bacteria – Page 2 – Lightsources.org

Know your ennemy

2018/12/212019/01/08

Light source identifies a key protein interaction during E. coli infection

Escherichia coli is a common source for contaminated water and food products, causing the condition known as gastroenteritis with symptoms that include diarrhea, vomiting, fever, loss of energy, and dehydration. In fact, for children or individuals with weakened immune systems, this bacterial infection in the gut can be life-threatening.

One of the microbes responsible for gastroenteritis, known formally as enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), causes infections by directing a pointed, needle-like projection into the human intestinal tract, releasing toxins that make people sick.

“Enteropathogenic E. coli can fire toxic proteins from inside the bacterium right into the cells of your gut lining,” says Dustin Little, a post-doctoral researcher in the Brian Coombes lab at McMaster University’s Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences.

Image: Dustin Little and Brian Coombes in the lab.
Credit: Dustin Little.

Scientists produce 3-D chemical maps of single bacteria

2018/11/162018/11/19

Researchers at NSLS-II used ultrabright x-rays to generate 3-D nanoscale maps of a single bacteria’s chemical composition with unparalleled spatial resolution.

Scientists at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)—a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory—have used ultrabright x-rays to image single bacteria with higher spatial resolution than ever before. Their work, published in Scientific Reports, demonstrates an x-ray imaging technique, called x-ray fluorescence microscopy (XRF), as an effective approach to produce 3-D images of small biological samples.

“For the very first time, we used nanoscale XRF to image bacteria down to the resolution of a cell membrane,” said Lisa Miller, a scientist at NSLS-II and a co-author of the paper. “Imaging cells at the level of the membrane is critical for understanding the cell’s role in various diseases and developing advanced medical treatments.”
The record-breaking resolution of the x-ray images was made possible by the advanced capabilities of the Hard X-ray Nanoprobe (HXN) beamline, an experimental station at NSLS-II with novel nanofocusing optics and exceptional stability.
“HXN is the first XRF beamline to generate a 3-D image with this kind of resolution,” Miller said.

Image: NSLS-II scientist Tiffany Victor is shown at the Hard X-ray Nanoprobe, where her team produced 3-D chemical maps of single bacteria with nanoscale resolution.

Mycoplasma genitalium’s cell adhesion mechanism revealed

2018/10/312018/11/08

Mycoplasma genitalium is a sexually transmitted bacterium responsible for several genitourinary disorders.

An estimated 1% of the adult population is infected with this bacterium. Using XALOC beamline at the ALBA Synchrotron it has been defined the structure of the protein involved in the pathogen’s adhesion process. The discovery opens the door to defining new therapeutic strategies to fight this pathogen which is becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics.

Researchers from the Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona (IBMB-CSIC) and the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (IBB-UAB) have discovered the mechanism by which the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen) adheres to human cells. This adhesion is essential for the onset of bacterial infection and subsequent disease development.
Mgen is an emerging pathogen responsible for several infectious genitourinary disorders. In men, it is the most common cause of urethritis (15-20%) while in women, it has been associated with cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, premature birth and spontaneous abortions. So far, it was known that adherence to the genitourinary tract was possible thanks to proteins known as adhesins, which recognise specific cell surface receptors.
In this study, IBMB-CSIC researchers determined the three-dimensional structure of the Mgen’s P110 adhesins interacting with these cell receptors using X-rays diffraction and protein crystallography at the XALOC beamline. “We made a protein crystal of the P110 adhesin bound to these receptors and diffracted with the synchrotron’s X-rays to determine the exact position of the atoms within the protein, and we were able to decipher the three-dimensional structure”, explains IBMB researcher David Aparicio.

>Read more on the ALBA website

Image: Overall structure of P110. Two views, 90° apart from each other, of the extracellular region of P110 that is formed by a large N-domain, with a seven blade β-propeller (green), the crown (brown), and the C-domain (orange). In the right side panel the view is along the central axis of the β-propeller. The situation of the seven blades in the propeller is explicitly indicated showing that the two terminal blades I and VII are close to the C-terminal domain and opposite to the crown.

