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Finely tuned WspRs help bacteria beat body by building biofilm
March 25, 2008Bacteria are particularly harmful to human health when they band together to form a biofilm-a sheet composed of many individual bacteria glued together-because this can allow them to escape from both antibiotics and the immune system of their host. It is thought that most chronic infections are caused by bacterial biofilms, and a paper published in this week's PLoS Biology explores the signalling system that causes bacteria to team up in this way.
Pseudomonas is the pathogen that forms biofilms in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis. The new paper, from Holger Sondermann and colleagues, identifies a novel kind of control system for bacterial signalling. Bacteria form a biofilm when the concentration of a molecule called c-di-GMP gets above a certain threshold. Sondermann et al. have determined the structure of the enzyme that makes c-di-GMP. The enzyme is called WspR in Pseudomonas, and the way WspR is controlled in the cell is the focus of their paper.
The authors determined the crystal structure of WspR and followed up with biochemical analysis of the enzyme. This work showed that WspR exists in an active form that produces c-di-GMP and is then bound by c-di-GMP and forced into an inactive form. The study therefore reveals a finely balanced equilibrium between the synthesis and degradation of this key player in biofilm formation.
New approaches to controlling the behavior of bacteria responsible for chronic infections can be envisaged. Because the signalling molecules involved in biofilm formation, such as c-di-GMP, are uniquely found in bacteria, the authors hope that there is potential for new therapeutic treatments based on this work; if you interrupted this bacterial signalling it would have no negative effect on the human host but could be devastating for the bacteria.
Public Library of Science
New approaches to controlling the behavior of bacteria responsible for chronic infections can be envisaged. Because the signalling molecules involved in biofilm formation, such as c-di-GMP, are uniquely found in bacteria, the authors hope that there is potential for new therapeutic treatments based on this work; if you interrupted this bacterial signalling it would have no negative effect on the human host but could be devastating for the bacteria.
Public Library of Science
Bacteria Current Events and Bacteria News RSSOn the Trail of a Vaccine for Lyme Disease: Yale Researchers Target Tick Saliva
A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, Yale researchers have discovered. The findings, published in the November 19 issue of Cell Host & Microbe, may spur development of a new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease, which is spread through tick bites.
Cigarettes Harbor Many Bacteria Harmful to Human Health
Cigarettes are "widely contaminated" with bacteria, including some known to cause disease in people, concludes a new international study conducted by a University of Maryland environmental health researcher and microbial ecologists at the Ecole Centrale de Lyon in France.
ORNL, Los Alamos pioneer new approach to assist scientists, farmers
Sustainable farming, initially adopted to preserve soil quality for future generations, may also play a role in maintaining a healthy climate, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge and Los Alamos national laboratories.
UAB Researchers Discover Antibody Receptor Identity, Propose Renaming Immune-System Gene
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have uncovered the genetic identity of a cellular receptor for the immune system's first-response antibody, a discovery that sheds new light on infection control and immune disorders.
Scientists find molecular trigger that helps prevent aging and disease
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine set out to address a question that has been challenging scientists for years: How do dietary restriction-and the reverse, overconsumption-produce protective effects against aging and disease?
Texas A&M Researchers Examine How Viruses Destroy Bacteria
Viruses are well known for attacking humans and animals, but some viruses instead attack bacteria. Texas A&M University researchers are exploring how hungry viruses, armed with transformer-like weapons, attack bacteria, which may aid in the treatment of bacterial infections.
A Second Skin
Despite advances in treatment regimens and the best efforts of nurses and doctors, about 70% of all people with severe burns die from related infections.
Study reveals why certain drug combinations backfire
Combination drug therapy has become a staple for treating many infections. For instance, doctors treat extensively drug resistant forms of tuberculosis with one drug that breaks down the pathogen's protective barriers and opens the door for another to deliver the deathblow.
Simple test could offer cheap solution to detecting landmines
Scientists have developed a simple, cheap, accurate test to find undetected landmines.
New explanation for nature's hardiest life form
Got food poisoning? The cause might be bacterial spores, en extremely hardy survival form of bacteria, a nightmare for health care and the food industry and an enigma for scientists.
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