Biofilms News and Research

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Discovery provides basis for new pertussis treatments

The worldwide spreading of the whooping cough, also known as pertussis, has substantially increased since 2010. Researchers from the Biozentrum, University of Basel, have investigated structure and function of an important membrane protein of the bacterium causing pertussis. They discovered that the protein structure differs from a previously postulated model.

24 Jun 2015

Removing bacterial biofilms could help prevent and treat colon cancers, study suggests

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has uncovered a big clue to how bacteria may promote some colon cancers.

8 May 2015

Natural substance could help people avoid cavities, gum disease

Arginine, a common amino acid found naturally in foods, breaks down dental plaque, which could help millions of people avoid cavities and gum disease, researchers at the University of Michigan and Newcastle University have discovered.

8 May 2015

Maple syrup makes disease-causing bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics, study shows

A concentrated extract of maple syrup makes disease-causing bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics, according to laboratory experiments by researchers at McGill University.

17 Apr 2015

DFG selects 10 researchers to receive 2015 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize

This year's recipients of the most important prize for early career researchers in Germany have been announced. The selection committee, appointed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), has chosen ten researchers, five women and five men, to receive the 2015 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizes.

10 Apr 2015

Researchers examine why joint infections persist despite standards of care

Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University and the National Institutes of Health are building on their research which seeks to understand why joint infections persist despite standards of care designed to stop them.

23 Mar 2015

Antibiotic nanoparticles can help treat lung infection, prevent drug resistance

Treating respiratory disease is often difficult because drugs have to cross biological barriers such as respiratory tissue and mucosa, and must therefore be given in large quantities in order for an effective amount to reach the target.

13 Mar 2015

Study suggests that antibiotics can induce potentially dangerous biofilm formation

Most people have taken an antibiotic to treat a bacterial infection. Now researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of San Diego, La Jolla, reveal that the way we often think about antibiotics - as straightforward killing machines - needs to be revised.

24 Feb 2015

Researchers find methods to manipulate natural proteins that self-assemble into amyloid fibrils

Nature has many examples of self-assembly, and bioengineers are interested in copying or manipulating these systems to create useful new materials or devices. Amyloid proteins, for example, can self-assemble into the tangled plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease -- but similar proteins can also form very useful materials, such as spider silk, or biofilms around living cells.

27 Jan 2015

Findings could lead to new therapeutic approach to Parkinson's disease

E.. coli usually brings to mind food poisoning and beach closures, but researchers recently discovered a protein in E.. coli that inhibits the accumulation of potentially toxic amyloids--a hallmark of diseases such as Parkinson's.

23 Jan 2015

New colloidal gold test strip demonstrates great potential for early detection of heart attack

NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering professors have been collaborating with researchers from Peking University on a new test strip that is demonstrating great potential for the early detection of certain heart attacks.

16 Jan 2015

Bacterial biofilms may increase colon cancer risk

Researchers from Johns Hopkins have found that dense mats of interacting bacteria, called biofilms, were present in the majority of cancers and polyps, particularly those on the right side of the colon. The presence of these bacterial bunches, they say, may represent an increased risk for colon cancer and could form the basis of new diagnostic tests.

17 Dec 2014

New technique could help diagnose cancerous, pre-cancerous conditions

Since the first "catalog" of the normal bacterial makeup of the human body was published in 2012, numerous connections between illness and disturbances in the human microbiota have been found. This week, scientists report yet another: Cancerous tumors in the ascending colon (the part nearest to the small intestine) are characterized by biofilms, which are dense clumps of bacterial cells encased in a self-produced matrix.

14 Dec 2014

Common type of hospital-associated infections can be prevented with vaccine

The most common type of hospital-associated infection may be preventable with a vaccine, new research in mice suggests.

18 Sep 2014

Disrupting cancer regulator MYC: an interview with Professor Kim Janda

MYC is an oncogenic member of the basic helix-loop-helix-leucine zipper transcription factor family. In its monomeric form, MYC’s tertiary structure is intrinsically disordered and the protein is transcriptionally inactive.

17 Sep 2014

New antiseptic agent holds promise for treatment of periodontitis

The study, published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, by Shinichi Arakawa and colleagues at Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, evaluated the bactericidal activities of ozone nano-bubble water - also known as NBW3 - against the two main bacterial agents that cause periodontitis as well as its toxicity to human oral tissue cells.

15 Sep 2014

Queen's University scientists make breakthrough in fight against hospital superbugs

Scientists at Queen's University Belfast have made a breakthrough in the fight against the most resistant hospital superbugs.

19 Aug 2014

Study results may lead to new approach for treatment of chronic ear infections in children

Researchers from the University of Southern California and the Oak Crest Institute of Science have discovered the link between antibiotics and bacterial biofilm formation leading to chronic lung, sinus and ear infections. The study results, published in the current issue of PLOS ONE, illustrate how bacterial biofilms can actually thrive, rather than decrease, when given low doses of antibiotics.

11 Jul 2014

New way to combat bacterial biofilm formation with titanium encrusted with gold nanoparticles

Bacteria love to colonize surfaces inside your body, but they have a hard time getting past your rugged, salty skin.

1 Jul 2014

Bacteria must be considered part of overall pathology of atherosclerosis

Scientists believe they have an explanation for the axiom that stress, emotional shock, or overexertion may trigger heart attacks in vulnerable people. Hormones released during these events appear to cause bacterial biofilms on arterial walls to disperse, allowing plaque deposits to rupture into the bloodstream, according to research published in published today in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

11 Jun 2014