In the last week Telethon Kids Institute has posted on their site, a research project titled: The use of naturally occurring small peptides (Phylomers) as penetrating peptides targeting Leishmania
The aim of the research is to use Phylomer cell penetrating peptides to target Leishmania parasites that invade human immune cells.
This Leishmania research has been running in different forms for a couple of years and imo it is still early days. What is very interesting is they are using Phylomer CPPs to get into human immune cells.
Late 2016 I posted an article Striking MRSA where it hides which explains Genentech's current focus to combat superbugs, by getting antibiotics to target bacteria hiding in human immune cells. Though we've been told very little by PYC, it's quite possible this is the focus of the Gen/PYC collaboration and imo this latest TKI project supports that possibly.
Here is an extract from the TKI research: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a severe skin disease afflicting millions of people in more than 60 countries. It is caused by infection with a parasite that invades the immune cells that are responsible for fighting infection leading to a chronic condition that can last for years. Current drug treatments are based on toxic heavy metals and often cause significant side effects in patients. Phylomers are small peptides derived from bacteria that can be used for a range of therapeutic purposes. This project utilized a process where millions of these naturally occurring peptides were tested to examine their ability to target and enter the parasite that causes this disease. Once specific peptides have been identified in this screening process they can be used to deliver very low doses of anti-leishmania molecules directly to the parasite avoiding the problems associated with current treatments of drug toxicity.
Here is an extract from the Gen article: It’s long been suspected that a small number of MRSA hides in a compartment of our own immune cells protected from antibiotics. The bacteria then use our own immune system as a “Trojan horse” to spread the infection after the course of antibiotics is over. The Nature paper finally proves this long-standing theory with elegant science. Importantly, the paper also describes a way to take advantage of this phenomenon to strike MRSA where it hides.
Inspired by work in oncology, the team developed a first-in-class antibody drug platform to deliver a potent antibiotic inside the human immune cell. In principle this approach could be applied to combat a variety of pathogens in addition to MRSA.
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