Thursday, September 04, 2025

New antibiotic to fight superbug C. diff proves effective in clinical trial

UH researcher reports ibezapolstat shows potential with high rates of sustained clinical cures

University of Houston

As the effectiveness of antibiotics meant to fight the deadly superbug Clostridioides difficile, or C. diff, wanes, a research team at the University of Houston is seeing positive results of a new antibiotic on the scene – ibezapolstat – which is proving successful in fighting these infectious bacteria in clinical trials.

C. diff is the nation’s leading cause of death from gastroenteritis causing an estimated 453,000 infections yearly and 29,300 deaths. It causes gastrointestinal illness ranging from diarrhea and abdominal pain to toxic megacolon, sepsis and death.

Until now the frontline treatments for C. diff have been the antibiotics vancomycin, with a sustained clinical cure of 42% to 71%, and fidaxomicin at 67%.

And yet, a superbug would not be so deadly if it was not able to outlive the very medicines meant to destroy it.

“Both vanco and fidaxo are associated with emerging antimicrobial resistance. C. difficile infection recurrence is associated with increased mortality, decreased quality of life and higher healthcare costs. New antibiotics are urgently needed.” said Kevin Garey, Robert L. Boblitt Endowed Professor of Drug Discovery at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy and senior author on recent clinical trial results with ibezapolstat published in Lancet Microbe.

C. diff infections often return when the natural balance in the gut stays disrupted —good bacteria like Bacillota, Bacteroidota, and Actinomycetota are reduced, while harmful types like Pseudomonadota increase. These changes can weaken the gut’s defenses, causing a loss of the kind of bacteria that helps break down bile acids. When that happens, harmful bacteria can easily take over.

“Ibezapolstat’s mechanism of action helps restore the healthy microbiota that causes C. diff recurrence” said study lead author Taryn A. Eubank, research assistant professor of Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research at UH.

Enter ibezapolstat

Ibezapolstat has a way of working that kills harmful C. difficile bacteria without harming the good bacteria in the gut that protect against C. diff infections.

“A randomized, double-blind, active-controlled study showed high rates of initial clinical cure in participants treated with ibezapolstat, with no recurrence,” reports Garey. “Ibezapolstat was found to be safe, well tolerated, and was associated with the preservation of key health-promoting bacteria responsible for bile acid homoeostasis, a key component in preventing recurrent C. difficile infection.”

Eubank added, “This helps confirm the important anti-C diff recurrence properties of Ibezapolstat.”

Ibezapolstat is being developed by Acurx Pharmaceuticals progressing towards phase III clinical trials. The study was conducted at 15 centers, primarily outpatient clinics and hospitals in the United States. Participants were aged 18–90 years, with diarrhea and a confirmed diagnosis of mild or moderate C difficile infection.

“The findings of our study support further clinical development of ibezapolstat into phase III clinical trials and eventual use in our patients,” said Garey.

Journal

The Lancet Microbe

Article Title

Efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetics, and associated microbiome changes of ibezapolstat compared with vancomycin in adults with Clostridioides difficile infection: a phase 2b, randomised, double-blind, active-controlled, multicentre study

Research on Chinese fantasy literature: ERC Starting Grant for Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jessica Imbach

University of Freiburg

Sinologist and junior professor Dr. Jessica Imbach from the University of Freiburg has been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). With her funded project SINOFANTASY – Studying Imaginative Otherworlds: Chinese Fantasy Fiction, Literary Politics, and Media Creativity, Imbach is investigating the development and significance of Chinese fantasy and science fiction literature since the 1990s. The grant covers five years and amounts to approximately 1.4 million euros.

Fantasy literature as a mirror of social transformation

The project aims to develop a well-founded theory of Chinese fantasy as a mirror and medium of social transformation. “I am investigating, for example, how cultural identity, historical images and visions of the future are negotiated in Chinese fantasy literature. This genre has become one of the most popular forms of entertainment in China,” says Imbach. “Some texts are formally innovative and experimental, creating alternative views of history or speculative forms of society, while others follow conservative narrative patterns. My project therefore asks: What themes, conflicts and worldviews are negotiated in these texts? And what social negotiation processes are reflected in this literary form?”

