This exciting finding opens the way for the development of new antibacterial drugs to fight bacteria using their own weapons.
A new study which was performed jointly at Umeå University and the University of Washington in Seattle, USA, discovered that bacteria can degrade the cell membrane of bacterial competitors with enzymes that do not harm their own membrane. This exciting finding opens the way for the development of new antibacterial drugs to fight bacteria using their own weapons.
During the infection of a host organism, pathogenic bacteria can excrete toxins that cause damage to host cells and tissue. Interestingly, bacteria also use similar mechanisms in competition with one another. Notably, they can use secretion systems with syringe-like structures to inject the toxins into other cells. Among the different secretion systems that are known in bacteria, the type VI secretion system is of particular importance to interbacterial competition, and is found in many different species of bacteria. The collaborating Swedish-American research teams now found that certain enzymes, phospholipases, are secreted by the type VI system and that they are only effective against the competitor but not the producer’s own cell membrane.
Sun Nyunt Wai, professor at the Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS) and the department of Molecular Biology in Umeå, Sweden, and Joseph D. Mougous, professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, studied together with their students and post-docs the genes and proteins that are behind this selective defence mechanism. They studied the type VI secretion systems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, soil bacteria causing severe infections of intestines, blood and lungs, and in Vibrio cholerae, a pathogen causing the life-threatening cholera diarrhea.
– Bacteria have evolved many strategies for defence against predators and competitors in the environment. In this study we found that the bacteria possess phospholipases, that degrade a major phospholipid component in the cell membranes, Sun Nyunt Wai, said. And we found that the bacteria producing the antibacterial effector at the same time produced an immunity protein that protects them against their own toxin. Her student Krisztina Hathazi and postdoctoral fellow Takahiko Ishikawa participated in the studies and are co-authors of the report in Nature.
When the team tested their hypothesis with mutants lacking the genes for immunity, they found that membrane integrity was greatly impaired, as the bacterial cells were now harmed by self-intoxication.
– The finding that bacterial phospholipases, classically considered potent mediators of virulence, can also serve as offensive weapons against competing bacteria was really quite surprising and challenges basic assumptions made concerning these enzymes, commented PhD student Alistair B. Russell, the first author of the report.
The Latest Bing News on:
Antibacterial drugs
- UK government launches new five-year plan to combat antimicrobial resistanceon May 9, 2024 at 12:29 am
UK government launches new five-year plan to combat antimicrobial resistance: United Kingdom Thursday, May 9, 2024, 13:00 Hrs [IST] The UK government has launched A new National A ...
- Freshness matters: Study finds newer honey packs a stronger antibacterial punchon May 8, 2024 at 8:23 pm
Researchers reveal that the antibacterial potency of Hungarian honeys, including their effectiveness against respiratory pathogens, declines with storage time, emphasizing the need for fresh sources ...
- A New Oral Antibiotic Is Available to Treat UTIson May 8, 2024 at 9:32 am
The FDA recently approved Pivya for uncomplicated UTIs. Pivya is an oral tablet that clears bacterial infections in the female bladder.
- A mother's loss launches a global effort to fight antibiotic resistanceon May 7, 2024 at 3:00 am
Diane Shader Smith's daughter, Mallory Smith, died at age 25 after fighting an antibiotic-resistant lung infection for 12 years. A new book of her daughter's diary entries and a website are aimed at ...
- Purdue pharmacy researcher receives $2.4M NIH grant to fight antimicrobial-resistant lung infectionson May 6, 2024 at 7:24 am
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Qi “Tony” Zhou, a researcher in Purdue University’s College of Pharmacy has received a $2.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to fight lung infections that ...
- Antimicrobial peptide from cows shows potential for treating hypervirulent bacteriaon May 2, 2024 at 6:34 am
University of Central Florida College of Medicine researcher Renee Fleeman is on a mission to kill drug-resistant bacteria, and her latest study has identified a therapy that can penetrate the slime ...
