regional medical center: Improved Understanding Of How Bacteria Spread

Sabtu, 23 Juni 2012

Improved Understanding Of How Bacteria Spread

Improved Understanding Of How Bacteria Spread

Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 23 Jun 2012 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend Â

printer friendly Â

opinions Â <!--

rate article

Patient / Public: not yet rated

Healthcare Prof: not yet rated

A University of Alberta researcher is moving closer to understanding how infection is caused by the spread of bacteria.

In a study published in the high-impact Cell Press journal called Structure, Joel Weiner and his collaborators, Gerd Prehna and Natalie Stynadka at the University of British Columbia, share new knowledge about how bacteria release proteins.

Proteins are complex molecules that perform all sorts of functions in the cells of living things. The group studied a specific protein called YebF in E. coli bacteria. It is widely found in other bacteria as well.

Solving the structure and understanding the mechanism by which this protein spreads bacterial pathogens was a big step forward. As humans develop more resistance to antibiotics, researchers are in search of new ways to stop bacteria from spreading.

"Most pathogenic bacteria induce special structures in order to release proteins that allow them to infect a host," said Weiner of the Department of Biochemistry, whose lab is funded by the Natural Sciences Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. "What we show here is that normal, run-of-the-mill bacteria can actually release a protein through the pores [of the bacterial membrane] which are normally there to take in small molecules."

YebF proved to be an interesting protein molecule because in addition to its release through the bacterial pore, which is the most recent discovery, it has the unique property of secreting "passenger proteins" that are attached to it. This unique property was a prior discovery patented by the U of A because it has potential use for the production of protein-based drugs by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

"What we found in the structure is that there are regions that are very flexible in YebF that seem to be very important in getting it out of the bacteria," said Weiner. "If you make mutants in those regions you can prevent the protein from going out.

"We're not investing enough in identifying new targets for antibiotics," he said. "What this system does suggests a new target. We're looking at drugs that could block the ability of YebF to go out.

"That's really easy to test for," he added. Because the screen is easy, it's good for pharmaceutical companies."

This step in the research took several years, because solving the structure of this protein wasn't easy. The lab typically uses crystallization but stubborn YebF wouldn't work, so instead they had to use nuclear magnetic resonance.

Typically researchers know what action takes place and they try to find the protein that triggers it. In this case the researchers have been working the opposite direction. They have the protein, YebF, but they need to find out its purpose in the cell.

Additional

References

Citations

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

APA

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

Add Your Opinion On This Article

'Improved Understanding Of How Bacteria Spread'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

regional medical center

Sabtu, 23 Juni 2012

Improved Understanding Of How Bacteria Spread

Add Your Opinion On This Article

Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar