Study unravels the construction of bacterial P pili

A analysis group led by David Thanassi, Ph.D., of Stony Brook University, has used molecular biology and cryoelectron microscopy to efficiently unravel the construction of bacterial appendages referred to as P pili. These pili are deployed by uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli micro organism that trigger kidney infections. The construction of P pili had been elusive to scientists for a few years. The discovering, printed in Nature Communications, is a key step so as to goal P pili within the an infection course of.

“Given their central role in initiating and sustaining infection, there is intense interest in understanding the mechanisms of pilus assembly and function,” says Thanassi, lead writer and Zhang Family Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology on the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. “Our report of the structure of P pili may help to pave the way for a method to interfere with pilus assembly or function in order to develop novel therapeutics as a potential alternative to antibiotics. A new approach may help us to better treat urinary tract infections and other infectious diseases.”

Bacterial infections of the urinary tract are widespread and related to excessive charges of antibiotic resistance, which is a purpose why Thanassi and the analysis group are specializing in pili constructions concerned in these infections. Kidney infections themselves pose a serious threat for the micro organism to enter the bloodstream, an motion that might lead to deadly bacterial sepsis.

This newest work builds on earlier analysis from the group and different scientists that exposed the construction of associated bacterial appendages, termed sort 1 pili, which facilitate colonization of the bladder.