Scientists from the Institute for Research in Innovation and Health at the University of Porto led by João Morais Cabral are developing strategies to combat disease-causing bacteria. They review the mechanisms of the bacteria that they want to attack without compromising the cells of the patients.
“We are investigating how bacteria use potassium, a key element in the life of all cells,” says Cabral. “We are examining cellular and molecular mechanisms to understand how this dissolved mineral is used inside and outside cells in bacteria and the mammalian body. The differences could be explored to combat antimicrobial resistant bacteria,†she explains.
Potassium is involved, for example, in how genetic material is packaged. Also in protein synthesis. Its main function is to transmit electrical impulses, as in nerve signals or muscle contraction. It also ensures that the volume of blood that circulates does not vary.
“Bacteria are much more flexible than mammals to variations in potassium inside and outside cells. They are endowed with a machinery that mammals lack, which allows them to survive drastic changes in the amount of potassium inside and outside their cellsâ€, explains Cabral. “This strength comes from a series of proteins that, if we knock them out, could make these microorganisms more vulnerable.”
Cabral and his team investigate which proteins are involved and what effect invalidating them has. “We hope that, in the future, the use of drugs against potassium-regulating molecules can prevent the scourge of lethal infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Perhaps future strategies do not involve only antibiotics, but more compounds that increase bacterial vulnerability to this type of drugâ€, declares Cabral.
