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Bacterial virulence machinery comes under the spotlight

Research

 A new study from researchers in the Department of Biochemistry has shed light on machinery that causes virulence in a group of pathogenic bacteria including Shigella and Salmonella.

The work from Professor Judy Armitage's lab, led by Dr Andreas Diepold, reveals intriguing features of the injectisome, an essential virulence factor that is responsible for the transmission of bacterial proteins into host cells. These proteins allow the bacteria to proliferate without being eliminated by the host immune system.

Published in PLoS Biology with collaborators from the Department of Physics in Oxford and the Biozentrum in Basel, the findings suggest the possibility of a novel target for the development of anti-virulence drugs. (1)

Read more (Department of Biochemistry website)

Biochemistry - Bacterial type III

The bacterial Type III secretion injectisome which injects effector proteins directly into the host cell.

 

1. Composition, Formation, and Regulation of the Cytosolic C-ring, a Dynamic Component of the Type III Secretion Injectisome. Diepold A, Kudryashev M, Delalez NJ, Berry RM and Armitage JP. PLoS Biol 13(1): e1002039. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio. 1002039

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