of a monoglyceride antimicrobial compound called monocaprin, which can kill gonococci within two minutes of contact.

Myron Christodoulides, who heads up the laboratory where the research was carried out, said: “Gonococci infects around 106 million people annually worldwide and the incidence is rising, encouraged by the emergence of strains that are increasingly resistant to antibiotics. The reality is that without new vaccines and antimicrobials, we may well be returning to ‘Victorian’ and pre-antibiotic times, when gonococcal infection was an untreatable disease and the compounds used to try and manage infection were not effective. These studies provide interesting insights into many aspects of the biology of Neisseria gonorrhoeaeand could make a significant contribution to potential new strategies to prevent and treat infections."

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