- FDA Approves New Antibiotic for Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infectionson April 30, 2024 at 11:30 pm
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Pivya (pivmecillinam) tablets for the treatment of female adults with uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs). The approval is for UTIs caused ...
- A New Class of Antimicrobial Compounds Discovered in Soil Bacteriaon April 29, 2024 at 12:05 pm
Hundreds of thousands of people die every year from antibiotic-resistant infections or from the complications of those infections, and the problem is only | Microbiology ...
- Antimicrobial resistance projected to kill 10 million people each yearon April 28, 2024 at 10:45 am
Dr. James Gill addresses antimicrobial resistance and its accelerating crisis, emphasizing the need for patient education.
- FDA Approves New Antibiotic for Uncomplicated UTIson April 26, 2024 at 11:54 am
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved pivmecillinam (Pivya) tablets to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women.
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Antibacterial drugs
[google_news title=”” keyword=”antibacterial drugs” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”] [/vc_column_text]The Latest Bing News on:
Bacterial phospholipases
- Helicobacter Pylori: Phenotypes, Genotypes and Virulence Geneson May 6, 2024 at 4:59 pm
Various bacterial virulence factors are associated with the development of such gastric diseases, and the characterization of these markers could aid medical prognosis, which could be extremely ...
- Promises and Challenges for the Development of Listeria Monocytogenes-based Immunotherapieson May 1, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Essentially, five strategies have been taken to make Lm suitable as a vaccine platform, including: deletion of virulence genes affecting bacterial growth and cell-to-cell spread in vivo ...
- Antimicrobial mechanisms of phagocytes and bacterial evasion strategieson May 1, 2024 at 5:00 pm
We discuss examples of bacterial effectors that are injected into the host cells and cause disruption of the maturation pathway, often by co-opting the host cell machinery, to generate a niche ...
- Bacteria Newson April 30, 2024 at 5:00 pm
May 3, 2024 — New research examines how the bacteria Escherichia coli, or E. coli -- responsible for most UTIs -- is able to use host nutrients to reproduce at an extraordinarily rapid pace ...
- ‘Bacterial vampirism’: Deadly pathogens attracted to human blood, study findson April 16, 2024 at 8:58 am
Termed “bacterial vampirism” by researchers, this phenomenon, detailed in a study published Tuesday in the journal eLife, found that certain bacteria are drawn to the liquid component of blood ...
- Deadly bacteria show thirst for human blood: Research outlines the phenomenon of bacterial vampirismon April 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Some of the world's deadliest bacteria seek out and feed on human blood, a newly-discovered phenomenon researchers are calling "bacterial vampirism." A team led by Washington State University ...
- CDC alerts doctors to watch for rare, serious bacterial infection appearing with unusual symptomson March 29, 2024 at 10:59 am
Survivors may have long term effects such as deafness or amputations of the arms and legs.There is a vaccine that protects against bacterial meningitis. It is recommended for children ages 11 to ...
- Bacterial illness that can cause meningitis surging, CDC warnson March 29, 2024 at 6:58 am
There has been a troubling rise in cases of a rare bacterial illness that can cause meningitis, U.S. health officials warned Thursday. In an alert issued to doctors, the U.S. Centers for Disease ...
- Snakebites: We thought we'd created a winning new antivenom but then it flopped. Why that turned out to be a good thingon March 18, 2024 at 11:23 am
asper's venom consists of potent muscle-damaging molecules called phospholipases A₂ (PLA₂s ... such as with poisonous mushrooms and bacterial toxins, but never before with toxins from the ...
- Bacterial Disease Mechanismson November 26, 2023 at 5:57 pm
Henderson, Brian 2002. Oral Bacterial Disease and The Science of Cellular Conversation. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol. 95, Issue. 2, p. 77.
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Bacterial phospholipases
[google_news title=”” keyword=”bacterial phospholipases” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]