Contents
09 March 2016
Vol 8, Issue 329
Vol 8, Issue 329
Contents
Focus
- Lost: Young Canadian physician-scientists need a map
The termination of dedicated funding for integrated MD-PhD trainees has left biomedical researchers to question the future of physician-scientists in Canada.
Perspective
- Back to the future: Rethinking global control of tuberculosis
If the ultimate goal of controlling an infectious disease is to interrupt transmission, the current global TB strategy is not succeeding.
Research Articles
- Staphylococcus aureus α toxin potentiates opportunistic bacterial lung infections
S. aureus α toxin promotes opportunistic co-infection, which can be neutralized with a pathogen-specific antibody.
- TarO-specific inhibitors of wall teichoic acid biosynthesis restore β-lactam efficacy against methicillin-resistant staphylococci
New inhibitors of wall teichoic acid biosynthesis restore susceptibility of drug-resistant staphylococci to β-lactam antibiotics.
- Two-mAb cocktail protects macaques against the Makona variant of Ebola virus
A two–monoclonal antibody cocktail protects nonhuman primates against Ebola virus 3 days after lethal exposure.
- Development of a prosaposin-derived therapeutic cyclic peptide that targets ovarian cancer via the tumor microenvironment
A cyclic prosaposin-derived peptide targets ovarian cancer cells through the fatty acid translocase CD36.
Editors' Choice
- Point-of-care breast cancer diagnosis biochip
A biochip discriminates benign from malignant tissue by measuring mechanical, electrical, and thermal tissue properties.
- The case against Zika virus
What case reports tell us—and don’t tell us—about Zika virus and birth defects.
- Planting the right seeds
Hormone-producing cells from the stomach can be reprogrammed to secrete insulin and partly reverse diabetes in mice.
- Roots and routes of resistance
Drug-resistant cancer cells can both preexist and evolve from drug-tolerant cells; the path to resistance impacts response to additional treatment.
About The Cover
ONLINE COVER Another Brick in the Wall. Compounds called tarocins block the first step in the biosynthesis of techoic acid, a key component of the bacterial cell wall. In the face of loss of this crucial building brick, bacterial defense against β-lactam antibiotics crumbles such that even methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus succumbs to attack by these antibacterial drugs (Lee et al.) Although tarocins do not themselves have bactericidal activity, they provide a powerful boost to bacterial killing when combined with traditional β-lactam antibiotics, opening up a new avenue in the fight against bacterial infection. [CREDIT: M. ANGELO/CORBIS]