Digital encyclopaedia on fantasy literature planned

In addition to literary texts, the project explores how speculative storytelling affects concepts such as authorship and digital participation in an authoritarian media system. “The ERC Starting Grant now gives me the opportunity to systematically explore the diverse media, social and political dimensions of Chinese fantasy with a larger team and a long-term perspective,” Imbach emphasises. In addition, a digital encyclopaedia of contemporary Chinese fantasy is to be developed. The project thus not only contributes to literary and Chinese studies, but also makes complex cultural processes accessible to a broad public.

The ERC Starting Grant
The European Research Council (ERC) supports outstanding scientists in carrying out groundbreaking research projects by providing highly competitive funding. ERC Starting Grants are aimed at innovative scientists in the early stages of their scientific careers who have already gained two to seven years of experience after completing their doctorates and would like to establish their own research group. Applications can be submitted from all research areas. Scientists can receive funding of up to 1.5 million euros over a period of five years for their projects.

For more information

Jessica Imbach’s website https://uni-freiburg.de/sinologie/einrichtung-und-personen/junprof-dr-jessica-imbach/
Dr. Jessica Imbach received the Margarete von Wrangell funding https://uni-freiburg.de/en/margarete-von-wrangell-fellowship-for-research-on-new-media-in-china/

Shaky cameras can make for sharper shots, new research shows

Brown University

Increased resolution through motion — image:
It doesn’t take an expert photographer to know that the steadier the camera, the sharper the shot. But that conventional wisdom isn’t always true, according to new research led by Brown University engineers. The researchers showed that, with the help of a clever algorithm, a camera in motion can produce higher-resolution images than a camera held completely still.
Images on the left were taken by a camera that was moving during exposure. Images on the right used the algorithm to increase their resolution with imformation captured by the camera's motion.
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Credit: Pedro Felzenszwalb/Brown University

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — It doesn’t take an expert photographer to know that the steadier the camera, the sharper the shot. But that conventional wisdom isn’t always true, according to new research led by Brown University engineers.

The researchers showed that, with the help of a clever algorithm, a camera in motion can produce higher-resolution images than a camera held completely still. The new image processing technique could enable gigapixel-quality images from run-of-the-mill camera hardware, as well as sharper imaging for scientific or archival photography.

“We all know that when you shake a camera, you get a blurry picture,” said Pedro Felzenszwalb, a professor of engineering and computer science at Brown. “But what we show is that an image captured by a moving camera actually contains additional information that we can use to increase image resolution.”

The study was presented recently at the International Conference on Computational Photography and is posted on arXiv.

Digital cameras produce images by averaging the intensity of light over an array of pixels — tiny squares arranged in a grid. This sets a resolution limit: details smaller than a single pixel get smeared out across the pixel rather than precisely located within it. That causes sub-pixel details to be blurred.

The technique developed by Felzenszwalb and his team uses camera motion to produce sub-pixel resolution. When the camera moves, small points of light leave tracks that cross multiple pixels. The team’s algorithm uses those tracks as extra information to pinpoint exactly where fine details must have been, reconstructing them on a finer grid. The result is a super-resolution image with detail sharper than the original pixel array allows.

For the study, the researchers tested the technique by mounting a conventional camera to a moving stage, which enabled them to test their techniques in various movement scenarios. In some cases, the team took multiple photos while moving the camera slightly between exposures, then used their algorithm to construct a single image from the multiple shots captured by the camera between movements. In other cases, the team moved the camera during each exposure and reconstructed a higher-resolution image from a single motion-blurred shot.

In both cases, the team showed that their algorithm could harness the camera motion to produce images with far higher resolution than would be possible without the motion.

“There was some prior theoretical work that suggested this shouldn’t be possible,” Felzenszwalb said. “But we show that there were a few assumptions in those earlier theories that turned out not to be true. And so this is a proof of concept that we really can recover more information by using motion.”

