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Mucormycosis is deadly infection that mostly targets people with weak immune system. A fungi called Mucorales invades the patient’s cells and the invasion is made possible by a novel protein called CotH, that resides on the surface of the Mucorales cells.

According to a new study, a remedy to stop the invasion might be possible soon. A research team at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) have reported that they will soon be able to prevent cell invasion and also treat mucormycosis in disease models with the use of antibodies that will block the CotH proteins up to an extent.

“There are no vaccines or effective therapies available today to halt the highly fatal mucormycosis infection, and there is an urgent need for these strategies to protect patients with weakened immune systems,” said Ashraf S. Ibrahim, PhD, an LA BioMed lead researcher and corresponding author for the study in a press release.

“Our research lays the groundwork for developing the antibodies to prevent and treat mucormycosis in high-risk patients. These findings also could lead to diagnostic tests for the disease.”

Patients those who have a weak immune systems or are suffering from malnutrition are at the increased risk of infection from mucormycosis. The team of researchers said they have found the treatment with anti -CotH antibodies and CotH-targeted RNAi that blocked the cell invasion and ultimately protected against mucormycosis.

Developments of the study were reported in an online, ahead-of-print study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.