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The Oregon Translational Research and Drug Development Institute (OTRADI) announced today that it has experimentally tested and identified a significant number of biological compounds with previously unknown abilities to block more than 75 percent of the growth of some fungi, parasites that cause malaria, and some bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus (Staph A) and Escherichia (E coli). Oregon’s newest laboratory achieved these results in its first six weeks of operation.
“This is a significant milestone for Oregon and for this research collaboration; we didn’t expect such a high number of positive experiments and such success at this early stage of OTRADI,” said Robert Monaghan, executive director of OTRADI. “The novel compound identification provides investigators with new leads for infectious disease treatment compounds to meet global health needs.”
Several Oregon university-based researchers provided nearly 200 natural and synthetic chemicals to OTRADI’s research and testing team. Many of these chemical compounds had never been tested for their ability to kill organisms that cause infectious diseases. OTRADI “screened” each of the chemicals for anti-malarial, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activity. More than 10,000 blinded tests were completed in a high technology, high-throughput process at the OTRADI lab. The results showed that 28 of the novel compounds had never-before revealed properties as effective anti-malarial treatments. In addition, 21 of the compounds screened by OTRADI had novel anti-bacterial or anti-fungal activity. The number of effective anti-bacterial and anti-fungal responses is expected to increase, as more screens are yet to be completed and verified.
“Malaria is one of the most common and deadly infectious diseases in the world, yet it is also one of the most under-studied,” said Jennifer Fox, Ph.D., OTRADI’s cell biologist and test team leader. “By testing a large number of compounds for anti-malarial activity in a short amount of time, OTRADI is uniquely positioned to help the chemists who invent these compounds discover if they have the ability to kill parasites that cause malaria.”
Researchers who developed the basic chemical compounds the OTRADI laboratory tested for anti-infectious activity include investigators from Oregon State University, Portland State University, Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University.
Adds Fox, “Finding a compound that can eliminate malaria will require testing and analyzing tens of thousands of compounds. OTRADI’s role is to help speed up the process of looking for that needle in the haystack.”
Says Monaghan, “The OTRADI screening results provide the investigators with new leads for developing infectious disease therapeutics. These novel compounds form the Oregon Collection, a proprietary chemical and biological library of new compounds, and will be of interest to researchers and drug developers worldwide for the eradication of infectious diseases. Oregon is at the forefront of this exciting frontier.”
About the Oregon Translational Research and Drug Development Institute:
OTRADI launched in 2007 as Oregon’s newest Signature Research Center dedicated to the collaboration and commercialization of biological compound discoveries. Such discoveries can be developed as treatments for global health concerns through commercial companies, bringing more economic development and scientific talent to Oregon. OTRADI brings the lab to the market via partnerships with Oregon universities, private bioscience companies, the life science industry and public and private funders. Start-up funds for OTRADI originate from a legislative allocation to Oregon Innovation Council (Oregon InC) and, are administered by the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department. For more information, visit the laboratory at 1717 S.W. 10th Ave., Suite 4 in Portland, go to www.otradi.org or call (503) 227-1814.