The researchers envision plenty of potential applications for their technique. A moving stage setup like the one used for the experiments could be used for super-resolution archival photography of artworks or artifacts, the researchers say. The technique could also be useful for photography from moving aircraft.

The team also sees a possibility for the algorithm to one day run on commercially available cameras.

“There are existing systems that cameras use to take motion blur out of photos,” Felzenszwalb said. “But no one has tried to use that to actually increase resolution. We show that’s something you could definitely do.”

The team plans to continue developing their technique and look for industry partners to make it available to the public in the coming years.

DOI

10.48550/arXiv.2505.15961

Article Title

Super-Resolution with Structured Motion

Making diamonds with electron radiation

Synthetic diamond research places organic molecular interactions under the microscope

University of Tokyo

Nanodiamond synthesis from adamantane — image:
Transmission electron microscopy images show the arrangement of adamantane molecules into diamond structures under electron irradiation. ©2025 Nakamura et al. CC-BY-ND
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Credit: ©2025 Nakamura et al. CC-BY-ND

There are various ways to create artificial diamonds, but a new method developed by researchers including those at the University of Tokyo yields some extra benefits. By specially preparing samples for conversion to diamond by means of an electron beam, the team found their method can be used to protect organic samples from the damage usually caused by such a beam. This could lead to new and powerful imaging and analytical techniques.

Diamond synthesis is a process that conventionally requires conversion from carbon sources under extreme conditions – pressures of tens of gigapascals and temperatures of thousands of kelvin – where diamond is thermodynamically stable, or chemical vapor deposition techniques where it is unstable. A team led by University Professor Eiichi Nakamura of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tokyo explored an alternative low-pressure approach through controlled electron irradiation of a carbon cage molecule called adamantane (C10H16). Diamond and adamantane share a tetrahedral symmetric carbon skeleton, with the carbon atoms arranged in the same spatial pattern, making adamantane an attractive precursor for the production of nanodiamonds. Successful conversion, however, requires precise cutting of adamantane’s C–H termination bonds to form new C–C bonds, while assembling the monomers into a three-dimensional diamond lattice. While this was common knowledge in the field, “The real problem was that no one thought it feasible,” said Nakamura.

Previously, mass spectrometry, an analytical technique that sorts ions according to their differing mass and charge, had shown that single-electron ionization could be used to facilitate such C–H bond cleavage. Mass spectrometry, however, can only infer structure formation in the gas phase, and is unable to isolate products from intermolecular reactions. The team was prompted to monitor electron-impact ionization of solid adamantane at atomic resolution using an analytical and imaging technique called transmission electron microscopy (TEM), irradiating submicrocrystals at 80-200 kiloelectron volts at 100-296 kelvins in vacuum for tens of seconds. Not only would the method reveal the evolution of the polymerized nanodiamond formation, but provide powerful ramifications for the potential of TEM as a tool to resolve the controlled reactions of other organic molecules.

For Nakamura, who had worked on synthetic chemistry for 30 years and computational quantum chemical calculations for 15 years, the study offered a breakthrough opportunity. “Computational data gives you ‘virtual’ reaction paths, but I wanted to see it with my eyes,” he said. “However, the common wisdom among TEM specialists was that organic molecules decompose quickly as you shine an electron beam on them. My research since 2004 has been a constant battle to show otherwise.”

The process yielded defect-free nanodiamonds of cubic crystal structure accompanied by hydrogen gas eruptions, up to 10 nanometers in diameter under prolonged irradiation. The time-resolved TEM images illustrated the passage of formed adamantane oligomers transforming into spherical nanodiamonds, moderated by the C–H cleavage rate. The team also tested other hydrocarbons, which failed to form nanodiamonds, highlighting the suitability of adamantane as a precursor.

The findings open a new paradigm for understanding and controlling chemistry in the fields of electron lithography, surface engineering and electron microscopy. Analysis of the nanodiamond conversion supports long-standing ideas that diamond formation in extraterrestrial meteorites and uranium-bearing carbonaceous sedimentary rocks may be driven by high-energy particle irradiation. Nakamura also pointed to the basis it provides for synthesizing doped quantum dots, essential to the construction of quantum computers and sensors.

