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Tag: "defenses" at biology news

Emerging staph strains found to be increasingly deadly and deceptive

...are more deadly and better at evading human immune defenses than more common S. aureus strains that originate in hospitals and other health-care settings. In a paper released today online in The Journal of Immunology, scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of ...

K-State professors discover enzyme responsible for creation of a beetle's hard shell

...rotein as a way of weakening the beetle's physical defenses against mechanical, chemical and biological injuries, Muthukrishnan said. Better insecticides could be developed as a result of having a more insect-specific target like laccase-2, Kramer said. "Gaining knowledge about a molecular process required f...

Purdue researchers find key to rice blast fungus

...eas. Learning how the fungus tricks rice's natural defenses against pathogens to penetrate the plant is an important part of controlling the disease, said Jin-Rong Xu, a Purdue molecular biologist. Xu, Xinhua Zhao, Yangseon Kim and Gyungsoon Park, all of Purdue's Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, fou...

Drugs from the deep blue

...ce or harbor them. The compounds could be chemical defenses to deter predators. For example, some fish "taste" food items before swallowing them, sometimes spitting the item out and sucking it back in several times before rejecting or eating it. Some could be natural anti-fouling agents that stop a creature t...

Scientists show that tick-borne flaviviruses use a novel mechanism to evade host defenses

...ver and forms of encephalitis, evade immune system defenses in different ways depending on whether they are transmitted by mosquitoes or ticks. This finding could lead to new approaches to developing vaccines and treatments against these illnesses. "Flaviviruses exact an enormous toll in terms of illness and...

A new molecule discovered in the battle between plants and disease

...e, signaling to the rest of the plant to raise its defenses at the first sign of an infection. They also discovered the receptor protein to which Pep1 binds to exert its protective effects. Pep1 was isolated from the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, which is a species favored by investigators for attributes that ...

Variation in HIV's ability to disable host defenses contributes to rapid evolution

...eat is its rapid evolution. Understanding how host defenses and viral countermeasures contribute to that evolution is vital. Host cells produce two proteins that mutate HIV DNA and interfere with the virus's ability to replicate. But HIV produces a protein, called Vif, that can disable the two defensive prot...

FDA approves more generic AIDS drugs

... tug-of war or teeter totter-fashion to keep plant defenses in a state of constant readiness," said Dr. Jeffrey L. Dangl, John N. Couch professor of biology in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences. Previously, he and others believed that the proteins -- RAR1, SGT1 and HSP90 -- were required for what is called ...

UNC plant researchers discover proteins interact to form hair-trigger protection against invaders

... tug-of war or teeter totter-fashion to keep plant defenses in a state of constant readiness," said Dr. Jeffrey L. Dangl, John N. Couch professor of biology in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences. Previously, he and others believed that the proteins -- RAR1, SGT1 and HSP90 -- were required for what is called ...

Immune system's distress signal tells bacteria when to strike back

...ion starts when a weakened host tries to boost its defenses against any possible invasion. The host's T cells release chemical signals that activate the immune system. One of those signals, interferon-gamma, is intercepted by a protein, called OprF, found on the outer membrane surface of Pseudomonas. This ser...

Disabling gene defuses rheumatoid arthritis in mice

...nvaders and normally comprise the body's frontline defenses against bacterial infection. Peng became interested in Foxo3a because of prior studies his research team had conducted on a related gene, Foxj1. Both genes belong to the forkhead family of genes, which regulates the activity of other genes and has b...

Roots Engage in Underground Chemical Warfare

...he leading cause. "Current understanding of plant defenses does not readily explain why a pathogen can cause disease in one plant species and not another," says Vivanco. "Our findings will help researchers solve the mysteries of plant disease and immunity." In these experiments, however, root exudates did n...

Leprosy microbes lead scientists to immune discovery

...or L-lep, the bacteria have overwhelmed the immune defenses and can spread along nerves throughout the body and may cause blindness. The scientists found DC-SIGN+ macrophages in both types of leprosy infections. The CD1b+ cells were present only in the milder form, indicating a successful battle against the ...

PGA on a tour under the skin

...n host. PGA protects the pathogen from innate host defenses during infection. S. epidermidis is the only human pathogen known to produce PGA other than Bacillus anthracis, but several differences exist in how the two pathogens use PGA to their advantage. PGA is currently used as an antigen for vaccine product...

Studies reveal methods viruses use to sidestep immune system

...chanisms used by viruses to thwart a host's immune defenses and may aid in the development of more effective d...e, called RIG-I, turns on a cascade of host immune defenses when the hepatitis C virus (HCV) replicates in cultured human cells. Those immune defenses should f...

In the sea slug's defense against lobsters, confusion is key

...ures, Aplysia, a common sea slug, enlists chemical defenses against its predators, but the mechanisms by which...archers. New work has now shown that such chemical defenses can involve modes of trickery that had not previously been appreciated as components of chemical def...

Sea skate experiment sheds light on human cell transport

...an't die. This cell "suicide" is one of the body's defenses against cancer. "There is a possible relationship between operation of these channels and the uncontrolled multiplication of cancer cells," Goldstein said. "If so, this research points up an important area for future research." ...

Deficient DNA Repair Capacity Associated With Increased Risk Of Breast Cancer

...l Cancer Institute. DNA repair is the system of defenses designed to protect the integrity of the genome. Studies have suggested that deficiency in cells' capacity for DNA repair contributes to the accumulation of DNA damage and accelerates the genetic changes involved in carcinogenesis. To evaluate wheth...

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