Targeting bacteria that cause meningitis and sepsis

2018/10/222018/10/25

The work provides molecular-level information about how the antibody confers broad immunity against a variable target and suggests strategies for further improvement of available vaccines.

Our central nervous systems (brain and spinal cord) are surrounded by three membranes called “meninges.” Meningitis is caused by the swelling of these membranes, resulting in headache, fever, and neck stiffness. Most cases of meningitis in the United States are the result of viral infections and are relatively mild. However, meningitis caused by bacterial infection, if left untreated, can be deadly or lead to serious complications, including hearing loss and neurologic damage.

The bacterium responsible for meningitis (Neisseria meningitidis) can also infect the bloodstream, causing another life-threatening condition known as sepsis. N. meningitidis is spread through close contact (coughing or kissing) or lengthy contact (e.g. in dorm rooms or military barracks). In this work, researchers were interested in understanding how humans develop immunity to bacterial meningitis and sepsis, collectively known as meningococcal disease, by vaccination with a new protein-based vaccine.

Image: The work provides molecular-level information about how the antibody confers broad immunity against a variable target and suggests strategies for further improvement of available vaccines.

Scientists unravel mechanism for body odour in armpits

2018/08/012018/08/09

British researchers from the University of York and the University of Oxford have shown the mechanism that leads to body odour in armpits by studying the molecular process at the ESRF and other lightsources.

Stepping into a cramped bus on a hot summer day can sometimes translate into having to hold your breath and a very unpleasant experience. Sweat production increases in hot weather, and, with it, body odour. Despite much research and antiperspirant deodorants, scientists still haven’t managed to selectively block body odour.

Researchers from the University of York and the University of Oxford have recently used the ESRF and Diamond Lightsource to find out what happens at a molecular level when we smell badly. They focused on the apocrine gland, which is found only in the armpit, genitalia and ear canal. It secrets an odourless lipid-rich viscous secretion, which is likely to play a role in scent generation, but it is not involved in thermoregulation.

It all comes down to bacteria. “The skin of our underarms provides a unique niche for bacteria,” explains investigator Gavin Thomas, professor in the department of biology at the University of York and co-leader of the study. “Through the secretions of various glands that open onto the skin or into hair follicles, this environment is nutrient-rich and hosts its own microbial community, the armpit microbiome, of many species of different microbes.”

Image: Picture showing how body odour is produced in armpits.
Credit: University of York and Oxford.

How legionella manipulates the host cell by means of molecular mimics

2018/07/062018/07/11

Using synchrotron light, researchers from CIC bioGUNE have solved the structure of RavN, a protein that Legionella pneumophila uses for stealing functions and resources of the host cell.

Mimicry is the ability of some animals to resemble others in their environment to ensure their survival. A classic example is the stick bug whose shape and colour make him unnoticed to possible predators. Many intracellular pathogens also use molecular mimicry to ensure their survival. A part of a protein of the pathogen resembles another protein totally different from the host and many intracellular microorganisms use this capability to interfere in cellular processes that enable their survival and replication.

The Membrane Trafficking laboratory of the CIC bioGUNE in the Basque Country, led by Aitor Hierro, in collaboration with other groups from the National Institutes of Health in the United States, have been working for several years in understanding how the infectious bacterium Legionella pneumhopila interacts with human cells. During this research, experiments have been carried out at the XALOC beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron and I04 beamline of Diamond Light Source (UK). The results enabled scientists to solve the structure of RavN, a protein of L. pneumophila that uses this molecular mimicry to trick the infected cell.

>Read more on the ALBA website

Figure: (extract) Schematic representation of the structure of RavN1-123 as ribbon diagram displayed in two orientations (rotated by 90° along the x axis). Secondary elements are indicated as spirals (helices) or arrows (beta strands), with the RING/U-box motif colored in orange and the C-terminal structure colored in slate. (Full image here)

UBC scientists break down tuberculosis structure

2018/05/302018/05/31

Scientists from the University of British Columbia have taken a crucial step towards starving out tuberculosis, following research into how the infection grows in the body.

