Navigation Links
No hiding place for infecting bacteria
Date:3/15/2009

Scientists in Colorado have discovered a new approach to prevent bacterial infections from taking hold. Writing in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, Dr Quinn Parks and colleagues describe how they used enzymes against products of the body's own defence cells to prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria from building a protective biofilm which enables them to avoid both the body's immune mechanisms and antibiotics.

When the body's defence cells, called neutrophils, attack P. aeruginosa, the cell contents - including a protein called F-actin and the cell's DNA are released. P. aeruginosa uses these cell proteins as a scaffold to build a protective biofilm making these infections very difficult to treat. P. aeruginosa biofilms cause disease in burns, wounds, contact lens infections and are particularly prevalent in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients.

"We specifically targeted the F-actin protein with a negatively charged peptide, and the DNA with the enzyme DNase, which both prevented and disrupted the formation of P. aeruginosa biofilms in the presence of human neutrophils." said Dr Parks. "These results suggest a new combined therapeutic strategy for the treatment of P. aeruginosa infections.


'/>"/>

Contact: Dianne Stilwell
d.stilwell@sgm.ac.uk
44-020-897-76510
Society for General Microbiology
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1

Related biology news :

1. Emphasis on conifer forests places multiple species at risk
2. Opportunity for students displaced by Katrina to assess climate vulnerability of Southeast US
3. IEEE-USA innovation forum will help prepare US tech leaders to prosper in a global marketplace
4. In-vitro fertilization improved with 3-D/4-D-guided embryo transfer and new placement target
5. Single-largest biodiversity survey says primary rainforest is irreplaceable
6. Katherine Freed wins first place at the International ISPE Undergraduate Poster Contest
7. Listen-up ladies: Dont postpone knee-replacement surgery
8. MU researcher links hormone replacement therapy to breast cancer
9. A place in the sun
10. Testosterone replacement theraphy beneficial in men 60 and older
11. Clues to ancestral origin of placenta emerge in Stanford study
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email: