• Popular
    • Medicine
    • Radiology
    • Cardiology
    • Surgery
    • Nanomedicine
    • Military Medicine
    • Rehab
  • Categories
    • Exclusive
    • A-D
      • Anesthesiology
      • Art
      • Cardiac Surgery
      • Cardiology
      • Critical Care
      • Dentistry
      • Dermatology
      • Diagnostics
    • E-I
      • Emergency Medicine
      • ENT
      • Genetics
      • Geriatrics
      • GI
      • Informatics
    • M-N
      • Medicine
      • Military Medicine
      • Nanomedicine
      • Net News
      • Neurology
      • Neurosurgery
      • Nuclear Medicine
    • O-P
      • Ob/Gyn
      • Oncology
      • Ophthalmology
      • Orthopedic Surgery
      • Pathology
      • Pediatrics
      • Plastic Surgery
      • Psychiatry
      • Public Health
    • R-V
      • Radiation Oncology
      • Radiology
      • Rehab
      • Reproductive Medicine
      • Space Medicine
      • Sports Medicine
      • Surgery
      • Thoracic Surgery
      • Urology
      • Vascular Surgery
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • Submit PR
  • About
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
    • RSS
  • Submit PR
  • Log in
Medgadget
Medgadget
  • Popular
    • Medicine
      Etched Nanopillars Kill Bacteria, Fungi on Titanium Implants

      Etched Nanopillars Kill Bacteria, Fungi on Titanium Implants

      Cells Release Insulin in Response to Music

      Cells Release Insulin in Response to Music

      Microneedle Skin Patch Measures Cancer Biomarkers

      Microneedle Skin Patch Measures Cancer Biomarkers

      Enzyme Treatment Strips Mucins from Cancer Cells

      Enzyme Treatment Strips Mucins from Cancer Cells

    • Radiology
      Ultrasound-Equipped Bra Monitors for Breast Cancer

      Ultrasound-Equipped Bra Monitors for Breast Cancer

      Portable and Radiation-Free Imaging with Magnetic Nanoparticles

      Portable and Radiation-Free Imaging with Magnetic Nanoparticles

      Imaging Technique Reveals Living Brain Tissue in its Complexity

      Imaging Technique Reveals Living Brain Tissue in its Complexity

      Wearable Ultrasound for Deep Tissue Monitoring

      Wearable Ultrasound for Deep Tissue Monitoring

    • Cardiology
      Ultrasound-Equipped Bra Monitors for Breast Cancer

      Ultrasound-Equipped Bra Monitors for Breast Cancer

      3D Printed Heart Muscle Beats

      3D Printed Heart Muscle Beats

      Wireless Patch Monitors, Paces Heart and then Biodegrades

      Wireless Patch Monitors, Paces Heart and then Biodegrades

      Photonic Radar Monitors Breathing from a Distance

      Photonic Radar Monitors Breathing from a Distance

    • Surgery
      Growth Factor-Loaded Microparticles Enhance 3D Bioprinted Muscle

      Growth Factor-Loaded Microparticles Enhance 3D Bioprinted Muscle

      Highly Precise Pressure Sensor for Laparoscopic or Robotic Surgical Tools

      Highly Precise Pressure Sensor for Laparoscopic or Robotic Surgical Tools

      Magnetic Tentacle Robots for Minimally Invasive Procedures

      Magnetic Tentacle Robots for Minimally Invasive Procedures

      Artificial Muscle Changes Stiffness with Voltage

      Artificial Muscle Changes Stiffness with Voltage

    • Nanomedicine
      Nanorobots Release Reactive Oxygen Species to Kill Fungal Biofilms

      Nanorobots Release Reactive Oxygen Species to Kill Fungal Biofilms

      Bottlebrush Nanoparticles Deliver Immunostimulatory Drugs

      Bottlebrush Nanoparticles Deliver Immunostimulatory Drugs

      Nanoparticles Deliver mRNA Therapy to the Lungs

      Nanoparticles Deliver mRNA Therapy to the Lungs

      Nanoparticles Get Lymphatic Vessels Pumping

      Nanoparticles Get Lymphatic Vessels Pumping

    • Military Medicine
      Wearable Can Take Multiple Sweat Samples

      Wearable Can Take Multiple Sweat Samples

      Wound Dressing Detects Infection, Changes Color

      Wound Dressing Detects Infection, Changes Color

      Device Measures Hemoglobin More Accurately in Dark Skin

      Device Measures Hemoglobin More Accurately in Dark Skin

      Fingertip Sensor Measures Lithium Levels in Sweat

      Fingertip Sensor Measures Lithium Levels in Sweat

    • Rehab
      Growth Factor-Loaded Microparticles Enhance 3D Bioprinted Muscle

      Growth Factor-Loaded Microparticles Enhance 3D Bioprinted Muscle

      Brain Computer Interface Decodes Speech and Facial Expressions

      Brain Computer Interface Decodes Speech and Facial Expressions

      Semi-Automated Manufacture of E-Skin Sensors

      Semi-Automated Manufacture of E-Skin Sensors

      Above Elbow Amputee Controls Individual Bionic Fingers

      Above Elbow Amputee Controls Individual Bionic Fingers

  • Categories
    • Exclusive
    • A-D
      • Anesthesiology
      • Art
      • Cardiac Surgery
      • Cardiology
      • Critical Care
      • Dentistry
      • Dermatology
      • Diagnostics
    • E-I
      • Emergency Medicine
      • ENT
      • Genetics
      • Geriatrics
      • GI
      • Informatics
    • M-N
      • Medicine
      • Military Medicine
      • Nanomedicine
      • Net News
      • Neurology
      • Neurosurgery
      • Nuclear Medicine
    • O-P
      • Ob/Gyn
      • Oncology
      • Ophthalmology
      • Orthopedic Surgery
      • Pathology
      • Pediatrics
      • Plastic Surgery
      • Psychiatry
      • Public Health
    • R-V
      • Radiation Oncology
      • Radiology
      • Rehab
      • Reproductive Medicine
      • Space Medicine
      • Sports Medicine
      • Surgery
      • Thoracic Surgery
      • Urology
      • Vascular Surgery
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • Submit PR
  • About
  • Log in
  • Submit PR
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
    • RSS

How Bacteria Grow Their Surface Pili

May 16th, 2008 Medgadget Editors News


As any medical student knows, bacterial pili play a pretty important role in the pathogenesis of bacterial species. Understanding how the pili are formed might open a whole range of clinical strategies to combat the infectious nature in a variety of bacterial species.
Brookhaven National Laboratory reports about the latest research coming out of the lab:

Using two sophisticated imaging techniques, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborators at Stony Brook University, University College London, and Washington University School of Medicine have captured molecular-level "snapshots" of the cellular machinery that assembles hairlike projections on certain bacterial cells. These projections, called pili, enable the bacteria to attach to and infect bladder and kidney cells.
In a paper appearing in the May 16, 2008, issue of the journal Cell, the team describes how their newly revealed structures provide a mechanistic understanding of the pilus assembly process – which could lead to new ways to thwart or treat urinary tract infections.
The research focuses on the surface pilus of E. coli bacteria, which cause urinary tract infections in 1 in 10 women in the U.S. every year. E. coli normally reside in the human gut, where they are harmless. But if the microbes get into the urinary tract, they produce sticky tendrils known as pili. These pili allow the bacteria to recognize, stick to, and invade cells lining the bladder and kidneys, and go on to cause infections.
"Understanding how the bacteria assemble these pili is a first step toward finding an antimicrobial inhibitor that interferes with the process," said Brookhaven biophysicist and study co-author Huilin Li…
A protein known as usher, which traverses the cell membrane, is the engine of the pilus assembly line. The usher catalyzes the assembly of individual components into a pilus and provides a pathway for the assembled pilus to move out of the cell and extend from the cell surface. The Cell paper describes a new high-resolution image of the translocation domain of the usher protein, as well as a broader view of the assembly apparatus caught in action with the pilus tip making its way out of the cell.
The usher protein structure was determined by Han Remaut, University College London, using x-ray crystallography at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, under the guidance of Gabriel Waksman, University College London, and Scott Hultgren, Washington University, St. Louis. In this technique, scientists analyze how a beam of x-rays bounces off or is scattered by a molecule to determine the relative positions of its individual atoms.
The images revealed a protein "dimer" made of two identical ushers, each forming a barrel-shaped pore with a "plug" blocking the opening of the barrel. The plug is suspected to move away, making space for the pilus to move through the membrane as it is formed.
The structure of a partially formed pilus in association with the usher dimer was determined by single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) by postdoctoral researchers Chunyan Tang and Tao Wang working with Li at Brookhaven Lab. The structure of this complex, which had been isolated by microbiologist David Thanassi and colleagues at Stony Brook University, confirmed the dimeric form of the functional usher protein, supporting the crystallography result as well as previous research on the structure by Li’s group.
Interestingly, says Li, the pilus tip fiber appears to grow from only one of the two usher pores. However, both ushers are involved in recruiting and incorporating the pilus components into the growing pilus.
"Both techniques were essential to gaining insights into the pilus formation process," said Li. "Crystallography is good at revealing very high resolution structures of relatively small proteins or individual proteins, but not so good at imaging multiple protein assemblies. In contrast, cryo-EM is good at revealing the structure of large protein assemblies, but at lower resolution. When combined, the high-resolution structures of individual pieces (or component proteins) from crystallography can be placed into the cryo-EM map of the whole assembly, yielding a comprehensive understanding of the underlying biology," he explained.