Tuberculosis, a bacterial infection which generally affects the lungs, is a global threat; worldwide, it kills more people than HIV and malaria combined. In Canada, there are around 1,600 new cases of tuberculosis reported every year, with about 20 per cent of those cases affecting First Nations peoples, according to the Government of Canada. Researchers using the Canadian Light Source have investigated how the bacteria grow in lungs in an effort to better understand how tuberculosis can be treated.

Lindsay Eltis, a UBC professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Canada Research Chair in Microbial Catabolism and Biocatalysis, has spent the last 25 years studying bacteria and determining how they grow on different compounds. In 2007, Eltis’ group discovered that tuberculosis bacteria grow on cholesterol and that this is important for causing disease.

“Many bacteria, like humans, grow using glucose, a type of sugar. They derive energy from it, converting it to water and carbon dioxide, and use it to make building blocks essential to life. The tuberculosis bacterium is a bit unusual in that it can grow on cholesterol, deriving energy and essential building blocks from it,” explains Eltis. “This ability to grow on cholesterol helps the bacterium establish infection in our lungs.”

Image: Crystal structure of the newly imaged carbon-ring cleaving enzyme from the tuberculosis bacterium, IpdAB_Mtb.
Credit: Lindsay Eltis

ALS passes the 7000-protein milestone

2018/05/302018/06/11

The eight structural biology beamlines at the ALS have now collectively deposited over 7000 proteins into the Protein Data Bank (PDB), a worldwide, open-access repository of protein structures. The 7000th ALS protein structure (entry no. 6C7C) is an enzyme from Mycobacterium ulcerans (strain Agy99), solved with data from Beamline 5.0.2. This bacterium produces a toxin that eats away at skin tissue, causing what’s known as Buruli ulcers (Google at your own risk!). The bacterium is antibiotic-resistant, and treatment involves the surgical removal of infected tissues, including amputation.

The enzyme structure was solved by a group from the Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Disease (SSGID), whose mission is to obtain crystal structures of potential drug targets on the priority pathogen list of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). As of May 2018, SSGCID has deposited 1090 structures in the PDB, with data for more than a quarter of those collected at ALS beamlines.

Image: PDB 6C7C: Enoyl-CoA hydratase, an enzyme from M. ulcerans (strain Agy99).

How dolphins could potentially lead to new antibiotics

2018/05/172018/05/18

The world is currently living through a multidrug resistance problem, where antibiotics that traditionally work are not effective anymore. A European team of scientists at the University of Hamburg (Germany), University of Munich (Germany), University of Bordeaux (France), University of Trieste (Italy) and University of London (UK) have studied how some peptides in dolphins target bacterial ribosomes and hence, could provide clues about potential new antibiotics.

Proline-rich antimicrobial peptides (PrAMPs) are antibacterial components of the immune systems of animals such as honey bees, cows and, as this study proves, bottlenose dolphins. These peptides are a first response for the killing of bacteria. In humans, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) mainly kill bacteria by disrupting the bacterial cell membrane, but so far no evidence of PrAMPs has been found. PrAMPs have a different mechanism of action to AMPs: they pass through the membrane of the cell without perturbing it and bind to ribosomes to inhibit protein synthesis.

The European team have been studying the mechanism of action of bacteria killing peptides in animals: “We want to compare PrAMPs from different organisms to mechanistically understand how these peptides inhibit bacteria”, Daniel Wilson explains.

