Creating a mutation that inhibits how the bacterial pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes gonorrhea, a common sexually transmitted infection, could offer a new way to prevent and treat the disease, according to researchers in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.
The researchers found that generating a mutation in a key part of the outer membrane transporter that N. gonorrhoeae uses to hijack human immunity proteins and strip them of metals could help to prevent gonorrhea infection. The findings are published in the journal mBio.
Gonorrhea, which affects more than 80 million people worldwide each year, is a global threat to public health because of the increasing incidence of antimicrobial drug resistance, rising treatment costs and lack of a protective vaccine. Up to 80 percent of cases in women are asymptomatic, and if left untreated, gonorrhea can lead…