As the latest chapter in a 20-year-long research dream, Nakamura said, “This example of diamond synthesis is the ultimate demonstration that electrons do not destroy organic molecules but let them undergo well-defined chemical reactions, if we install suitable properties in molecules to be irradiated.” By forever changing the game in fields employing electron beams for research, his dream could now provide the vision for scientists to uncloud interactions under electron irradiation.

###

Journal article: Jiarui Fu, Takayuki Nakamuro, Eiichi Nakamura, “Rapid, low-temperature nanodiamond formation by electron-beam activation of adamantane C–H bonds”, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.adw2025

Funding: JSPS KAKENHI JP24H00447, JP24K21232, JP23H04874

JST PRESTO program JPMJPR23Q6

Useful links:

Graduate School of Science – https://www.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/

Department of Chemistry - https://www.chem.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/wp/en

Nakamura Lab - https://moltech.jp/ja/

Research contact:

University Professor Eiichi Nakamura

Department of Chemistry, The University of Tokyo,

7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

nakamura@chem.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Press contact:
Mr. Rohan Mehra
Public Relations Group, The University of Tokyo,
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
press-releases.adm@gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp

About The University of Tokyo:

The University of Tokyo is Japan's leading university and one of the world's top research universities. The vast research output of some 6,000 researchers is published in the world's top journals across the arts and sciences. Our vibrant student body of around 15,000 undergraduate and 15,000 graduate students includes over 5,000 international students. Find out more at www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/ or follow us on X (formerly Twitter) at @UTokyo_News_en.

Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adw2025

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Rapid, low-temperature nanodiamond formation by electron-beam activation of adamantane C–H bonds

Article Publication Date

4-Sep-2025

Researchers reveal potential molecular link between air pollutants and increased risk of Lewy body dementia

Johns Hopkins Medicine

A team of researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have revealed a possible molecular connection between air pollution and an increased risk of developing Lewy body dementia.

The findings add to a growing body of evidence indicating how environmental factors may trigger harmful protein changes in the brain that lead to neurodegeneration.

Lewy body diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders marked by the abnormal buildup of a protein, alpha-synuclein, in the brain. These clumps, known as Lewy bodies, are a hallmark of the conditions Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

The study, published in Science September 4, builds on a decade of research linking exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) — tiny particles from industrial activity, residential burning, wildfires and vehicle exhaust — to a higher risk of developing these diseases, says lead investigator Xiaobo Mao, Ph.D., associate professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a member of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering.

In their new work, Mao’s team discovered that exposing mice to PM2.5 triggered the formation of abnormal alpha-synuclein clumps. These toxic protein clusters shared key structural and disease-related features with those found in the brains of patients with Lewy body dementia.

“We have identified a novel strain of Lewy bodies formed after exposure to air pollution,” Mao says. “By defining this strain, we hope to establish a specific target for future drugs aimed at slowing the progression of neurodegenerative diseases marked by Lewy bodies.”

The research began with an analysis of hospital data from 56.5 million U.S. patients admitted between 2000 and 2014 with neurodegenerative diseases. The team focused on patients hospitalized for the first time with Lewy body-related conditions and used data from their ZIP codes to estimate their long-term exposure to PM2.5. The scientists found that each interquartile range increase in PM2.5 concentration in these ZIP code areas resulted in a 17% higher risk of Parkinson’s disease dementia and a 12% higher risk of dementia with Lewy bodies.

“The statistical association we uncovered is even stronger than what previous studies found when lumping all Alzheimer’s and related dementias together — highlighting Lewy body formation as a potentially pivotal pathway that warrants deeper biological investigation,” says Xiao Wu, Ph.D., a co-first and co-corresponding author of the study and assistant professor of biostatistics at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “We hope to inspire researchers to conduct both epidemiologic and molecular studies that focus on dementia subtypes linked to Lewy bodies.”

Exploring the biological reason for this association between exposure to PM2.5 and Lewy body dementia, Mao’s team of researchers exposed both normal mice and genetically modified mice lacking the alpha-synuclein protein to PM2.5 pollution every other day for a period of 10 months.

“In normal mice, we saw brain atrophy, cell death and cognitive decline — symptoms similar to those in Lewy body dementia,” says study collaborator Ted Dawson, M.D., Ph.D., the Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Professor in Neurodegenerative Diseases and director of the Institute for Cell Engineering. “But in mice lacking alpha-synuclein, the brain didn’t exhibit any significant changes.”

The researchers then studied mice with a human gene mutation (hA53T) linked to early-onset Parkinson's disease. After five months of PM2.5 exposure, these mice developed widespread pockets of alpha-synuclein and experienced cognitive decline. Observed through biophysical and biochemical analysis, these protein clumps were structurally distinct from those that form during natural aging.

The researchers also set out to determine whether air pollution effects varied by location. They found that mice exposed to separate samples of PM2.5 from China, Europe and the United States led to similar brain changes and development of alpha-synuclein pockets.

“This suggests that the harmful effects of PM2.5 may be broadly consistent across different regions,” says Haiqing Liu, Ph.D., first author of the study and postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The researchers say changes in gene expression in the brains of PM2.5-exposed mice were strikingly similar to those found in human patients with Lewy body dementia.

“This suggests that pollution may not only trigger the build-up of toxic proteins but also drive disease-related gene expression changes in the human brain,” says Shizhong Han, Ph.D., lead investigator at the Lieber Institute and for Brain Development and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the school of medicine.

“We believe we’ve identified a core molecular link between PM2.5 exposure and the propagation of Lewy body dementia,” Mao says. .

While genetic factors play a significant role in neurodegenerative disease, the researchers say people can potentially control their exposure to pollution.

“Our next goal is to figure out which specific components in air pollution are driving these effects,” says Xiaodi Zhang, Ph.D., a first author of the study and postdoctoral fellow at the school of medicine. “Understanding that could help guide public health efforts to reduce harmful exposures and lower the risk of disease.”

Research Team and Funding Support:

In addition to Xiaobo Mao, Ted M. Dawson, Haiqing Liu and Shizhong Han, other Johns Hopkins researchers who contributed to this study include Xiaodi Zhang, Longgang Jia, Kundlik Gadhave, Lena Wang, Kevin Zhang, Hanyu Li, Rong Chen, Ramhari Kumbhar, Ning Wang, Chantelle E. Terrillion, Bong Gu Kang, Shu Zhang, Wenqiang Zheng, Denghui Ye, Xiaoli Rong, Liu Yang, Lili Niu, Han Seok Ko, Mingyao Ying, Liana S. Rosenthal, David W. Nauen, Alex Pantelyat and Valina L. Dawson. Researchers from other institutions include Xiao Wu of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; Bin Bai, Minhan Park, Cristine Faye Denna, Rodney J. Weber and Pengfei Liu from Georgia Institute of Technology; Weiyi Peng from University of Houston; Lingtao Jin from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; Mahima Kaur, Kezia Irene and Francesca Dominici from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Liuhua Shif from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Rahel Feleke from Imperial College London; Sonia García-Ruiz and Mina Ryten from the University of Cambridge; and Xuan Zhang from University of California, Merced.

Funding for the research was provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH RF1 AG079487, K01 ES036202, P20 AG093975, P30 ES009089, R01 ES030616, R01 AG066793, RF1 AG074372, RF1 AG080948), the Helis Foundation, the Parkinson's Foundation, the American Parkinson's Disease Association, the Freedom Together Foundation and the Department of Defense.

Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adu4132

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment

Thursday, September 04, 2025

New antibiotic to fight superbug C. diff proves effective in clinical trial

Journal

Article Title

Research on Chinese fantasy literature: ERC Starting Grant for Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jessica Imbach

Shaky cameras can make for sharper shots, new research shows

DOI

Article Title

Making diamonds with electron radiation

Journal

DOI

Method of Research

Subject of Research

Article Title

Article Publication Date

Researchers reveal potential molecular link between air pollutants and increased risk of Lewy body dementia

Journal

DOI

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