Researchers identified a shared enzyme that Escherichia coli and Shigella bacteria use to breach the gut’s mucus layer, pointing toward potential treatments for diarrheal disease.
Targeting the enzyme could disrupt infection without broadly killing beneficial gut microbes. Diarrheal illnesses remain a major cause of childhood mortality in low-income countries.
Shigella and certain E. coli strains cause severe gastrointestinal illness through similar invasion strategies. Antibiotic resistance has made alternative therapeutic approaches increasingly important.
The work adds to growing interest in antivirulence drugs that disable pathogens rather than indiscriminate antibiotics.
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Sources:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/