Discovery could aid fight against cystic fibrosis infection ( Harvard Medical School researchers have...)

Discovery could aid fight against cystic fibrosis infection

Harvard Medical School researchers have discovered one way that a hardy disease-causing bacteria could be surviving in the lungs of chronically infected cystic fibrosis (CF) patients.

"This work is important because pathogenic bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) use protein secretion systems to cause disease in their hosts," said Joseph Mougous, lead author of the study published in the June 9 issue of Science. "In the case of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the host may be a cancer patient with a weakened immune system, a burn patient, or a person with cystic fibrosis (CF)."

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), a pathogen that infects more than 80 percent of cystic fibrosis patients, is a leading cause of these patients' death. PA is difficult to treat because it is resistant to many drugs.

"Since we know so little about what this bacterium is up to while it's engaged in these chronic infections, the discovery of this protein secretion system might lead to finding a new target for treatments," said Mougous, a research fellow in the Harvard Medical School (HMS) Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) provided one of the clues that contributed to the HMS discovery. Working through a number of pathogenic proteins, ANL protein crystallographer Marianne Cuff saw a bagel-shaped pore that might be involved in transferring toxins into cells. She deposited the structure of the protein, called Hcp1, into the Protein Data Bank, a resource used by biologists worldwide to find information about the proteins they are studying.

While exploring the Protein Data Bank, Mougous, who was studying PA in the laboratory of department chair John Mekalanos, recognized that the amino acid sequence of Hcp1 in PA closely resembled that of Hcp1 in Vibrio cholerae. The Mekalanos lab had previously discovered that the Hcp1 protein of V. cholerae is released from the bacterium via a novel secre
'"/>

Source:Harvard Medical School

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Fundamental Finding Yields Insight into Stem Cells, Cancer; Opens Door to Drug Discovery
2. Discovery of key proteins shape could lead to improved bacterial pneumonia vaccine
3. UCSD Discovery Shows How Embryonic Stem Cells Perform Quality Control Inspections
4. Discovery Could Lead To Novel Approaches In HIV Treatment
5. Discovery Promises Simpler Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease
6. Discovery may lead to better Candidiasis drug
7. Protein Discovery Could Unlock The Secret To Better TB Treatment
8. Discovery clarifies role of peptide in biological clock
9. Eliminate Data Analysis Bottlenecks in Drug Discovery
10. Discovery of New Dopamine Action May Yield Alternative Psychiatric Drugs
11. Discovery could be key to bioterrorism defense

Post Your Comments:

( Harvard Medical School researchers have...)Discovery could aid fight against cystic fibrosis infection