Protein key in new uni TB vaccine

Advertisement

Research by scientists at Aberystwyth University could help develop a new tuberculosis vaccine

Ground-breaking research by scientists in Wales and Russia is being used to develop a new vaccine for tuberculosis.

Aberystwyth University and the Russian Academy of Sciences have been working in partnership for a decade.

Scientists discovered a new protein in humans in the late 1990s, which is now being developed to control bacteria which cause tuberculosis (TB).

Clinical trials are to begin in 2009 but a charity says it could be 10 years before it is available for general use.

TB kills 1.7m people each year, and there are concerns that the bacteria which causes it are becoming resistant to current drugs.

The only existing TB vaccine, Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), which was created in 1921, is only partially effective.

Our discovery... might help prevent the establishment of persistent infections in the first place Professor Mike Young

It is hoped the new vaccine will have more success treating sufferers, particularly in the developing world.

It could work in three ways.

Firstly, by activating the dormant TB allowing it to be treated with drugs. Secondly, by ensuring the bacteria stays dormant and finally by working as a traditional vaccine preventing the bacteria from establishing.

Professor Mike Young, of Aberystwyth's Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Studies, helped lead the research team in mid Wales.

He said: "Current TB treatments can go on for over six months and can still leave bacteria in the body that can cause the disease when they resume active growth and multiplication.

"Our discovery, which is now being developed into a vaccine, might help prevent the establishment of persistent infections in the first place or, alternatively, it might prevent persisting organisms in individuals with latent TB from reawakening at all.

"TB kills around 1.7m people around the world every year. I hope that our research will now be rapidly translated into a vaccine that can help as many of these people as possible."

'Positive sign'

Work started on the vaccine in the late 1990s, when researchers discovered a new family of proteins able to "resuscitate bacteria" found harmlessly in and around the human body.

When "awoken from dormancy" researchers found the TB bacteria were much more susceptible to attack from antibiotics.

The Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, which was founded to develop new, cost-effective TB vaccines for use in the developing world, has licensed the discovery of the protein.

The charity TB Alert said this was a "positive sign" but the organisation's chair Paul Sommerfeld warned that a vaccine was still a long way off.

"We're very happy that new work is being carried out, but there is a long period of testing, involving some three phases, and we're not expecting a new vaccine for about 10 years," he said.