Illustration showing the mechanism of Tur1A. (entire image: here)
Credits: D. Wilson

The proteins that bind

2018/05/082018/05/09

Researchers reveal the structure of a protein that helps bacteria aggregate

Serine-rich repeat proteins (SRRPs), which help bacteria attach to surfaces, have been structurally characterised in pathogenic bacteria but not in beneficial bacteria such as those present in the gut. Dr Nathalie Juge’s team at the Quadram Institute Bioscience has previously identified SRRP as a main adhesin in Lactobacillus reuteri strains from pigs and mice. Now, together with colleagues at the University of East Anglia, they have described the structure and activity of the binding region of L. reuteri SRRPs in a paper published in PNAS. Using the Macromolecular Crystallography beamlines (I03 and I04) at Diamond Light Source, they discovered that the structure of these proteins is unique among characterised SRRPs and is surprisingly similar to pectin degrading enzymes. Molecular simulations and binding experiments revealed a pH-dependent binding to pectin and to proteins from the epithelium known as mucins. Altogether, these findings shed light on the activity of a key protein in these bacteria and may help guide the development of more targeted probiotic interventions.

Figure: (Left) Cartoon representation of crystal structures of the binding region of SRRP53608. (Right) Cartoon representation of crystal structures of the binding region of SRRP100-23. The N-terminus is shown with blue balls and the C-terminus is shown with red balls.

Scientists develop sugar-coated nanosheets to target pathogens

2018/03/292018/04/12

Molecular Foundry-designed 2-D sheets mimic the surface of cells

Researchers have developed a process for creating ultrathin, self-assembling sheets of synthetic materials that can function like designer flypaper in selectively binding with viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens.
In this way the new platform, developed by a team led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), could potentially be used to inactivate or detect pathogens.

The team, which also included researchers from New York University, created the synthesized nanosheets at Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry, a nanoscale science center, out of self-assembling, bio-inspired polymers known as peptoids. The study was published earlier this month in the journal ACS Nano.
The sheets were designed to present simple sugars in a patterned way along their surfaces, and these sugars, in turn, were demonstrated to selectively bind with several proteins, including one associated with the Shiga toxin, which causes dysentery. Because the outside of our cells are flat and covered with sugars, these 2-D nanosheets can effectively mimic cell surfaces.

Image: A molecular model of a peptoid nanosheet shows loop structures in sugars (orange) that bind to the Shiga toxin (shown as a five-color bound structure at upper right).
Credit: Berkeley Lab

Scientists map important immune system enzyme for the first time

2018/03/292018/04/12

Biochemists from McGill University are getting a good look at just how a specific enzyme that is part of the human immune system interacts with a certain group of bacteria that are described as gram-negative.

Researchers around the world “have been studying the enzyme, known as AOAH, for more than 30 years. This is the first time anyone has been able to see exactly what it looks like,” according to Bhushan Nagar, an associate professor of biochemistry at McGill University in Montreal.

More than that, the 3D images captured a moment in time which shows just how AOAH inactivates a toxic molecule that is commonly part of various gram-negative bacteria. The research was conducted at the Canadian Light Source.

Numerous types of gram-negative bacteria exist throughout the environment. While some are harmless, many cause a variety of human illnesses, says Nagar. For example, several species such as E. coli and Salmonella, cause food borne illness. Others cause infections such as pneumonia, meningitis, bloodstream infections or gonorrhea.

>Read more on the Canadian Light Source

Image: Bhushan Nagar (principal investigator), Alexei Gorelik (first author of paper) and Katalin Illes (research assistant at Nagar lab) at their McGill University lab.
Credit: Bhushan Nagar.

A Bacterial Jigsaw Puzzle Is Solved

2017/08/112017/10/16

Scientists worked on bacterial microcompartments and discovered how the pieces fit together.

Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are hollow protein shells that encapsulate enzymes involved in bacterial metabolism. They serve to co-localize the enzymes and their reactants for greater efficiency, as well as to sequester reaction products from the rest of the cell. Despite the availability of structural information on individual shell components, the principles governing how the pieces fit together have remained elusive.

Researchers have now performed protein crystallography studies at the ALS and at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) of a fully assembled BMC as well as its separate building blocks. The resulting atomic-resolution views reveal the basic principles of shell construction and provide important information for fighting pathogens and for bioenergy or biotechnology applications.

>Read More