Protein's "hands" enable bacteria to establish infection, 1xbet online games login finds
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
MANHATTAN — When it comes to infecting humans and animals, bacteria need a helping hand.
Kansas State 1xbet online games login 1xbet sports have found the helping hand: groups of tiny protein loops on the surface of cells. These loops are similar to the fingers of a hand, and by observing seven individual loops on the surface of E. coli bacterial cells, the researchers found that the loops can open or close to grab 1xbet online games login in the environment.
"These structures are like small hands on the surface of bacterial cells," said Phillip E. kle, principal investigator and professor and head of biochemistry and molecular biophysics. "They make the bacteria capable of recognizing something and grabbing it from the environment. It's amazing that such a tiny molecule can do that."
Kansas State 1xbet online games login researchers are the first to observe this process. Their experiments may lead to new ways to protect people and animals against bacterial infections by helping scientists develop targeted treatment and intervention methods.
The 1xbet online games login is featured as the cover article for the July issue of the Journal of General Physiology.
All cells need 1xbet online games login to stay alive, which puts 1xbet online games login at the center of the microbial pathogenesis process. When bacteria invade an animal or human, they must acquire 1xbet online games login to establish an infection, Klebba said.
"A microbiological war is going on in the host tissue," Klebba said. "The host is trying to prevent the microbe from getting 1xbet online games login . The microbe is trying to get the 1xbet online games login using proteins that can essentially see their environment, grab 1xbet online games login and internalize it into the bacterial cell."
In the latest research, the scientists used site-directed spectroscopic analysis of E. coli cells to monitor the activity of the surface transport proteins. Through their experiments, they observed the seven loops on the cell surface moving as they recognized and absorbed 1xbet online games login in the environment for later transport into the cell.
The absorption process happens quickly and efficiently, Klebba said. Less than a second after the bacteria enter an environment with 1xbet online games login compounds, they recognize the molecules, grab them and start the transfer process.
"If we can understand exactly how this acquisition process works, we can design, isolate or identify small molecules that inhibit the 1xbet online games login uptake process," Klebba said. "Those are potentially antimicrobial agents that could protect people and animals against bacterial disease."
The scientists will continue the research to get a full understanding of how the proteins manage to transport 1xbet online games login from the outside to the inside of cells.
The 1xbet online games login received support from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. 1xbet online games login collaborators from Kansas State University include: Salete M.C. Newton, 1xbet online games login professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics; Mathew Hanson, master's student in biochemistry, Hays; Lorne Jordan, doctoral student in biochemistry, Toledo, Ohio; Yan Shipelskiy, doctoral student in biochemistry, Holland, Pennsylvania; and Aritri Majumdar, doctoral student in biochemistry, Kolkata, India.
Collaborators from the 1xbet online games login of Oklahoma's department of chemistry and biochemistry include Chuck R. Smallwood, Vy Trinh, Daniel W. Schuerch and Amparo Gala.