Full story: Molecular ‘Snapshots’ Capture Infectious Pili Formation…

Medgadget Editors

Medical technologies transform the world! Join us and see the progress in real time. At Medgadget, we report the latest technology news, interview leaders in the field, and file dispatches from medical events around the world since 2004.

Sponsored

Viral Vector Manufacturing in Gene Therapy and Vaccine Development

Health and Clean Air: Why Indoor Ventilation Matters

Health and Clean Air: Why Indoor Ventilation Matters

New Survey Finds Strong Consumer Preference for More Natural Hernia Repair Options

MedTech Outlook 2023 for Latin America Released

MedTech Outlook 2023 for Latin America Released

Packaging Compliance Labs (PCL) Celebrates Site Expansion in Grand Rapids, MI

interviews & reviews
UV-Free Air Decontamination: Interview with Sorel Rothschild, VP at Quantum Innovations

UV-Free Air Decontamination: Interview with Sorel Rothschild, VP at Quantum Innovations

EarliPoint Evaluation System for ASD Diagnosis: Interview with Tom Ressemann, CEO of EarliTec Dx

EarliPoint Evaluation System for ASD Diagnosis: Interview with Tom Ressemann, CEO of EarliTec Dx

Visually Guided Uterine Biopsies in Physician’s Office: Interview with Allison London Brown, CEO of LUMINELLE

Visually Guided Uterine Biopsies in Physician’s Office: Interview with Allison London Brown, CEO of LUMINELLE

AI-Powered Pain Relief: Interview with Claire Smith, VP at Nevro

AI-Powered Pain Relief: Interview with Claire Smith, VP at Nevro

MISHA Knee Shock Absorber: Interview with Anton Clifford, CEO of Moximed

MISHA Knee Shock Absorber: Interview with Anton Clifford, CEO of Moximed

Shelf-Stable Breast Milk Powder: Interview with Dr. Vansh Langer, CEO at BBy

Shelf-Stable Breast Milk Powder: Interview with Dr. Vansh Langer, CEO at BBy

"We Are Electric" by Sally Adee: Medgadget Interviews the Author

"We Are Electric" by Sally Adee: Medgadget Interviews the Author

  • Subscribe
  • Contact us
  • Submit
  • About
  • Back to top
Medgadget

Medical technologies transform the world! Join us and see the progress in real time. At Medgadget, we report the latest technology news, interview leaders in the field, and file dispatches from medical events around the world since 2004.

  • About
  • Editorial policies
  • Contact
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy
  • Submit press release
  • Advertise
© Medgadget, Inc. All rights reserved. | The Medical Revolution Will Be Blogged.
Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. Ads are what helps us bring you premium content! Thank you!
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Email