New bacteriophage to help treat drug-resistant tuberculosis

Russian scientists have found and studied a new bacterial virus, mycobacteriophage Vic9.

Phages penetrate bacterial cells, destroy them from the inside, simultaneously multiplying and forming a new generation of viruses. However, they are usually directed at a single bacterial species or even a strain of the pathogen (a strain is a variant with special properties). This makes the phages safe for the patient and his normal microflora.

Researchers from the Lopukhin Federal Scientific and Clinical Center for Physico-Chemical Medicine of the Russian Federal Medical Academy of Sciences isolated Vic9 from soil samples using the bacterium Mycobacterium smegmatis. This microorganism is often used in research because it is genetically close to tuberculosis bacillus, but it is safe for humans.

The method of cumulative cultures was used to obtain the bacteriophage. The selected culture was added to a solution containing virus particles from nature, but purified from all microorganisms. This allowed only phages targeting this bacterium to multiply, including Vic9.

"In addition to Vic9, we identified about 20 more phages, including those that demonstrate high activity against tuberculosis bacillus. We plan to use the developed system of methods for their detailed research and replenishment of our collection. Tuberculosis pathogens are also capable of becoming resistant to standard therapy. We want to investigate how phages will affect mycobacteria in such protected conditions," said Egor Shitikov, a participant in the study and head of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Microorganisms at the Lopukhin National Research Center for Physico-Chemical Medicine.

The bacterial virus Vic9 was the first representative of this group found in Eurasia. Other similar phages were previously isolated only in USA and Brazil.